I used to think that this song was actually making a mockery of the cowardly mindset presented with lines like, "One weapon to the four of us, hidin' in the corridor until we see the beam from car headlights," and, "If you claimin' gangsta, then bring on the system and show that you ready to ride."
I also used to think it was mocking the "perpetually subjugated" mental philosophy with lyrics like, "Hell yeah, right there for the takin'. Fuck welfare, we say reparations," and, "Where I'm from doin' dirt is a part of living. I got mouths to feed, dawg, I gots to get it."
Yet now I'm not so sure. Maybe it is just to be taken at face value as a litany of things one is forced to do as a poor person. If that is the case, then I feel that the song loses a lot of depth and spoils what could have been an enlightening yet ironic message about self-reliance and fighting the squalor of your life through more honorable means.
I used to think that this song was actually making a mockery of the cowardly mindset presented with lines like, "One weapon to the four of us, hidin' in the corridor until we see the beam from car headlights," and, "If you claimin' gangsta, then bring on the system and show that you ready to ride."
I also used to think it was mocking the "perpetually subjugated" mental philosophy with lyrics like, "Hell yeah, right there for the takin'. Fuck welfare, we say reparations," and, "Where I'm from doin' dirt is a part of living. I got mouths to feed, dawg, I gots to get it."
Yet now I'm not so sure. Maybe it is just to be taken at face value as a litany of things one is forced to do as a poor person. If that is the case, then I feel that the song loses a lot of depth and spoils what could have been an enlightening yet ironic message about self-reliance and fighting the squalor of your life through more honorable means.