Something To Hold Onto

[Intro] Bismillah Surah 115 I'm trying to find that missing note While you niggas is at the club looking for pussy I'm try- I'm looking for the missing note [Verse 1: Jay Electronica] As I scratch the last days off the calendar Niggas roam the streets with heavy metal like Metallica Pistols with the silencers, killing soldiers softly The crime pays a little but the consequence is costly My cousin, I love him, we go back in the days But now he struggle with the monkey and he trapped in a maze I still care for him, to tell the truth I'm kinda scared for him Cause when he conscious, he in rare form But that's the story of his life, getting locked up or shot up Or in somebody's kitchen on the block cooking rocks up I think he lost hope when he seen them lock his pops up Or when he seen his sister babyfather get his knot bust My grandmother complain and tell him make a change But her thinking is outdated she can't understand the game Syeah, hard time three to nine in a jailhouse Is no different from slaving nine to five in a warehouse [Hook] There's a lot of shit going on up in my hood I thank God I'm alive, homey knock on wood Yea though I walk through the valley of death I know the lord got my back with every step You see nothing here surprises me I got a whole lotta soldiers down to ride with me But lord please give me, something to hold on to Something to hold, I need something to hold [Verse 2: Jay Electronica] Yo in the projects shit is mad real for the youth Niggas get ill for the loot The more guns ya bust, the realer your crew Cats carry gats concealed in they suits Whether cee-loo craps or Macs gorillas may shoot When the eyes meet don't steer wrong and don't stare long Cause niggas'll kill for that, when they be full of heroin It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder How crews remain standing once the AK's thunder Under the slum roof tops, career thugs cook rocks, then hit the blocks To make a killing plus fame, man, they loving this game It's mega action; the trees stay hot like saunas Shorties with fly hair-dos get dipped to play the corner Summer time they shine block parties galore So many soldiers die, they buy a separate forty to pour I knew this kid Larry; niggas thought he was poor But he had cream for days, ran a solid scheme with K's AKs with the banana clips, rubber handle grips The same nigga that got Randal hit, he living scandalous He used to pop no-doz so he won't be caught sleeping And he couldn't even walk around the block cause he was beefing I say that to say this, that's ghetto everyday shit Where slugs miss chipped bricks leave scars on chicks It's kinda trife right now, but that's the life right now And way back it was a half-assed trife like now [Hook] [Verse 3: Jay Electronica] Peace god what's today's math, just trying to escape wrath; With two left feet, it's kinda hard to walk a straight path Soldiers laying in gutters from God to greed My old dad left momdukes and scarred his seed We all family, but seemingly these cats can't stand me Haters gonna hate be it a Lexus or a Camry, understand me But do the knowledge first, swallow my verse Which is my universe, God obeys no thirst Fallen angels in the ghetto trading in they wings for things Semiautomatic machines with red beams Street magicians converting the crack into cream Sat back saw 'em turn Black Zack to a fiend He's a teacher, had a fly daughter named Lakeisha If you hustle, have a beeper, smoke reefer, you can freak her I seen her giving head inside the club behind the speaker Last year she had three abortions for the preacher And one miscarriage for this kid they call Harris He told her that her loved her and he's moving her to Paris She fell for it Touched the third rail for it (uh) And next year she would've been sixteen Once told me that she wanted to go to God, get clean So she could be a role model for her brother Eugene He's a beautiful seed, eight years and can't read At night, his asthma so bad he can't breathe He wants to be an astronaut, and fly to space But his teacher told him that he just ain't go what it takes So he cried while the other kids played at lunch break What will it take to raise our mind-state? [Hook x2]