1
(siren wailing)
My name is S. Lance Ingram.
They used to call me "L."
Or Crazy L from 118th.
Check these streets.
Check with your crew
in the joint.
Find out who I am.
(music playing)
(drums playing)
Man:
Wait for it.
What about Pentium servers?
A lot of our calls are for
upsizing Cisco crossovers.
Yeah.
You know, walk me
through it once, I'm good.
Okay, great, thanks.
We'll get back to you.
You have to fill out
the application online.
Once we check your background
and your references,
then we'll call you
for an interview.
- No jobs, no jobs.
- I'll work the first week
for free.
- Go away.
- No harm, no foul.
- Check it, I'm good.
- Hey, hey. Don't touch
anything.
Come on, man.
Give me a chance.
- Yes, police.
- All right. All right,
I'm leaving.
(drums playing)
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Thank you. Appreciate it.
How are you doing, sir?
Little change,
dollar, smile,
a thumbs up,
high-five.
Anything.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Have a great day.
You've been
a wonderful audience.
Man: When I call your name,
I don't care where
you are in line,
just step forward.
John Hand.
Man #2:
All that DNA bullshit.
I liked it better
in the old days when they
gave you a cup to piss in.
Keep it down, folks.
Gulp down a half
a bottle of vinegar,
your shit will still
come out clean.
Man: Ingram.
Print it
and sign it.
- Find a job?
- Not yet.
- It's been four weeks.
- I've been out there every day.
By rights, I should
put you on a van back
to Green Haven tomorrow.
Go there. 9:00 a.m.
Supervisor's name
is Yolanda Reyson.
A food pantry?
Come on, Mr. Morris,
they had me working
in a mess hall
in the joint
for eight years.
- Then you should be good to go.
- I got two computer
certificates.
I took piano lessons.
You don't see my ass
up in Carnegie Hall.
Be there 8:45,
or I'll cuff you
on the prison van.
Fellas, curfew's at 9:00 p.m.
At 9:05, I lock the door
and you're violated.
Have a good one.
- (chatter in distance)
- (ball bouncing)
Go, go, go, go.
All right, go ahead.
Go, go, go.
All right, these pies,
they should be sliced
and put in trays.
Come on. Let's go.
We should've been
prepping for dinner already.
What's going on over here, huh?
Excuse me.
Half the clients
are gonna starve before
you make this delivery.
Cohen, you better wake up.
You back on drugs?
Just what the clinic
gives me for my nerves.
Mm-hmm.
Santiago's out with the flu.
- And you are high
on tranquilizers.
- I'm fine.
All right, you know what?
Follow me.
Move it.
Okay, you're gonna
take the keys to
van number two
and you are gonna
handle this route.
- I needs to be out by two.
Let's go.
- I can't drive.
Oh, my goodness.
Wow, another useless body.
Okay, do you know
how to run a straight line?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
Then run your butt to the subway
and make the deliveries.
Make the deliveries.
(music playing)
Woman:
I know we didn't discuss
Harlem as a possible local,
but this is such
an up-and-coming--
- It's the hottest new area.
- No, no, no.
- I've heard that.
- And I love this building.
- Woman #2: Wow.
- Woman: Beautiful views
- of both Harlem
and Central Park.
- Man: Nice.
There's a rooftop garden
and a garden in the back.
- Man: Yeah?
- 1.2 million.
- Lovely.
- All right. That's great, Faye.
- This is so nice for Harlem.
- Faye?
Faye: Everything else
around here has been
going for much more,
so you're gonna save
yourself a lot of money.
(music playing)
(chatter, laughter)
- I think they play tonight.
- Yo, I got five on it.
Nah, nigga,
I'm talking 30.
- If you wanna put money up.
- All right, 30, bet.
- You got 30 on it?
- 30.
- Bet on Gunners, nigga.
- All right.
I wanna see the look
on your face when them niggas
lose in the first round.
- Hey, yo, you got that hook?
- Yeah.
- Give it to Ty.
- All right.
Come here, son.
Come here, Ty.
That's you
over there.
I'll talk about it later.
Hold up, hold up.
Grab that nigga's
iPhone, too.
You heard?
Go do that.
- Man, fuck that!
- Yo. What up?
What the fuck you mean,
"what's up"?
Where the fuck you going, nigga?
Tag this motherfucker.
Hit him again!
- Let him know what's up!
- Ah!
Get him on everything!
- Come on, nigga.
- Yeah, Gunner shit, bitch.
- (door opens)
- Let me see some I.D.
- You're blind.
- Are you deaf?
- It got a picture?
- Yes.
- Whose?
- Mine.
Okay, then.
This is Harlem,
you can't be too safe.
22. 23.
Yo, that was 25, son.
Where you learn
how to count, my nigga?
Man, I learned how to count
the same place as you, nigga.
That's not--
I'll show you what I got.
- Yeah, I can
get up there, nigga.
- (laughing)
- A'ight, one, two.
- (grunting)
- All the way up,
all the way down.
- Three.
What's up?
Yo, you up
there, Rodney.
Where the money at?
Where the money?
(chattering)
Excuse me.
Move your ass
out the way.
(doorbell rings)
Hello?
Hello?
Food delivery.
Bread from the Heart.
(sighs)
Ty?
Get your crackhead ass
out of my house!
Police!
Don't make me get my gun.
I'm delivering
your dinner, ma'am.
Bread from the Heart.
Well, you don't knock?
You just walk up in
people's houses?
- I don't know you.
- I did knock.
The door--
the door was wide open.
I keep telling that boy
to close that door.
- Where's Santiago?
- Santiago out sick.
I just-- I just
need you to sign
the delivery paper, ma'am.
Just get--
They put cabbage
on this plate?
That was the menu.
Y'all know I'm allergic
to cabbage.
What the hell
is wrong with you?
Bringing all this nasty food
up in my house.
- You out your damn mind.
- No, you out your damn mind.
- Crazy-ass woman.
- Get your ass out of here.
- Crazy woman.
- You just go ahead and leave!
(chattering)
Ingram.
Been looking for you.
My office.
Eh, it just shutdown on me.
