| Ghetto boys
|
| Die by twenty-five
|
| Or catch a quick three-to-five
|
| From a young white Canadian
|
| Wannabe G’s perspective
|
| Baby baby
|
| Reminiscin' back
|
| To when I wanted to be part of gangster rap
|
| To be a gangster, or not to be a gangster, that is the question
|
| Do you find it impressive or do you find it offensive?
|
| Well now I find it offensive, but if I go back to the exact moment
|
| My own hormonal clock ticked over into adolescence
|
| God damn! |
| I don’t understand these rules, man
|
| It’s like they’re just designed to hold me back, but gangster rap
|
| Now that seems cool, yeah, that Ice Cube attitude
|
| And 2 Live Crew, like «Unh me so horny» — yeah me too!
|
| I just wanna screw everything that moves, but these high school chicks
|
| Man, is it me or do they only like guys who act like huge dicks?
|
| I’m lookin' for role models and all I can find is Bruce Willis
|
| And Slick Rick, and my parents want me to plan for the future?
|
| Man, fuck that! |
| What I need is some swagger to compete with these bastards
|
| For female attention — I’m not tryin' to get a teenager pregnant |
| But at least me and my henchmen need to be seen as contenders
|
| And these gangsters on TV, man, they could be our secret weapon
|
| I mean, I’m not a killer, but I roll with some pot dealers
|
| So yeah, I’ve got a rebellious side, and I bet lots of these guys
|
| Who live in villas are about as real as the zombies in Thriller right?
|
| Obviously I was vanilla, but I just had this feelin'
|
| This visceral attraction to rap; |
| it was just like I just had to listen
|
| Plus I was an avid mimic, so I guess my gangster obsession
|
| Made me a poster boy for the natural selection of inaccurate perceptions
|
| The evolution of self-deception
|
| Emulating ghetto boys
|
| Even if we’re not in ghetto streets
|
| Exaggerating the threat of violence
|
| It’s a state of mind
|
| That dictates reality
|
| Evolution has no foresight
|
| It moves like a person through a dark forest by torchlight
|
| With no map, no compass, no divine oversight
|
| So we can’t expect it to behave nice or known what’s right
|
| Suppose you knew your death would be on March 17th when you’re 73 |
| What kind of person does evolution predict you would be?
|
| It predicts men will breed slightly more promiscuously and women
|
| Slightly more selectively ‘cause their investment is relatively extreme
|
| But since co-parenting is so very beneficial
|
| To your adorable little genetic vessels, the sexual
|
| Differences are often negligible — what the longevity really predicts
|
| Is a constant investment in your long-term potential
|
| You would plan for the future, and be a contributor to your community
|
| And make a long-term winner out of a short-term loser
|
| Now imagine you knew you would die at thirty-five
|
| What does evolution predict that you would do to survive
|
| And reproduce? |
| If you’re a man, it predicts you would fight
|
| Thug life, fuck the world, yeah, what, ready to die
|
| Why? |
| ‘Cause these young girls get pregnant quick
|
| And if they don’t, well then they don’t get to spend much time with their kids
|
| And they only hook up with the guys that are rich
|
| The ones who cut throats and leave their victims to die in a ditch |
| So why are adolescents prone to pro-gangster biases?
|
| Maybe because they don’t know how long they’re likely to live
|
| Emulating ghetto boys
|
| Even if we’re not in ghetto streets
|
| Exaggerating the threat of violence
|
| It’s a state of mind
|
| That dictates reality
|
| So what up G, are you a real G or just a studio G?
|
| How many people do I have to body for you to believe?
|
| None really, it’s a front really, I just want you to feel me
|
| In reality I’m a civilian, I think thuggin' is silly
|
| But if I’m bein' threatened, then hell yeah I can be aggressive
|
| I’ll fight you straight up, unless you come at me with a weapon
|
| ‘Cause weapons are the democratization of physical strength
|
| So I’ll pack a weapon too, except I’ll fill it with blanks
|
| I’ll just use it for threat displays, but if I get tested
|
| Then I’ll get disgraced, so it’s time to go load up the tech and spray
|
| Mutherfuckers like Scarface, yeah, Tony Montana — explode some shells!
|
| My threat level is more effective the less I know myself
|
| ‘Cause these dogs can smell fear, so I’m fearless, hell yeah |
| I’m a twelve-year-old gangster; |
| you better steer well clear
|
| And that’s how you go from a well-intentioned adolescent male
|
| To another thrill-seeking statistic in jail
|
| But hip-hop culture isn’t about causing harm for no reason
|
| In a way it’s an artistic arms-control agreement
|
| I thought it was survival of the fittest, but instead it
|
| Turned out to be survival of the illest lyrics in the minds of listeners
|
| So now my ex-gangster obsession gets exapted
|
| To something less graphic, like trading Gladiator for X-factor
|
| So instead of bellyaching on the generation gap
|
| Why don’t you try bangin' some gangster rap and see if it takes you back |