It’s a Hard Knock Life, then you pass away
What make him better than any other
I stare at my brown complexion
Perplexed with the thoughts of racists
Seen you through eyes of vultures
They saying thats common practice
In this case we missing baskets
Ain't steer you down no path better
Remind me to kill yo conscious
The questions will go
Unanswered
Robbed of her soul by her soulless husbands
Who taught her love just to take it from her
Paint a picture better than that Jesus supper
Depict this apocalypse and it put it on a knit sweater
Sell it for cheddar
And tell em the cause was better than anything that they ever did
And when you done with that
Pass me some more sedative
You a relative if you were present
At that point we passed joints
And talked about our future bright
Only interrupt to ask a nigga what's the move tonight
I'm tryna get some coochie bitch
From a bougie bitch
That ah do me right
But this is not on of them movie clip
You could get knocked out twice more times dan
Duck ya head when you see police
Them blue lights sure do shine bright
It must be something in ya jeans
When they treat you like some shit they never seen
Before you make yo premiere to the tv screen
Nigga
For i poke out my chest for I flex it at a gangsta or fiend or....
Fuck the streets
Catch me laced up where the weeds
40 oz singing
With a 3 stack
Out
Continuing with the violence/basketball metaphor, he plays on “blocks” and “open jumpers”.
While people on the blocks of Chicago may have a shot at something to get them out of the city which seems like a sure-thing (like an open jumper in basketball), the unpredictable violence in the area can quickly stop them or get them killed (blocking their shot).
His wisdom will persuade you to reevaluate how you think.
A knit sweater is a typical present that grandmas give to their nephews. Kami creates a contrast between the warm image of holidays at home and the one of the life lived in the streets.
It’s a Hard Knock Life, then you pass away
Combines lines from Jay-Z’s Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem) and Nas’s Life’s a Bitch.
A spin off of the term YOLO that Drake popularized in “The Motto”.
Yeah, you may only live (and die) once, but you can get knocked out/down countless times. Even more than your mother scolds you for being rude.
Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr were both black revolutionaries, but they went about in different manners. While Martin was known for his non-violent protests and peace, Malcolm believed in “By any means necessary.” Going along with that, so Kami is more like Malcolm and has a gun pointed at kings, those above him.
Spike Lee wrote, directed and produced the 1989 film Do the Right Thing in which he also acted for the main character Mookie.
Kami also “does the right thing”, but it’s in real life rather than a movie.
In Chicago, police cars have bright blue lights instead of the typical blue and red of cop cars in other areas.
He sees these people as tireless scavengers intently waiting to pick clean the very last piece of his motivation.
The “last supper” is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world.
In reference to Jay Z’s song “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” and its album Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life, Kami describes the tough life that is growing up in Chicago which he compares to a “non stop fight”
Kami gets personal depicting the strife of his mother here. Her story feels like the subject of a Tupac song. Raised by a single mom who was taken advantage of by the men in her life. The through-line of these bars is “soul”. For all the soul lost by his mother’s lost love, Kami is filled with it, as you can hear on this track.
This is a plug for Kami’s upcoming album SMOKE which will be released sometime in 2014.
Due to gang violence, morals in a rough place such as Chicago won’t benefit you to leading a better life.
It really is a tough city:
In Kami’s hometown of Chicago closed casket funerals are “common practice” because of the gang and gun violence in the city. Gunshots are constant and the only thing you can count on.
While it is usually preferable to have an open casket so you can see your deceased loved one a last time, here many bodies are so shot up that they can’t be restored to viewable condition.
Also, notice the basketball wordplay:
- Gun shots/jump shots
- Funeral practice/basketball practice
- Missing loved ones/missing jump shots
All about the emphasis.
When just reading this, Kami is talking about dodging cops. If the sirens are rolling up on you, it’s a good idea to get down.
But, when you listen, you can hear Kami say the word police like po-lice. Clever here, because by saying head, Kami is setting himself to subtly say lice, aka the critters that occupy scalps everywhere.
He doesn’t care about his haters' feedback or negative thoughts. All that matters to him is that his family is eating and that his true fans are digging his music.
The flawed opinions of racists has left him perplexed to the point in which he can barely comprehend their fabricated views.
With this he struggles when meeting new people, especially those of differing race.
Cuffs (Handcuffs) Jeans/Genes…get it? DUBBLE ON TUNDRA.
This is about survival, not stunting. Kami’s circumstances provide little opportunity – it’s mostly a dead end. He just needs money to, well, eat.
If you were there for him when he needed you/before he’s been gaining attention, in his mind you’re family aka his relative.
Chukwu is ignorant of what makes the person he’s speaking about better than he is. He speaks of racial superiority, and questions the essence of its existence.
If you’re family – whether it be blood or homies – Kami is going to hook you up and make sure you’re eating and taken care of.
You already know that he and his SaveMoney crew are eating.