- That's all?
- That's all.
I gotta get my monthly
report out tonight.
Dime.
Paperclip.
Circuit board is loose.
(computer chimes)
This will hold for a while,
but you need to upgrade.
You really know
how to fix these things.
All right. Okay.
I'll come in.
- Hey, man,
I gotta get on that...
- You out of here?
Okay, Cohan, why don't you take
Santiago's route?
I'll go.
You need to be
scrubbing pots and utensils.
I'll do that, too.
(doorbell rings)
(woman humming, gasps)
What do you want?
No salt. No cabbage.
I made the plate myself.
(sighs)
Come on in.
(music playing on TV)
(man talking on TV)
- Thank you.
- So, what you go to jail for?
The only people that
deliver around here
are junkies or convicts,
and you got too many
muscles to be on drugs.
Got locked up
for being stupid.
How much time
they give you for that?
12 years.
Did eight.
- Those are
my grandson's drawings.
- They pretty good.
They gave him an art prize
at his school.
Oh, and that's on
my granddaddy's farm,
down in South Carolina.
Oh, wait.
Let me show you this.
The Showman's Lounge.
I was a barmaid Thursday
through Sunday for 30 years.
You looked good.
- What, I look bad now?
- No. It's just--
No, no, no.
You done put your foot in it.
No, I mean the afro
and everything.
It's too late.
(laughing)
Now, that's
my husband. Al.
I lost him
five years ago to cancer.
And my son Alex.
Lost him to Iraq.
Sorry.
Come sit.
Finish your lemonade.
This show is funny.
Girl, what's you grow
these with, crack?
(continues indistinct)
(door opens, shuts)
Ty.
Excuse me.
Boy, what I tell you about
drinking out of that container?
- Ain't but a little bit left.
- But it don't matter.
This is my grandson Ty.
Lance.
- That's your food.
- He's hungry.
- I'll be all right.
- Let him make a sandwich.
Excuse me?
You got bologna,
bread, mayonnaise.
You better get out of
my darn refrigerator and
mind your own damn business.
This food is for the people
we deliver to.
Yes, and after you
give it to me,
I can flush it down
the toilet if I want to.
- Don't be disrespecting
my grandmother.
- Ty, you sit down.
Ty.
- What?
- Sit down, Ty,
like I told you and eat.
Man:
I fuck Iraqi bitches.
I fuck Spanish bitches.
(chuckles)
- Do you have a light? I...
- (lighter flicking)
- I said there's no smoking.
- You got a light?
Shut the fuck up!
- You don't talk
to me like that.
- Shut the fuck up!
Hey, fuck you! Fuck you!
I fuck white bitches.
I hate black bitches.
Hey, man.
Who won the game?
I said, who won the game?
(grunting)
Yo, L.
How long you been
out the joint, huh?
A few weeks.
Why you acting
all shady and shit?
- Shady?
- Shady, nigga. I ain't stutter.
You seen me coming out
the barber shop the other day,
my barber shop,
and you fucking look
the other way.
- What up with that?
- You said your barber shop?
Yeah, man. I'm trying to make
an honest dollar, all right?
11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
every day, every day.
Damn.
Maybe Moses did part the sea.
You thought I was
still in these streets?
Gonna as you to do
some dumb shit?
- Nah, a lot of dumb shit.
- (laughs)
What you need, man?
You need anything?
- I'm good.
- Don't lie to me.
I'm good.
Shit, nigga,
you need a gym.
I ain't trying
to get soft.
I'm Jomo the Soft
now, huh?
Soft like this?
Huh?
Soft like that?
Let's see
what you got.
Oh, no. Oh, you got
the kisses going.
Joint been good
to you, huh?
You're all cock-diesel
and shit.
Nigga, wait till you get
some pussy and some
Big Macs up in you.
Not me, brother.
If it ain't rough,
it ain't right.
(laughs)
Oh!
Stay up.
Stay up, soldier.
Man: Dance.
Payday. Anita.
Harris. Don't call in sick.
I know your game.
Gomez. Rodriguez.
My favorite, Cohen.
Yours has a pink slip.
Why you messing
with my head?
Now I have to take
my stress pills.
By yourself
some white T-shirts.
That one's dingy.
(gunshots)
(bullet shell clinking)
- Cock it back?
- Nah, nah, don't cock it back.
(laughs)
(siren chirps)
- Yo. This your phone?
- Yeah, this is my phone.
(overlapping conversations)
- Where's your I.D.? I.D. I.D.
- He's my little bro.
- There's no reason
to arrest him.
- Turn that off.
- They just came out of--
- No need for that, sir.
- I live right here.
- They didn't do nothing, man.
Come on, you're squeezing
his wrists, bro.
- I came from school just now.
- Shh. Quiet.
Turn that thing off.
Turn that thing off right now.
...from school
and I live right here.
My grandmother lives upstairs.
My grandmother lives upstairs.
- They in high school, man.
- Quiet down.
We live right here.
This is our block.
- This is our block, man.
- Excuse me, my man.
Keyboard, printer,
$1,000.
Oh, that's a lot.
Okay, you're nice lady,
so I do every for $900.
This is a refurbished desktop.
It only got
512 megabytes of RAM.
- You get out of
my store right now.
- You're trying to rip her off.
- (dialing phone)
- Yes, police.
- A man is
bothering my customer.
- I know this lady.
- You don't know this lady.
- I'm telling you I know
this lady.
- You don't know this lady.
- Yes, he does.
He's my nephew.
And you tell the cops
to come down here and lock up
your cheating ass.
Come on. Let's go.
(sighs) You can put
everything right here.
There you go.
(sighs) So, you gonna make
a computer in my living room?
- Yep.
- My husband Al,
he tried to make a TV once.
- Did it work?
- No.
Well, this is gonna work.
And you gonna get it
for just 350 and parts.
All right.
(chuckles)
It look complicated.
Ooh!
Oh, that's nice. Oh, yes.
Thank you.
So, tell me how to buy stuff
off the Internet.
Let me finish setting up
your email first.
Now, type in your password.
- T-Y-R--
- It should be a secret.
