Drowning
Native Guns Lyrics

Christine young queen from around the block
Introducing Christine, a young woman from the neighborhood

Walking through the neighborhood to the sounds of pop
Christine enjoys strolling around while listening to popular music

If you seen her off the top, you would say she looks so lovely
Christine's appearance is pleasing to the eye

But everyday she tell herself she was so ugly
Despite her looks, Christine believes she's unattractive

Say her butt was too big, nose too flat
Christine criticizes herself, claiming her features are imperfect

Skin too dark and lips too fat
She's dissatisfied with her complexion and lip size

All that blush and eyeshadow just to cover the fact
She uses makeup to hide her insecurities

What was hiding under that was her stuck in a trap
Christine feels trapped by her low self-esteem

Wanted to look like a model in a magazine
She aspires to have the appearance of a magazine model

Didn't care if Martin Luther King had a dream
She's willing to go to great lengths to achieve her desired look, even if it goes against MLK Jr.'s message

All she wanted was a reason for some self-esteem
Christine seeks validation to feel confident

And to think Christine was only seventeen
Despite her young age, Christine struggles with self-image

Started seeing white dudes to make her feel special
Christine seeks validation from white men to boost her self-esteem

Started to take the self-hate to another level
Her self-hate intensifies

Alcohol to weed, weed to cocaine
Christine turns to drugs and alcohol to cope with her insecurities

Whatever it would take so she could feel no pain
She uses substances to numb her emotional pain

Her freedom never came
Christine remains trapped by her insecurities and substance abuse

Pipe to her fat lips, needle to her vein
She resorts to using heroin to escape her problems

And with emotion silently, she said 'Ready, Aim'
Christine contemplates suicide with a sense of detachment

Looked in the mirror and put the heater to her brain
She kills herself by shooting herself in the head

Fifteen, just a boy, and he's tattooed up
Introducing a 15 year old boy with tattoos

Bald head, brown skin, he had an old man gut
He has a distinctive appearance

Had an old man strut from many years in the hood
The boy walks with the confidence of a seasoned veteran of the neighborhood streets

His presence by itself had the police shook
The police see him as a threat based on his appearance alone

Cause he was young, he was brown, he was down with the set
The boy's association with a particular group puts him in danger

But that aint really what had the police upset
The police have a different motive for targeting him

See, at sixteen he was so far up ahead of his grade
The boy is intelligent

He's the hope of the ghetto, he's gonna get us all saved
People have placed their hope in the boy as a beacon of change for their disadvantaged community

Straight A student, he was graduating early
He excels academically and is graduating early

Full scholarship to any Cali university
He has earned a full scholarship to a university in California

So early Thursday, January 30, knocks came
The police raid his home on January 30th

Lone gunman on the loose, and he kinda got the same frame
The police suspect the boy is the suspect of a recent gun-related crime due to his similar appearance

He went to trial at the age of sixteen
The boy is tried in court at only 16 years old

And the judge seen him fit as doing adult things
The judge sentences the boy as an adult, despite his age

So as they raped him in prison
The boy experiences sexual assault while incarcerated

Little boy doing life
He is sentenced to a life term in prison

He could only escape by wondering what college was like
The only escape from his reality is daydreaming about the college experience he'll never have

I'm Drowning
The singer feels overwhelmed and helpless

But I just can't get up
Despite struggling, the singer can't find a way out of their situation

Gasping for a little quick breath before my body gives up
The artist is exhausted and struggling to breathe

I'm living like I'm prepared to die
The artist lives each day as if it could be their last

Tell my mama, don't wait up
The singer doesn't want to worry their loved ones about their struggles

Cause I'm battling the beasts tonight
The singer is fighting inner demons and struggles

And the men they made of
The societal pressures and expectations placed on individuals to conform and succeed