Coming From Where I’m From

[Sample: The Education of Sonny Carson]
You know, you got this fantasy in your head about getting out of the life and setting that other world on its ear. What the fuck are you gonna do except hustle? Now, man, I ain't puttin' you down. I'm just tryna make it real, baby, like it is— like it is—

[Intro: Lupe Fiasco]
Lupe Fiasco
Came from the ghetto
You know! (Ugh, yeah)
Food & Liquor!
It's the ghetto right here, man!
Uh-huh

[Verse 1: Lupe Fiasco]
Ayy, it's real here (Uh-huh), dope fiends steal here
Turn around, give us the money to buy wheels here
Give you the chills, yeah? Developers don't build here
The property values low 'cause we still here (Ha)
Better believe most of us wanna leave
Furthest we went was out of our minds, but we still here
Weapons concealed here, lil' sisters on the pill here
Can't pay our bills here, but we like to chill here (Yeah)
Gotta reap what you sow, grow what you till here
Your mama weep where you sowed, ‘cause you was killed there
Police put cameras on poles—too many deals there
Gotta go to the county 'cause you was filmed there (Yup)
How does it feel knowing innocence was killed here? (Mm)
Last night, down the park, beating heart was stilled there (Tss)
For the love of his chain, I make appeals here
Let's pray for our brains, bust-downs kneel here
Church, yeah

[Hook: Anthony Hamilton & Lupe Fiasco]
Sometimes I get rushed
Coming from where I'm from, (I'm from)
Times have got hard, yeah (Y'know? Yeah)
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I gotta walk to work, yeah (Tales of a young Black male, woo!)
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I gotta do a little dirt (Facing this old Black (?))
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

[Verse 2: Lupe Fiasco]
There was once a child in here
'Cause all the tribulations and the trials in here (Yeah)
And all the limitations of his housing there
Became a teenage trafficker, a thousand-aire
Captivated with what the drug dealer told
Infatuated with what the drug dealers drove (Mm)
A life validated by what a drug dealer holds
On the stand 'cause what another drug dealer told
A drug dealer woes, time waits for no man
No woman waits for a man with time on his hands (They don't)
Didn't you know? Lord, they fearing Ye now
They hearing Ye now, 'specially when the "Conspiracy"s come down (They scared now)
We come down, get humble; it's no longer fun now
But who gonna hustle to feed his son now? (Oh)
From the cradle to the cage
We bring our sons to get gunned down, our daughters to have more
It's war

[Hook: Anthony Hamilton & Lupe Fiasco]
Sometimes I get lonely (Yuh)
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Things ain't what they seem to be (Or a reasonable facsimile of it)
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I get a little angry (Just ain't me, though)
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes it gets the best of me (It's all us, man)

[Bridge: Anthony Hamilton]
Well I tried to be good
Wanted nothing but to love somebody
Didn't wanna die young
Grinding, hustling, tryna feed my family
Too scared to have kids
And do what Daddy did
'Cause I'm so scared of failing
Sometimes it gets hard
Coming from where I'm from (Sometimes)

[Verse 3: Lupe Fiasco]
But, but it's beautiful here
There's nothing like the feeling when you do it from here
You ain't have to move a pack, you ain't have to shoot a gat
And you still took your mama, and you moved her from here
You ain't dropped out, and you figured the world out
Can survive 'bout anywhere—learn how to do it in here
Yeah, that's how we do it in here
Hearing shorties at play is like music to the ear
We still get by, you know? (Yeah)

[Hook: Anthony Hamilton]
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes you gotta mourn
Coming from where I'm from (I'm' from)
Sometimes I gotta cry a little bit louder
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I gotta fight the pain, yeah
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I gotta walk along
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I get a little worried
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I get lost, out of touch
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I think I pray a little bit too much
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I get a little scared
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)