The Ghetto According to "Loumoste"

The ghetto that's all she knows

cuz as she rose
she was taught that tight
fittin' clothes got her
dem universal negroes
and if she let them refer
to her as a hoochie or ho
and gave em' a lil sex
then she would earn their respect.

But last I checked
A real man would understand
If she wanted work for
What she got, and didn't
Use the prize between her
Thighs to attract his kind.

But I guess I checked
The wrong status sheet
Because it appears that Daddy's lil' girl
Has become the neighborhood freak.

But I'll teach the neighborhood freak
How to speak her mind
And know even in her darkest times
She can still climb out of her hole
And regardless if the world knows about
Her Victoria Secrets or
Street life she chose to live
There's other ways to get paid
And there's other ways to give...

The Ghetto that's all he knows
Cuz as he rose he was taught
A hustle and rather than struggle
With a penny 9 to 5 paying $4.25
He was taught what the streets thought
Was the way to survive...
But I guess he was taught the wrong lesson
Cuz now he's doing 25 to life
And even though he never married
On one April Day while trying to escape
He took another man's wife
And now that family has to live
With that grief because he couldn't
Kick his hustle habits and
Get himself off the streets.

But I'll teach the Ghetto hustling geek
That he doesn't need the streets
To get back on his feet,
Because an intelligent mind
Doesn't need to sniff lines
And an intelligent man
Doesn't need a gun in his hands.

The Ghetto...some say
That's all they'll ever know
Because as they grew
That's all they knew,
And the gated fence on the outside
Of the hood got them convinced
Ain't way out and since that's
All they understood it became
Their way of life

And now instead of breaking the bars
To get out they're opening the gates
To let more in
Because the Ghetto is...
As Ghetto kids...
As in the Ghetto they live
They feel their only friend...