Slippin' Away

[Verse 1 - Brother Ali] I arrived in Minnesota with handcuff bruises Summer ninety deuce, prepared to cut loose shit Mom wasn't havin that, fuck bein cool With no discussion, stuck me in a suburb school Now day and night I'm on a bus full of fools Who parents didn't want us ended up in the news You must be crazy, you think any of us appreciate it How our parents wanna upgrade us All day long we're in a fantasy land Moms and dads, college plans and minivans But when the sun set, you fled the success To the slum where you rest, nothin more, nothin less School they fantasize about gangsta rap records But these are our lives, our families are connected The Ice Cube summer vacation is takin place Right around the way from where I stay The mold from the gold and the 'rips from L.A Brought, snow to the cold for a new place to play There's a war goin on outside, you ain't safe from See if this education might save 'em [Hook - Brother Ali] - 2X I've known you your whole life You drawn to that street life Slippin away, slippin away Slippin away, slippin away [Verse 2 - Brother Ali] And so our little city bus crew used to run together Eat lunch together, girls Double Dutch together Fellas humbuggin, next day be friends The only thing we never did was date from within Fellas dated white girls, sisters stayed lonely Used to kiss me on my cheek and say we were homies Alphonso basement, we ran the party One day on the bus, Pumpkin stabs Akey Shit, my main man was Ethan Used to sell sneakers at a store called Friedman's He had two older cousins that were hustlers Filas wasn't all he pumpin to the customers He got a check but he got connects So he got some chicks and he got respect His boy Ali got hooked up with clothes One day slap boxin, he broke my nose He almost cried man, he had a good heart The brother's only problem was he wasn't book smart He dropped out of school but he kept slangin shoes To keep the kids fed, he had to sell base too [Hook] [Verse 3 - Brother Ali] Time to time I used to stop in and check on my dude Even when we lost touch with the rest of our crew We both had babies, drama with our old ladies But as time went on, our connection only grew He said "I just can't seem to leave these streets alone man Feels like I fell asleep one evening And woke up the next day suddenly a grown man In a rut with no idea how to leave it My parents got too many kids to help me through I really don't know what the hell else to do I know you gonna really get it crackin with that rap thing And when you blow up, I'm a come and work for you" Ha, that's my man, I see you when I see you brother Keep your head up 'til the next time we see each other Rolled out on my first national tour Back on the block, went back to the store Put my hand on the door, Ethan wasn't in though They said somebody shot 'em through his front window Hit 'em in the head and that he hadn't survived Matter fact he died 'fore the ambulance arrived A man in that life, it wasn't no mistake The cops called it a stray bullet, closed the case So there's no justice and there's no closure You can't touch this, not you, no sir They buried my brother, I was on the road By the time I got home, the ground was cold Got nothin left but a hole in my soul Shit, dude was 23 years old [Hook] Slippin away, slippin away - 3X