- Why?
- You don't want people
looking through
your personal information.
What's this,
your work badge?
"S. Lance Ingram."
Don't use my--
don't use my name.
I'm not using your name.
What's the "S" for?
It's just an initial.
It stands for "sir."
My father wanted to
name me Sir Lancelot
so I would be treated
like royalty.
- My mama shortened it
to Sir Lance.
- Oh.
Well, that's better than
your first name being nigga.
Or Junebug.
- (both laughing)
- You're just messing with me.
- Turn around.
- Huh?
Turn around so I can
put in the secret word.
(softly)
T-Y-R-O.
(music playing)
Drink, smoke
- (elevator dings)
- Drink, smoke
Drink, smoke
Drink, smoke...
Yo.
Excuse me.
Oh, oh.
My bad, bro.
Yo, you saw the bitch
come out them niggas?
Yo, true story, son.
Man, these niggas
be acting like they with it.
These niggas
ain't about shit, though.
- You know what we should do?
- What's up?
Hit up some
Spanish bitches, B.
Fuck.
Fuck.
These broke-ass shit
in the fucking projects, man.
Yo, hit your cousin
and see if, uh...
- Tell him elevator's
stuck again.
- All right.
Yo, yo,
chill out, G. Damn.
(laughing)
Yo, this nigga think
he's Spider-Man.
- (gasping)
- Yo, dog, you ain't
never been on
- no broke-project
elevator before?
- Hell no.
That nigga wouldn't have
his head up there if he was.
- (elevator dings)
- (laughing continues)
Yo. Yo.
Yo, don't leave, bro.
Come on.
- Please don't leave.
- Yo, where you going?
Where you going, son?
(coughs)
Smoke, drink
Smoke
Print it... sign it.
- Here you go, Miss Maddy.
- All right.
Now, I want $3 on 5-9-2.
$3, 5-9-2.
And $2 on 4-1-7.
$2 on 4-1-7.
- There you go.
- Sure.
Are you gonna come visit Ghana
when you hit the number?
Oh, if you can't get there
on the bus, I ain't going.
- Okay, good luck.
- All right.
- Thank you.
- Have a good night.
(sighs)
(overlapping conversations)
Gotta let the squad
all take you out,
you feel me?
That's how we get down,
you know what I mean?
If one--
This is 11-6 Gunners right here.
You trying to get down?
What's good?
You and all your homegirls
can bang with us, you feel me?
- Yeah. (laughs)
- Nah, she not with it, though.
- I might with with it.
- Might be?
There ain't no "might bes,"
girl. It's either yes or no.
You either with it or you not.
That's all I'm saying.
- And the answer is...
- Okay, I'm with it.
- (all shout)
- She with it!
Ty, I know
that ain't that boy.
Ty.
- Boy, what I tell you...
- Grandma.
...about wearing
your drooping pants?
And you, too.
You pull up them pants.
What you mean, Grandma?
You don't know me like that now.
Boy, if you gonna show your
butt, I'm gonna smack it.
Now, both y'all, pull up your--
pull up your pants.
Get them pants up,
ugly boy.
- Go.
- Ty, why is you...
- Who is that?
- It's just my friends, Grandma.
Come on, Grandma.
Let's just go home.
I don't know what to say
to you no more. I just don't
know what to do with you.
- (laughing)
- Y'all get your pants up.
(doorbell rings)
- Hello.
- Hi.
Miss Maddy:
Hey, Sir Lance, how you doing?
- Hi, Miss Maddy.
- (computer chiming)
- How's the computer doing?
- Oh, the kids love it.
Ty doing his homework.
- They got a class
in video games?
- (chuckles)
Come on, Sir Lance,
have a seat.
- Your granddaughter?
- My neighbor's granddaughter.
But I've been watching her
since she was a tiny thing.
I have two grandmas.
- So, you gonna
come see me dance?
- You can come any Sunday now.
- 10:45. You can come with me.
- I ain't much for church.
Yeah, that's the same thing
my husband Al said for 42 years.
I wonder what he's telling
the devil right about now.
You saying your husband
went to hell?
I thought the prayers of
your loved ones carried
you through.
Who said I prayed
for his stubborn ass?
Ooh, Grandma Maddy,
you said "ass."
Ass is in the Bible.
Now, turn around.
Now, go on in the back room,
watch TV while I have
my computer class.
Go ahead.
Take that pillow.
Good girl.
(grunts)
(sighs)
- Where you going?
- Out.
You be back
in this house by 8:00.
- You know this
is a school night.
- (door shuts)
He's a good kid.
He just...
needs to be straightened out
every now and then.
Get you a chair
out the kitchen.
- You remember how to look
things up on the Internet?
- Yeah.
What I wanna know is how to
buy things off of this computer.
Well, you gonna need
a credit card or a bank card.
And for some of the sites,
you're gonna have to set up
an online account.
- Let me show you.
- I need you to tell me
what to do
and then I can practice it
on my own, okay?
All right, so, now...
- Go ahead.
- Cool.
- You gonna take the mouse.
- "Take the mouse."
Okay, the mouse.
And you gonna
click the browser.
Click the--
Now, which is the--
What is--
- That white-- the white strip.
- That's that white thing?
- Okay.
- Yeah.
And then you're gonna
enter the website
that you want to go to.
- Then I go into the website.
- Yeah.
- So...
- Well, if...
Most-- No. Most websites,
they start with W-W-W.
Okay, "W-W-W--"
Now, is that little
tiny "W" or big "W"?
Doesn't matter.
It's for World Wide Web.
- Any "W." World Wide, okay.
- Mm-hmm.
But I don't have to type
the whole word.
I just type the--
I don't type "World Wide Web."
- No, just "W-W-W."
- What happens if I type in
"World Wide Web"?
It's probably gonna take you
to some other place.
