Block Episode

(album: Disposable Arts - 2001)

[Masta Ace:]
Woke up this morning hearing shots below my project window
The TV's on from playing all night on Nintendo
Jumped out of bed tryin to see what's up with all the noise and
I see somebody else has caught a case of lead poison
This type of shit around my way is a regular occurance
Because the same shit just happened to my nigga Terrence
A week later now somebody else is laying dying
Surrounded by a crowd of people and his momma crying
The way he's laying there it looks to me that he's a goner
I seen the cats who just did it run around the corner
I start to wonder who it is and why they had to wet him
I bet I knew him or at least I bet I probably met him
I can't pretend I'm shocked like electrocution
Cause any night there could be an execution
My momma told me that that thug shit will get you buried
The next day there's your name in the obituary
I asked her why we gotta live in this environment
She said, "Your grandfather drank up his retirement
Plus when I fucked around and had you I was just a baby
Just maybe if I wasn't being miss lady
Things could've been a little bit better"
Threw on my jeans and my double knit sweater
I hit the block tryin to find out who got done in
Who had the gun and who that was I seen running

Another body on the ground cold and
Another day another lost soul and
Same shit in every zip code
No matter where you go
Its just another block episode
Another story on the street told and
Another turn down the wrong road and
Sit back and watch it unfold
Yo I'll let you know
Just another block episode

[Punchline:]
Yo, I roam the streets with my peeps and the gun by my crotch
I got beef with this cat that resides on my block
He getting popped I swear when I see him it's on
He'll just be a tattoo on his best friends arm
My friends screaming "Punch be calm" y'all can save it
He borrowed 5 G's two months ago, still ain't pay it
This girl hit me on the cell about his location
I grabbed my gun jumped in the hoopty then I started racing
Turned off the lights a block away so he don't peep the caper
I see him and a bunch of cats by the bodega
Don't wanna kill him I just wanna teach this cat a lesson
Stepped on the gas grab the gun cocked back the weapon
Shot up the whole corner but hit him in the kneecap
That's cool cause dead niggas can't pay your cash back
I'm nutting to laugh at I keep bad temper
I hit him a bystander and one of his crewmembers
[*gunshot*]

[Wordsworth:]
Yo yo yo yo, last thing I heard was a blast car circling past
I wasn't nervous thought they might be searching for gas
Soon as Rob came out dispersing the trash
Car sped and lead went through his windows curtains and glass
Dove in the dirt and the grass
I look bullet struck my right arm
Glass in my left palm I lost my neck charm
I knew it was Punch cause Rob owed him money
But never had it always got new kicks and gear to match it
I'm in the ambulance I thought that beef was squashed
That's why when he seen Punch he crossed the street and dodged
See Rob's records with the DA is forfeit
My records 4.0 GPA going to Harvard
Athletes 100 miles and running he's a convict
Other hand my high school football team I lead in yardage
Boys regardless blood pressure dropped artery vessel clogged
Cardiac arrest next my chest was shocked IV
Oxygen mask bleeding heavily
We need to get to the hospital fast I'm doing 70
Why I gotta be a casuality of war? Did good most my life
My career was growing gradually and more
Hearing "hold on, you'll be alright, you're gonna make it"
Sirens up ahead construction on the pavement
Slowed down from this moment I didn't have a chance
Seeing hazards, flash can't believe I died in the traffic jam

[*ambulance siren*]