The air is still, the heat is rising
Summer time's on the horizon
Little girl with a baby crying
'Cause she's got no food to eat

And it ain't that nobody's listening
And it ain't that nobody cared
It's just that everybody's busy
Looking out for what is theirs

I'm a ******* on the corner
Making very little money
But down the block on the other corner
This ******'s down there getting paid

What's he doing that I ain't doing?
He got clothes and fancy things
Big old car and pretty women
Watch what jealousy and envy brings

On the backstreet, that's where I live
On the backstreets, there ain't nothing positive

Now up the block comes my man, Cee Lo
Say what's happening, how you feel?
He don't care about no [Incomprehensible]
'Cause he's known to keep it real

Peep what's happening down the block?
Yo hood is down, you're taking mine
Cee Lo knows about his business
So he runs it down one time

He get keys straight from Miami
Hooks it up and sells it cheap
You ain't getting nothing but old from Sally
So your prices are too steep

But I got just the thing you need, son
If you really wanna win
Sunlight sparkles on his gold fronts
As he makes this evil grin

Take a walk on down to my crib
And let me show you something new
Now I got loads of guns and ammo
That I bought from this white dude

You could tell that I was down
That I was just the man to see
And he funded me and leased the cheese with
Of artillery on the backstreet

That's where I live on the backstreet, yeah
There ain't nothing positive

Now in his bedroom, it's amazing
He got guns of every kind
He lights a plant and we start blazing
Then I picked the one that shined

It's an old school Calico
Semi auto dark as night
It's just the thing I need
To make my situation tight

So he shows me how to load it
Since I don't know what to do
Aims toward the wall and it exploded
Through this poster of Ice Cube

It brought so much devastation
That it's obvious to me
That is just the thing
To separate your soul from your body

On the backstreet, that's where I live
On the backstreet, yeah, there ain't nothing positive

I went home and started planning
For he might come up at midnight
In the darkness catch him slipping
Take his [Incomprehensible] up, money is life

I'll just catch him as he goes out
To his car to make a run
Now you can't front when you're confronted
With the cold steel of a gun

Midnight comes and I'm moving
On the creep all dressed in black
Wearing a ski mask so he won't know
Who just put him on his back

So I hid behind the bushes
At the people's house next door
3 shots rang out from behind me
And my blood began to pour, no

What? What now, boy?
Told you I was gonna get you, boy
Thought you's gonna catch me sleeping in your dream
Do it hurt? Let's go

Everything happened in one swift action
Should I just couldn't believe
Cee Lo told them what was happening
I been tricked up and deceived

And it ain't that nobody heard it
And it ain't that nobody cared
It's just that everybody was busy
Looking out for what was theirs

[Incomprehensible] city said
What they call the M-C-C
Now I don't really know what that means
But it's what the cops called me

They don't care what happens to me
They don't miss me on the beat
All they know is that there's one less ******

Hanging on the backstreet where I used to live
On the backstreet, there ain't nothing, nothing

The choices you make can make or break you
The choices you make can make or break you
The choices you make can make or break you
The choices you make can make or break you