It-- (sighs)
(laughing)
I said I'm riding in
the motherfucking 'Lac
with the matte black
And the pack stashed
in the back in a knapsack
And a bad bitch to my left,
she ain't mine
A young nigga intercept,
official like a ref
I'm sick of niggas bitching
like them niggas
Got some motherfucking
titties in their chest
Yo, I never leave
the government alone
with my truth
Until we all wear our hoodies
that are bulletproof
Got 50 cent in my pocket,
got me dreaming of dollars
Creating nightmares
so that dreams are
accomplished, I multiply
Where Eminem is up with
the focus, I'm ace of spade
with the rhythm
And I kill your opponent
There's a thin line between
my means and being homeless
Believe me, see what you find
when you lost in that mother
(all cheering)
What, you wrote
that shit in here?
Let me see some of this.
- I draw a little bit.
- Oh, shit, you drew this?
- Yeah.
- Oh, look at this shit.
What, this the homies?
This us?
Oh, shit, this Ronny Ron
ugly ass right here.
Yo, this shit is nice.
Little homie on everything.
So, what, you can draw
like tattoos and shit?
- Yeah, I got you.
- Yo, so look.
Man, I'm trying to finish
all this shit right here, son.
On Gunners,
I'm trying to get the--
Man, I'm trying to get
this shit with all us,
like, on my stomach
right here.
- All right.
- On everything.
I got a question, though.
Which one is me, nigga?
- 'Cause all--
- Man, you know
you the smallest one.
Right here.
(music playing)
Welcome to the jungles of all
jungles, the concrete jungle.
You got the Bartender,
you got Team Mined-up,
and you got the Regiment.
Most of these cats
either did time in the joint,
some was in Iraqi.
Brother right here,
Smokey the Bear.
Smokey the Bear's a fireman.
Might even see
some of these Big Willy
hip-hop dudes up in here.
Let me introduce you
to somebody. Rome.
- Let me holler at you.
- Hey, Jomo.
- What's good, baby?
- You got it, baby.
It's your world.
Good to see you, man.
What's happening?
Good to see you, too, man.
I want to introduce you
to somebody.
- This L.
- What's up, L?
- This is Rome.
- It's Lance.
Rome is like the Jack LaLanne
of hood niggas.
- I call him the Romanator.
- My man.
My man Jomo tells me you into
putting that work, what's up?
I'm just trying to keep
from getting fat, man.
- I hear that, brother.
- He's being modest.
I see that. So, what's up with
hitting some of these reps?
I can't right now.
I gotta get to work.
All right. Cool.
I'ma catch you, man.
- Be easy.
- My man.
- You got it, bro.
- Get it, Rome.
Yo, you gotta network, L.
Some of these cats got a lot
of things going on, man.
Come on now.
Working out in a crowd
ain't really for me, man.
Suit yourself.
You see these
dudes right here?
Let's put this down,
let's put this down here.
Jomo: They got about a grand
riding on who can do
the most pullups.
- I-- I don't gamble.
- Me neither.
I invest.
- Rome, Ninja.
- That's what I'm talking about.
- One more, one more.
- Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
- Got room for one more?
- All right, all right.
Here are the rules, everybody.
Here we go.
(music playing)
Back in '89,
I simply slid into place
Buddy, buddy, buddy
all up in your face
A lot of kids is busting
rhymes but they had no taste
Some said Quest was wack,
but now is that the case?
I have a quest to have
a mic in my hand
Without that, it's like
Kryptonite and Superman
So Shaheed come in
with the sugar cuts
Phife Dawg's my name, but
on stage, call me Dynomutt
When was the last time
you heard the Phife sloppy?
Lyrics anonymous,
you'll never hear me copy
Top-notch, baby,
never coming less
Sky's the limit,
you gots to believe up
in Quest
Sit back, relax,
get up out the path
If not that,
here's a dancefloor,
come move that ass
Non-believers,
you can check the stats
I roll with Shaheed
and the brother Abstract
Niggas know the time
when Quest is in the jam
I never let a statue
tell me how nice I am
Coming with more hits
than the Braves
and the Yankees
Live mad phat
like an oversized mampi
The wackest crews try to dis,
it makes me laugh
When my track record's longer
than a DC-20 aircraft
So, next time that you think
you want something here
Make something def
or take that garbage
to St. Elsewhere
Ingram, get your stuff,
meet me in the parking lot.
(sighs)
I shouldn't be making
these damn drop-offs.
But Santiago bails on me
for a construction job.
You can't drive.
- I need to get some real help.
- I can drive.
Then why have you been
wasting your time
in the subways?
I ain't got no license.
Oh-oh-oh, are you kid--
I'ma-- Get out.
I'm not trying to
violate my parole.
Don't worry about it.
It's all right.
- My brother's
a police sergeant.
- Figures.
- Missy Maddy James?
- Okay.
Excuse me.
Doctor: How's your back
on a scale of 1-10 pain-wise?
Um...
some days,
it can get up to a seven.
- Yeah. Yeah.
- Okay.
All right,
let's take a listen.
- Okay.
- Take a deep breath for me.
And let it out slowly.
- (exhales sharply)
- Okay.
(music playing)
- We got tore up
from the floor up.
- (laughing)
We go up on the deck
of the ship,
and, uh, the moonlight
is bouncing off the water.
- (laughing)
- And the cool breeze
of the island.
Man, it was something.
- There you go, blood.
- Oh, I'll tell you.
You make me look
like new money.
- With the same old story.
- (laughing)
- My man.
- Go to see you, blood.
Good to be seen.
Here, take this right here.
- Okay, brother.
- Khalif, you finished?
- No, sir.
- Well, then keep going,
brother.
All right.
- How we looking, L?
- Just about set.
Computer's running faster,
files are backed up.
Love it.
How 'bout my photos?
You check those out?
I know you did.
Don't lie to me.
Oh.
My man, can you flip that?
You know, rotate it,
make it a screensaver.
Jomo, you messing with
all these women?
Come on, man,
this is just the honey list.
- "The honey list"?
- The honey list.
Come on, man,
I'm single, all right?
I like the drink ginseng,
all right?
Rule number one-- if you got
a gift to share, you share it.
Whether it's cutting hair
or, you know, cutting
something else.
- Got it.
- (laughs)
Let me holler
at you for a minute.
I got something for you.
Take care of you, L.
Come on, man,
that ain't nothing.
