Yeah,
Mr. Criminal back up in this homie
Got a little message of advice
to all these youngsters today,
you know what mean?
A lot of my homies getting
locked up doing life,
you know what I'm
They never gonna get
out and see their kids
Got a lot of motherfucking
homies that are dead,
laying six feet deep in the ground
And I'm standing here now like,
damn, I've been through a lot,
you know what I'm saying?
I done changed my life
Doing shit for the better these days,
you know what I mean?
Think about it
I'm like Bon Bon,
cause I progress with time
And you can catch me getting faded
in the Cali sunshine
Writing rhymes in my pastime
I used to smoke dimes,
now I'm smoking by the ounce
To help release what's on my mind
Life is full of stress,
I know this world is just a test
People say that I'm lucky,
but I consider it being blessed
Cause I've been through a lot,
this short life has felt long
Grew up way too fast, at age 11
Hitting bars instead of going to school
I admit, I was a fool,
I always broke my curfew
Coming home around 2, age 13
I started robbin' and stealin'
and made a reputation
Of bein' a neighborhood villain
It wasn't very long
until I got caught up by the law
First was probation, that failed,
then off to ju venile hall
I started messin' up bad,
raised my mom, no dad
Aged 14 on my own,
no more livin' as the past
Sometimes I sit back
and reminisce about the old days
I know my family nev er thought
I'd snap out of my old ways
But now, I'm proud to say
I can look at my life
and everything will be okay
From runnin' the streets
to gettin' in the beef
From jackin' and slangin' to robbin' daddy,
no peace
Insane, daily abusing
with pollution in my brain
The time finally came,
I realized I need a change
I had to do something,
my homies helped me out
Let me stay at their house,
they put some food in my mouth
Destructive, indefiant,
plus a brain full of drugs
And all my role models
were dope dealers and thugs
On the run for a while,
the streets corrupted my mind
To be arrested again
was just a matter of time
May 6, 97 was a knock on the door
Police raided where I stayed,
screaming get on the floor
Handcuffed again,
and then my freedom was lost
I had to pay for my cross,
this time of year was the cost
God sends the plagues,
and some were far in the hills
Got into fights all the time,
and started building my skills
Therapy was a must,
thirty weeks and I passed
I took care of that business
so I could get on my fat
Sure enough, time came,
once again I'm released
Sixteen years old,
now I'm back on the streets
Sometimes I sit back
and reminisce about the old days
I know my family nev er thought
I'd snap out of my old ways
But now, I'm proud to say,
I can look at my life
And everything will be okay
From running the streets to
getting into beef
From jacking to slangin'
and robbin' daddy,
no peace, insane
Daily abusing with pollution
in my brain
The time finally came,
I realized I need to change
Kickin' back with the homies,
smokin' out to reminisce
And in a couple of weeks,
probation tested my piss
Sure enough, I failed,
no one to blame but myself
Couldn't believe that
I was back
in juvenile hall behind a cell
But that's the way that it is,
fuckin' up, you gotta pay
Shackled up, I saw the judge,
he threatened me, well, why?
But before that,
things got serious with my girl
She got pregnant
and now I have a son in this world
Started straightening up and
I admit it was hard
Having visions of me dead
and walking in a prison
Yo, what kind of father is that?
Didn't want that for my kids
So now I really started caring
about the things that I did
My mom told me, son, you are almost 18
If you don't work or go to school
You're gonna have to shake the sins
So I did
Moved in with my lady and my kid
Got married in Vegas
and with the parents we live
Started working at 9 to 5
Got a hustle to survive
and when I wasn't busy
I started working on my rhymes
Filled up my rap hook
Took it seriously
Hooked up with high power
Dropped my first CD,
now I got my own spot
with the studio too
Two kids, a couple rising,
always got something new
And little Robert's getting big,
almost 5 years old and big Robert's 21,
rapping, producing straight gold
And my lady just gave birth
to my baby Angelina
Now together they make up
the two angels in me, we the dam
I changed my life and I
got kinda far
And you could do the very same
if you just put it in your heart
A little word of advice
to all these youngsters
out there living the fast life
You know what I mean?
Think about it
Start fresh, fuck the past,
you can never look back
Anything worth having
is worth working for, you know that
Never let another motherfucker
tell you can't achieve your goals
Never let a motherfucker
keep you down,
you know what I'm saying?
Keep your head up, chest out, homie
Advice, Mr. Criminal, I'm out