Get Down
J. Sands Lyrics

New York streets where killers'll walk like Pistol Pete
The streets of New York are so dangerous that even cold-blooded killers like Pistol Pete walk around without fear

And Pappy Mason, gave the young boys admiration
Pappy Mason, a street legend, was admired by the young boys in the neighborhood

Prince from Queens and Fritz from Harlem
Prince from Queens and Fritz from Harlem were both street legends

Street legends, the drugs kept the hood from starving
Street legends were able to keep their neighborhoods from starving by selling drugs

Pushing cars, Nicky Barnes was the 70's
Nicky Barnes made a name for himself in the 70s by trafficking drugs in luxury cars

But there's a long list of high-profile celebrities
Many celebrities have also been involved in the world of drugs and crime

Worldwide on the thorough side of things
The drug game is prevalent all over the world

Livest kings, some died, one guy, one time
There were once powerful drug lords who ruled the street, but some died while others were taken down by the authorities

One day grabs me, as I'm about to blast heat
One day, a man stopped him just as he was about to start shooting

40-side of Vernon, I turned well he asked me
He turned onto 40th St. and Vernon, where the man stopped him and asked what he was doing

"What you up to, the cops gon' bust you"
The man warned him that the cops were around and he could get caught

I was a teen drunk off brew, stumbled I wondered
As a teenager, he was drunk and stumbled around while wondering if the man was a sign from God

"If God sent him, cause two squad cars entered the block"
He thought the man who stopped him might have been sent by God because two police cars showed up soon after

And looked at us, I ain't flinch when they watched
He didn't flinch when the cops looked at him and the man he was talking to

I took it upstairs, the bathroom mirror, brushed my hair
He went upstairs and looked in the bathroom mirror, brushing his hair

Staring at a young disciple, I almost gave my life to what the dice do
As he stared at his reflection, he thought about how close he came to risking his life by gambling

Yeah man, throwing them bones
He had been playing dice, or "throwing bones"

Hoping my ace get his case thrown
He was hoping his friend would be found not guilty in court

His girl ain't wait for him, she in the world straight hoeing
His girlfriend didn't wait for him and was now selling her body

While he looking at centerfolds of pretty girls
While in prison, he was looking at pictures of beautiful women

Showing they little cooch, gangstas don't die he's living proof
Even though he was in prison, he knew that gangsters don't die and he still considered himself "living proof"

The D.A. who tried him was lying
The district attorney who prosecuted him was not telling the truth

A white dude, killed his mother during the case
A Caucasian man killed his mother during his trial

Hung jury, now the D.A. is being replaced
The jury couldn't reach a verdict and now the district attorney is being replaced

Pre-trial hearing is over, it's real for the soldier
The pre-trial hearing is finished and now the soldier is facing the full trial

Walks in the courtroom, the look in his eyes is wild
As he walks into the courtroom, his eyes are filled with anger and intensity

Triple-homicide, I sit in the back aisle
He is sitting in the back of the courtroom, watching a trial for a triple homicide

I want to crack a smile when I see him
He feels like smiling when he sees the defendant on trial

Throw up a fist for black power, cause all we want is his freedom
He wants to show solidarity with the defendant by raising his fist in support of black power and wanting him to be freed

He grabbed a court officer's gun and started squeezing
The defendant grabs a gun from a court officer and starts shooting

Then he grabbed the judge, screams out, nobody leaving everybody
He takes the judge captive and demands that nobody leaves the courtroom

Some niggas fuck they enemies in they ass when they catch 'em
Some people go to extreme lengths to punish their enemies, including sexually assaulting them

Weird-ass niggas are dangerous, so don't test 'em
People who are strange or unpredictable can be dangerous, so it's best not to provoke them

They make you, disappear, this a year that I won't forget
They have the power to make you disappear or kill you, and he won't forget how dangerous they are

Sold CD's double platinum, met mo' execs
He successfully sold many records and met many music industry executives

Southern niggas, independent label, real killers
Southern rappers who owned an independent record label and were known to be real killers

Know the business, ran Tennessee for years, now they chilling
They were able to run their operation for a long time and now they can relax

They had the coke game something crazy
They were heavily involved in cocaine trafficking

Sold music out the trunk of they car, that shit amazed me
He was impressed with how they were able to sell their music out of the trunk of their car

Put me onto heron blunts, sherm or something
They introduced him to drugs like heroin and PCP

Took a puff, what the fuck, I turned to punch them
After trying the drugs, he became angry and wanted to hit them

Southern niggas ain't slow, nigga tried to play me
He realized that the Southern rappers weren't to be underestimated, after someone tried to deceive him

I left from around them dudes, they cool but they crazy
He decided to distance himself from the Southern rappers because even though they were cool, they were also crazy

Now I'm back around the old school that raised me
He's back around the old school that taught him about the streets

New York gangstas, we lounging, out in L.A. see
He's in L.A. with some New York gangsters, just hanging out and relaxing

A dude wrote my dawg from Pelican Bay
One of his friends in prison writes to him from Pelican Bay

The letter say, "Nas I got your back, the fools don't play"
The letter assures him that his friend has his back even though there are dangerous people in prison

I rolled with some Crips down to a Crenshaw funeral
He went to a funeral in Crenshaw with some members of the Crips gang

Never saw so many men slaughtered and I knew the ho responsible
He witnessed a lot of violence and knew who was responsible for it

The nigga still alive in a hospital
The perpetrator is still alive and in a hospital

Midnight they crept in his room and shot the doctor too
In the middle of the night, someone snuck into the perpetrator's hospital room and killed his doctor too

See my cousin's in the game, thugging and things
His cousin is involved in the same kind of illegal activity

He plugged me with a dame who was half-Mexicano
He connected him with a woman who was half-Mexican

Gave the ass up, I'ma mack daddy Soprano
She slept with him and he considers himself a pimp, like a character from The Sopranos

She passed me the indigo, but the imbecile
She handed him a blunt, but he considered her an idiot

Should of never tippy-toed, thought my eyes were closed
She shouldn't have been sneaky around him and he knew what she was up to

Opening the hotel room do', to let her goons in
She tried to let some of her friends into his hotel room

But I moved in a manner, on some Jet Li shit
He moved quickly and skillfully, like a character from a Jet Li movie

I let the hammers blow, wet three kids
He pulled out a gun and shot three people

See honey thought I had something to do, with all the drama
The woman thought he was the cause of all the commotion

Cause I was with a crew, that had her people killed
She thought he was with a group of people who had killed some of her associates

Called up my cousin, told him I ain't fucking with you
He called his cousin and told him he didn't want to be involved in illegal activity anymore

He responded cool, but told me out here this how motherfuckers
His cousin responded calmly, but reminded him that this is just how things are in their world

All I really gotta say is that
The artist is about to make a statement

If that's how our people gon' get down, how we ever gon' get up?
If we continue to engage in criminal activity, how will we ever progress as a community?

How we ever gon' get up if that's how we get down?
If the cycle of violence and illegal activity continues, how will we ever be able to improve our situation?

A shame when you ain't look at it
It's a shame when people don't see the consequences of their actions

My folk is yo' folk, but we all kinfolk
We are all part of the same community, so we should treat each other like family

Somebody gotta make a change
Someone needs to take action to break the cycle of violence and illegal activity