Don't sweat that.
Just keep it around
the store for security.
I got shorties in here.
- Here.
- I'm good.
Man, I would be paying
a regular repairman.
So I'd rather pay my friend.
Come here.
Uh, give me a haircut.
- That's how you want
to handle it?
- Yeah.
Dig that.
What are we looking at?
What do we want?
Uh, let's get a little
closer on the sides.
- Closer on the sides.
- Take some off the back.
- Shit! Fuck this shit!
- (controller clatters)
- Busted-ass game.
- Yo, you gonna break
my aunt's TV.
Man, fuck your aunt's TV, too.
She gonna sell it
for some crack anyway.
(laughing)
- I'm hungry as hell, yo.
- Word.
Yeah.
Yeah, let me get an order of
wings and some fried rice.
- Some ribs.
- Some ribs.
- Pepper steak.
- Pepper steak.
- What you want?
- I ain't got no money.
Come on, what you want, nigga?
Wings.
Make that two orders of wings.
460 Malcolm X Boulevard
apartment 14C.
- Like Ching Chou and shit.
- (laughing)
Let me see that blunt, bro.
You smoking it like...
Yo. Here, Ty.
Yeah.
What I tell you?
You know you want this shit.
(coughing)
- 'Bout to get Ty high as hell.
- (laughing)
Yo, go get that food.
You trying to get stripes
or what, nigga?
Take it.
- Yo.
- (man mutters)
- Give it up!
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Yo, shut the fuck up.
Yo, get that nigga's shit.
(man grunting)
Help!
- Yo, pop this nigga.
- Help! Help!
(shouting)
Help! They robbed me!
Hey, go after them!
Hey, boss,
you see anything?
Hey, come here.
You sure you didn't
see anything?
Hey! Come here!
- No!
- Listen.
I'm tired of you and your
little gangster-wannabe boys
doing stupid shit
in my vicinity.
I ain't going back to
the joint for nobody.
- You hear me?
- Yo, man, get off me!
- You hear me?
- (grunts)
Ingram, come here.
You tested positive
for marijuana.
I hear you're doing good
at your job.
You make your curfew
every night.
Why you getting high?
I guess I'm just
a non-deserving fuck-up.
Well, at least you
didn't try to play me
with no dumbass
jailhouse psychology.
Turn around.
I'll write it up as
a category four violation.
The parole board will probably
hit you with six months.
Thanks.
I can't do nothing
with these on.
(computer chimes)
There you go.
I'm gonna let
this one go, Ingram.
You violate again,
I personally drive you
back to Green Haven.
Thanks.
Choir:
When I was down
Out
Lord
He kept me
- (applause)
- That will be
the mark you leave
with your misty,
vapory self
who appears for a little while,
and then is gone.
Be grateful for your life.
Don't get hung up
on what you've done wrong.
Focus on the life you have.
And I dare you,
I challenge you to live.
- Live, live, live.
- (chanting "live")
Live.
The universe...
At the fork in the road
At the end of my rope
In the eye of the storm...
(music playing)
(no audible dialogue)
So, Lance,
what are you doing?
- Eating chicken.
- With a knife and a fork?
Yeah.
I took an etiquette class
while I was away.
This lady volunteered.
She came in a couple times.
- A white lady?
- Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
And she told you
you need to eat
fried chicken
- with a knife and a fork?
- Well, yeah.
She probably had you eating
cornbread with a spoon.
(laughing)
- Ty: Oh, hi, Miss Reynolds.
- Oh, Darlene!
- Darlene, you made it.
- I'm sorry I'm late.
Second services
were long today.
I ain't know
you worked out.
Look...
I'm sorry about the way
I came at you the other day.
Yeah, that was real fucked up,
you know what I'm saying?
Thought about getting my hammer
and put it to your head.
Like I said, I'm sorry.
Well, uh, I tell
the people my best friend
of 20-some-odd years,
he repairs computers,
so they dropped off
their computers.
You decide
what to charge 'em.
Did you ask them
what was wrong with 'em?
Come on, does it look like
my head is made of wood?
No, all right?
They wrote down what
the problem was and they
put their name next to it.
There's the Bible.
I don't have a workshop.
Use the back storeroom.
Just clean it out.
(sighs)
I need some more tools
and a slave computer.
I ain't got
no slave in here.
It's a figure
of speech, man.
I need a good computer
so I can diagnose what is
wrong with the bad ones.
Oh, okay, word.
Like chicks, I get it.
- All right.
- What's your split?
Come on, man, all the times
you helped me out when
I ain't have shit.
You kidding me?
$200 a month
and 20% of what I make.
Okay, L.
150 and 10%,
you got yourself a deal.
You're an ass-backward
business man, you know that?
Mm, I know that.
And you still my hero.
Let's get to work.
Ingram.
- Yeah.
- Curfew.
Time to bring it inside.
Oh, my God.
The damn compressor broke.
Ingram, we're gonna lose
$400 worth of food.
Get the meat, put as much
as you can in the freezer,
and then the rest,
like the milk, the juice
and the eggs,
we'll take back
to my house.
G-Rod:
Anytime you with me, little bro,
you gotta know you Gs, man.
- Everything.
- Ty: All right.
Me and homies done put in
so much work in the past,
like, four-five years,
this whole hood know
that the Gunners got
this shit, you feel me?
You see them niggas across
on that projects over there?
- Uh-huh.
- Man, them niggas used to have
this whole shit booming.
Me, B-Rock, Ronny Ron
came through this shit,
had the whole shit to ourselves.
We got them niggas
over there scared.
Them niggas in them projects
over there scared.
We run this
whole shit, nigga.
As long as you rocking with us,
nigga, you ain't gotta
worry about shit.
- All Gunners, you feel me?
- Yeah.
Fuck everybody else,
you know what I'm saying?
Come on, we're gonna
go smoke some weed.
You could, uh,
put the stuff
in the refrigerator.
There should be room.
Yeah.
(sighs)
You get your license yet?
- I got a permit.
- Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Take the van back to the center.
I'm too tired to drive
across town.
- What if I get stopped?
- Mm.
