[Intro]
(It's a Polar Bear beat, suckers)
[Verse 1: Big Steele]
I've been there, I'm a product of poverty
Visualize where it started in that raggedy apartment, seein'
Unit six, where the heroin noodles hermetic
Covered the concrete, grass only grow in patches
One out of every five mothers had a crack habit
Three out of every five pops just up and vanished
Creatin' bastards who turn misfortune to magic
And morph pain into hip-hop classics
We the ghetto messiah, spread our gospel through the bootleggers
Prosperity preachin', the words reach foreign nations
I thank God for Kass, Herc, and Flash
And visionaries like Eric Wright and Dame Dash
Uncle Luke, J Prince, and Russell
The players that turned dreams into billion-dollar hustles
Know that without hip-hop in my life, I would probably be
On level four in the walls of the penitentiary
[Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]
I still remember the first time
That I ever cut my boombox on
I just lay back and unwind
Whenever I cut my boombox on
[Verse 2: Chino XL]
Now, who's that project Puerto Rican that's beneath that LA fitted?
Lyrically, so committed, I should be literally committed
To a mental institution, chasin' satanic illusions
Survived my stepfather's abuses, my music loosen nooses
It's proven I'm ruthless, this dude is so ready to rumble
Ain't playin' with a full deck, so please don't get caught in my shuffle (Okay)
As a child living in the Hubbell, I'd mug you to get a name
Bug, go violent, problems, got 'em like I'm Saddam Hussein's insane uncle
Bullmastiff, no muzzle, so erratic
Beef, better keep it hidden like Schwarzenegger's coke habit
Spillin' my pain, psychological dark thoughts (Yeah)
Animal niggas, should be walkin' on all fours (Get 'em)
I spit it high with the skill of a thief pickin' a lock
And the biz full of bullshit like my MySpace inbox (Crazy)
My pen is a menace, I control your world in one sentence
West Coast stand up, Chino, Big Steele, and Kendrick
Started drinking St. Ides when I was knee-high
Still never look over the hill like Denzel in Book of Eli
Before sixteen and Rick Rubin signed me (Tell 'em)
I'd turn on my boombox and imagine I was Cool J
God is good
[Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]
I still remember the first time
That I ever cut my boombox on
I just lay back and unwind
Whenever I cut my boombox on
[Verse 3: Kendrick Lamar]
Welcome to my world
Back when Martin was the shit and rockin' Deion Sanders kicks with tap-water curls
Surrounded by chaos
Chronic, bottles, insane eyes
A pup lookin' at canines
Yeah, K was like nine
A young buck tryna find his outlet
Could've been an outlaw, Lil Wayne wasn't out yet
Inspired by DMX, inspired my first rhyme
Glad to find a 49er, I done struck a gold mine
Y'all done fucked up, my lyrics like, "Bah, bah"
Then reload, then bah, bah
Until you get fucked up, porno
Lights, cameras, action
I'm 'bout to get it crackin' like the ceiling in your grandma's attic
Bitch, I'm at it all night long
Hong Kong, then that King Kong, and that means
I'm quick to stampede on each and every song
I be, Kendrick, expensive
Lyrics out the ass, you smell what I'm kickin'
Boomboxes, I get wicked
Pull up
[Chorus: Kendrick Lamar]
I still remember the first time
That I ever cut my boombox on
I just lay back and unwind
Whenever I cut my boombox on
[Outro: Kendrick Lamar]
When times is crazy
I look at the stereo and it say, "Play me"
That's when I get ghost, oh
That's when I get ghost, oh
You see, this is my story, my pain, my struggle and fight
And when I wanna get away from life
I cut my boombox on, oh
I cut my boombox on, oh (Yo, yo)
