Room With a View
Brother Ali Lyrics

One side of the street, is Malone's Funeral Home and the
On one side of the street, there is a funeral home owned by Malone and on the

Other side's a library, try very hard to picture this shit
On the other side of the street, there's a library and it's hard to imagine the contrast

Walk through where I live at
Let me tell you about the neighborhood where I live

Where parents are embarrassed to tell you they raise they kids at
Parents here are hesitant to disclose that they raise their children in this environment

You'll need some half and half over 8 bar you can get that
If you need some half and half, it's available over the 8-bar

Fuck with Little Rodney and you'll get all of your ribs cracked
If you mess with Little Rodney, you'll end up with broken ribs

In a location where slanging crack rock is not seen as a fuckin' recreation but a vocation
In this neighborhood, selling crack is considered a profession not a hobby

And the cellars, and the smoke is a ????
The cellars in this area have a strange smoke emanating from them

Got one eye on Minneapolis P.T. they both racin'
The environment in this inner-city area is comparable to that of the city of Minneapolis

3 for 50 is the supply and demand, and the
The cost of 3 drugs for $50 is the going rate and

Twin Cities' American heartland, and they
This area is a part of the American midwestern region known as the Twin Cities' heartland, and

Been busy, masterminds tearing apart plans
There are geniuses working hard to disrupt and dismantle plans here

And hoop dreamers ballin' with blisters on they hands
Basketball players here play with so much passion that their hands are covered in blisters

With chains danglin' from the rims
Basketball nets here have chains instead of nets hanging from the rims

Pain strangles 'em from within
They feel a lot of pain internally

Till' the belt around the arm makes the veins stand at attention
Until drugs are taken causing veins to become pronounced on the arm

I try to block it out with a bed sheet the moonlight's as a curtain
I try to block out the world with a bedsheet while the moonlight acts as a curtain

'Cause I'm not comforted by red and blue lights when I'm hurtin'
Cop cars don't provide any comfort when I am in pain

Mommy loves you yeah I knew but I wasn't certain
My mother says she loves me but her actions make it hard to believe

'Cause the lenses through which she views life wasn't workin'
Her perspective and outlook on life aren't functioning well

As a boy she told me wait till' your father to come home
My mother always told me to wait until my father comes home

I'm 24 still waitin' for my father to come home
I'm still waiting for my father to come back, even at 24 years old

And some parents only touch they children when a whips brought
Some parents only touch their children when they are disciplining them with a whip

That's why bad kids do bad shit, just so they could caught
This cycle of abuse is why some kids act out just to get caught and receive attention

And get touched, this growing up shit's rough
This type of attention can be damaging and growing up in this environment is difficult

That's a big part of why were so mixed up
This is a significant factor in the confusion and problems that we face

Shit we don't have Bar Mitzvah's
We don't have cultural rituals such as Bar Mitzvahs

We become men the first time our father hits us
In this community, boys become men for the first time they are beaten by their fathers

And we don't open gifts up
We don't receive presents like other families

Sister Regina from across the street is beautiful
A woman named Regina across the street from me is attractive

But for 50 bucks ain't nothing she won't do to you
Regina is a prostitute and for $50 she will perform any sexual act

Used to be premium pussy now she used up
Her sexual value has decreased over time

For that same 50 bucks she got to do some new stuff
She has to do more extreme sexual acts for the same amount of money

Whatever it takes for you to take the dollars out
Regina is willing to do whatever it takes for her customer to give her money

If you don't intervene then there's a day she'll turn her daughter out
If someone doesn't intervene, Regina may force her daughter into prostitution as well

Speaking of kids I'm fixing lunch for my first born
I am making lunch for my first child

I had the windows wide open 'cause the weather's warm
I opened the windows because it's warm outside

That's when the greatest hits of Donnie Hathaway
I was listening to the greatest hits of Donnie Hathaway

Got interrupted by a drive-by shooting half a block away
Gunshots from a drive-by interrupted my music session, which happened half a block away

Vaheem was in the window, he didn't get hit though
Vaheem was standing by the window when the shooting happened, but was not hit

All please due to Allah
Everyone was safe due to the grace of Allah

I see all this from the desk that I write my rhymes from
All of this can be observed from my writing desk

Pen starts to scribble on it's own my minds numb
My pen starts to write on its own as my mind goes numb

But you can call me modern urban Norman Rockwell
I see myself as a modern-day Norman Rockwell, reflecting the struggles of urban life

I paint a picture of the spot well
I am able to paint a vivid and accurate picture of this location