You tell 'em that you work for
Sergeant Elise's sister.
Police don't care about
relations to the third power.
Oh, gosh.
Okay, so then do an O.J.
- Make a run for it.
- (laughs)
It'll be exciting.
Helicopters flying over you.
Following you
in a food van.
- You got jokes, Yolanda.
- No, I ain't got jokes.
I'm too tired for jokes.
I just keep it real.
I told you,
get a license.
A'ight.
This is about all
that'll fit in here.
Maybe we can give the other
juices to a homeless shelter.
Whatever you want.
- Whoa.
- (chuckles)
Please, can't a girl
get comfortable
in her own place after
a long day at work?
I mean, yeah.
I mean, it's your house.
Come sit.
You know, I'm good.
I don't bite.
Come on, you worked
your ass off today.
Relax.
Where did you do time?
Attica.
Green Haven.
Your girl must be really
happy to have you back.
I, um, I ain't got
a girlfriend.
Mm.
- I'm sorry. Your boyfriend?
- Nah.
Mm.
I'm sure that
you must have, um...
a whole lot of love
inside of you.
You know,
I don't know
if this is cool.
You know, with you being
my supervisor and all.
Oh...
I wonder how cool it is
if I, um...
called your parole officer
and I told him of all the food
that's been missing
and all those hours
that you go AWOL.
Where do you go?
Are you gambling?
Oh...
(clicks tongue)
Are you selling drugs?
You're cold, Yolanda.
I'm not cold.
Just real.
I keep telling you that.
I'm just real.
(exhales sharply)
And so are you.
Relax.
If I never wanted to go
I should've never
got too close
No
You take my arm
I lose my heart
You're so cold
Baby, I know
You ever do clap pushups?
Nah, I don't do all that.
It's easy.
$5 if you do five.
Look at you.
A'ight.
A'ight.
Look at you.
- Give me my 15.
- I said $5 if you do five.
Don't play me.
- Looking mad thirsty, son.
- (scoffs)
They jump you in yet?
The general
give you a number?
Two up--
stab two people.
Two up, one down--
stab two, shoot one.
I used to give
those numbers out.
Make recruits
prove they was loyal.
They was family.
But real family don't
make you jeopardize your future,
you know what I mean?
Yo.
I'm gonna need everyone
to do overtime.
We need to double scrub
the facility.
I just got heads up
that we're up for
an inspection.
Yolanda, I have doctors'
appointments all this week.
Cohen, if you
miss one second
of the scrub down,
I'm gonna have to
kick the air out of
your crack-filled lungs
and leave your body in front
of the unemployment office.
All right, all right,
I'll be here.
That's good.
Everyone's gonna be here.
Good, good--
Good, good, good.
I've been trying to get
that super to fix that leak
for over a year.
(music playing on movie)
Hey, yo, you got my candy?
Move your legs, tall nigga.
Niggas waiting all day, son.
Man, the movie started
'cause you all late, nigga.
Nigga, this is the previews, yo.
Ain't no fucking previews, dog.
This is the main shit.
You don't see it?
My man, calm down.
We missed like five
minutes of the movie.
Man, the first five minutes
is the main shit, my nigga.
That's when they hook you.
You don't know shit
about movies.
Shh!
Yo, fuck you, dog.
I'll make it noisy for real
in this motherfucker.
A'ight?
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, turn around.
That's right.
This money-making man
in Harlem world
Gunner shit.
We talk in movies, bitch.
- (laughing)
- Damn right.
Yo, uh,
let me get some popcorn.
Man, turn around.
I'm watching the movie, man.
Yo, you can't watch
the movie and eat popcorn
at the same time.
Man, you want some popcorn?
Eat the motherfucker.
Yeah, that's hot,
buttery popcorn, nigga.
Eat it before
it get cold, son.
That's good still.
(chuckles)
Now watch the movie,
little nigga.
Damn.
Eat that shit, dog.
Go ahead. Eat it.
Yo, feed him this, too, nigga.
He still look hungry.
- Man, watch the movie, nigga.
- (laughing)
(computer chimes)
Miss Maddy:
Sir Lance?
What are you doing
sitting up here in the dark
like some kind of damn haint?
Why you ain't tell me
you were sick?
Why what?
Do I look like something
wrong with me to you?
I was installing
the antivirus on
your computer
when a messaged popped up
from the clinic
saying it's important
for you to call.
Who you know my age
ain't going to some clinic?
The doctor say
you got terminal cancer
and you refusing treatment.
My doctor?
Why is my doctor
telling you my business?
You know what?
I'm calling Legal Aid on her.
They gone take
her damn license.
Malpractice!
Medical malpractice!
- That's what it is.
- I told them I'm your son.
Sir Lance.
I told you...
My husband Al,
he died from cancer.
All that chemo,
all that radiation
they gave him
made him just waste away
like he was a skeleton.
He died in my arms
right in the bedroom.
But they not
doing that to me.
The doctors say without--
without treatment,
you only got a few months.
Well, them damn doctors
don't know what the hell
they talking about.
They don't know shit!
I got my saba juice.
I got my garlic compound.
I got my cayenne paste.
Got it all right out there.
That shit don't work.
You might as well
get some dog shit from
Central Park and make a tea.
Well, if that don't work...
I got something else
that will.
Come on.
This is it.
This...
What is all this?
This is so I can leave here
as Maddy James.
Not some bald
and sickly-smelling
little ragdoll
with a shit bag
tied to her stomach.
- You talking about
killing yourself?
- You're damn right.
Instead of those stupid
shitty doctors doing it.
You damn right!
- God damn it!
- Miss Maddy, stop it.
- God damn it!
- Stop-- stop!
- God damn it!
- Stop.
God damn it.
(crying)
I'm sorry.
Oh, God.
You know, instead of you
plucking my nerve,
you ought to be
helping me.
Mm-mm.
I mean, all you got to do
is connect the IV,
put the button in my hand,
and then leave.
That's crazy.
- Not for a million dollars.
- I want you to read
these instructions.
This is wrong.
I'm not reading that.
You know you like
building things.
- I'm not doing it!
- Okay!
- Fine.
- Miss Maddy...
Fine.
I thought you were
gonna come by this week.
Uh... I've been busy
working my second job.
Well, you need to handle
your business so that you
can keep your first job.
You ever heard of
sexual harassment?
Is that what they call it
when you're jerking off
on yourself?
This ain't from the food pantry.
This from Bertha's.
Then you eat it.
You mad at me?
I wouldn't starve myself
for no rudy-poody man.
Not even you.
I just don't
have an appetite.
- You're losing weight.
- Thank you.
Miss Maddy.
Go to the corner store
and get me some, uh,
strawberry ice cream.
Not that cheap kind either.
Get some expensive ice cream.
I'll get you some ice cream
if you eat a few bites.
- What do I look like
to you, a kid?
- No.
If you're gonna bribe a woman,
you gonna have to do it
with diamonds.
I'ma get you
some ice cream, then.
(laughing)
Come on, eat a few bites.
It ain't gonna hurt you.
Mm-mm.
- That from a comic book?
- Nah, this from me.
Name is Blaze.
He's a pyrokinetic.
Come with me to the store.
Let's get some snacks.
Nah.
It's a'ight.
(rap music playing)
(chattering)
Can I speak to you?
What?
In private.
(scoffs) Look, man,
we all one voice here.
One nation, you feel me?
So, whatever you got to say,
you can say it.
My name is Sir Lance Ingram.
- (mockingly) Sir lance Ingram.
- (laughing)
But everybody
knows me as "L."
Or Crazy L
from 118th Street.
I want you to check with
your five-star generals.
Have them check with
their older heads
in the joint.
Find out who I am.
Whatever, bro.
Nigga, I know who you are.
You Spider-Man.
- Nigga got on a red shirt, too.
- (laughing)
- (shouting)
- (sirens wailing)
My friend just got arrested.
He got beat, I got beat.
I got a scar still from police.
My hand was split in half.
Got knees busted up
from police, NYPD.
Jomo: The more things change,
the more shit stay the same.
- Harlem, U.S.A., L.
- Yeah.
These kids out here
caught in the middle
of it all.
No, these shorties
are different, L.
Even if we did something
we weren't supposed to do,
we still did it
in a way, you know,
there was etiquette, man.
These shorties got
no rules or regulations.
Just raw. Just--
All emotion, man.
- Thick out here, bro.
- Yeah, it's thick, you know?
Mike Browns
and Trevons everywhere.
Shorties running
from cops same way
you was at 12 years of age.
We was both
out there, bro.
Yeah, I figured
I learned how to run
running from cops, too.
(laughs)
Look at where
you are now, man.
Look at this.
1895 7th Ave.
I always wanted
to have a shop,
you know, around the corner
from where we grew up.
- That was my dream.
- Got your sweet ride.
And you back,
six months out.
Feels good that you
back on the block, man.
It does.
What you need, man?
I know that look.
What you need?
You think you could
get me a little weed?
A little what?
What you say?
(laughs)
I don't know if I
heard you, uh, correctly.
Can you come again?
A little what?
You did say Wii,
the game, right?
That little...
- Yeah, the--
- Yeah? Wii?
- Nigga, I said...
- What you want?
Do you think you could
get me a little weed?
Weed?
- Sir Lancelot is trying
to get light a lot.
- (laughing)
Don't be telling nobody
that shit about that
Sir Lancelot, man.
I won't, bro.
And I got you on the weed.
I can get you a woman, too.
I'm good in the "W" department.
Wireless, women, weed,
what you need, huh?
- I don't want your leftovers.
- Oh, true.
- I got one for you, though.
- What?
- Oh, yeah.
- Fair exchange.
Done deal, brother.
When you puff,
hold it for a sec.
Boy...
I've been smoking reefer
before you was even an itch
in your father's pants.
(laughs, coughing)
Sorry.
Okay.
I'ma go in the other room
so I don't fail my drug test.
Thank you.
Go on.
(giggling)
- You all right?
- Hey.
I'm fine.
- How's your pain?
- Pain is fine.
Thank you.
(laughing)
Ooh, I'm hungry
as hell, though.
Oh.
- Oh.
- What you looking for?
What is there in here to eat?
Good night.
(sighs)
Where's that old
mantry-pantry food?
I'll get it for you.
Have a seat.
- You sure?
- Yeah, I'll get it for you.
Miss Maddy, don't fall
in the refrigerator.
- I'll get it for you. Sit down.
- What's up here?
- Some ice cream?
- (both laughing)
- Ooh, it's cool.
- Go have a seat.
Yeah, it's cool
in that refrigerator.
Okay.
You are a good man,
Sir Lance.
You're a good woman,
Miss Maddy.
Why people do that?
Standing there all night
bullcrapping each other
with compliments.
I'm trying to tell you
I see the good in you.
- You better listen.
- I'm listening.
Why are you so sad?
Hmm?
Why are you so sad?
Hmm?
It was either your...
daddy or some woman
just rip your heart
right out your chest.
And I'm thinking
that it was some woman.
- Mm-hmm.
- There was, um...
this girl I really liked
when I first went to prison.
Yeah.
Only girl I've ever
really liked.
First two years, she came
and visited me every Sunday.
- Then she just stopped coming.
- Mm.
Stop answering
my letters.
Come to find out she had
a baby by another dude.
Well, since
you've been out...
- you seen her?
- I seen her. She ain't seen me.
Mm-hmm.
You... you gonna
have to go get her,
or you're gonna
have to let her go.
Let her go,
or go get her.
'Cause you cannot live
your life in the middle.
Mm-mm.
Ready?
(music playing)
Would anybody like to know
What it's like to be
part of the street life?
Street life is cruel...
Hey, yo! Yo, L.
Yo, let me holler
at you real quick, G.
Man, so I heard
you was the truth
when you was out here.
He said you used to
show niggas how to
keep the shit real.
Chapter and verse.
You remind me of myself
when I was young.
So I know nobody
can't tell you nothing.
Ty, he don't need
to be a Gunner.
Got enough soldiers.
It's a grand.
Giving respect,
from one general to another.
Yo.
Let this one go.
Yeah, all right.
Let's roll.
(cheering)
Yo, G, it's like the circus
and shit, my nigga.
Yeah, that's what's up.
The workout crews are gonna do
pullups on every street corner
from 110th Street to 155th.
- Y'all with me? Y'all with me?
- (cheering)
But what we get
out of this, though?
What do you get? Pride.
That we did something.
And we showed all
these kids out here that
we about something.
They killing brothers
left and right,
from Harlem to Brooklyn,
from Florida
or St. Louis, Missouri.
They even got little kids
in handcuffs.
Little Scott,
five years old in handcuffs.
It's done,
so it starts right now.
We organizing against this
to stop this.
So, on the count of three,
we all one hood.
- One, two, three.
- All: We all one hood!
- We all one hood!
- We all one hood!
- Let's go! Come on!
- (chanting "We all one hood")
Yo, so,
you're not coming?
Nah, shorty. Do you.
(music playing)
(cheering)
(Miss Maddy groaning)
Sir Lance...
What is all this?
Just let me get
my thoughts straight.
I'ma tell you.
All this is everything
I made bartending.
All my tips.
This one is for Shay-Shay.
It's $15,000.
By the time
she goes to college,
it oughta be 20.
This one is for my Ty.
Now, it's 30,000.
But he still needs to
try for scholarships.
This $10,000 is for you.
- Miss Maddy,
I don't need no money.
- Son, just...
$17,000 cash.
That's to take care of Ty
until he's ready to
go to college.
You can move in here
if you want to.
- He, um, he don't mind.
- Miss Maddy.
'Cause, ooh,
he really likes you.
- Why me?
- Because you're here.
Thank God you here.
Jomo: They chase L to the roof
of the building, right?
- Mm-hmm.
- He's running.
I'm telling you, Ty,
like sprinting full out.
He leaps,
jumps 20 feet.
Lands on the roof
of the other building,
gets away.
- For real?
- Straight up.
- It was more like ten feet.
- Nah, come on.
- It was ten feet.
- No, man.
And cops still came
and dragged my dumb
12-year-old ass out the bed,
- so I don't know
what the point was.
- Man, you missed your call.
- Okay, all right.
- '96 Olympics.
That should've been you.
Sir Lance.
- You got jokes, huh?
- Yeah. Yeah.
Okay, so let's joke
about them grades.
- Mm.
- Oh, tone changed, huh?
- And it gets quiet.
- It's the teachers, right?
- The teachers don't like me.
- Oh, here we go.
- The teach-- Come on.
- Jomo.
- Did we-- we said that, right?
- Come on now.
- Come on.
- The teacher
really don't like me.
- Teacher's racist, right?
- (both groan)
Now she racist.
You're making excuses, man.
- You said
the same shit we said.
- Look, look.
When I raise my hand,
and the teacher
will call on the lighter-skin
brother next to me.
Oh, Jomo, I think
he calling you out.
You directing that
toward someone on
this side of the table?
What race is
this teacher?
- Wha-- wha--
- She's of African-American
descent.
"African-American descent."
You got real intellectual
with it.
- Y'all playing.
- You playing.
- (knocks on door)
- It's open.
- Who's this?
- I'm like your wet dream
come true, baby.
When I saw you,
I told Lance, I said,
"I'll travel seven seas
on a man-eating shark,
climb Mount Everest butt-naked
with bare hands, baby,
just to meet the central lady
I saw on your Facebook page."
For real?
I'm just a badass dude
from around the way, all right?
I'm a bodybuilding ex-con.
I got my own business.
I cut hair.
Amongst other things.
I make love all night,
every night.
Like it's my last night.
What? Hmm?
- (glass clinks on table)
- Oh, you gonna tell me?
Or you gonna put that on ice
and water and give it
some thought?
Make yourself comfortable.
In your apartment
or in your world?
So, uh, yeah, L,
you good to go, man.
Unless you want to engage
in some sexual gymnastics.
- It's on you, brother.
- Nah, bro, I'm good.
Okay, bet.
Get home safe.
Ingram, come here.
So the cheap bastards
at my central office finally
got me a new computer.
That's cool.
Yeah, it's a touchscreen,
a camera.
- Try it out.
- Nah, I'm good.
- It's nice, though.
- (chuckles)
Have a seat.
So, you've been
all right?
Yeah.
No illegal activity?
- No associating with criminals?
- Nah. None of that.
- Been saving your money?
- I save most of my check.
A studio apartment will
run you about 750 a month.
That's with the subsidy.
- Can you handle that?
- Excuse me?
You're leaving
the halfway house.
Own apartment.
No curfew.
Parole visits
once a month.
You ready for that,
or you need more time here?
- Uh, I'm ready.
- Yeah?
Yeah.
Then sign right here.
- Ty: To your new place.
- To L-boogie's new place.
I wound up in and out
of prison just like you.
Remember all those times
you used to smack me on my head
and tell me I wasn't shit?
You don't do that
to your son.
I got my own
apartment now.
I got a job.
Own business.
They tell me every time
they bring you to a shelter,
you wind up
back out here.
So, I guess this is
where you want to be.
Check it.
Pick out any one
of these people.
Imagine what
their life is like.
Who they are.
Where they're going.
Ty:
He's a Wall Street guy.
Gonna go close
a million dollar deal.
I can see that.
Ty:
She's a fashion editor.
Heading to her office.
All right.
He's a dentist.
Gonna go pull out a tooth.
Why the brother gotta be
bringing the pain?
'Cause he's a dentist.
Where's Ty?
Heading to work at his graphics
and animation company.
That's what's up.
Is he carrying
a college diploma?
Nah, he's not carrying it
around like some nerd.
But he's got two.
Hanging up on the wall
in his office.
That's what's up.
If you can see it,
you can be it.
- Or some corny shit like that.
- (both laughing)
- Yo, there's this girl
I like at school.
- Oh, yeah?
I don't want you to explain
How you're afraid of me
Yeah, I just want you
to remain
Ooh, ooh, baby, baby, baby
How can you just go away?
When you were telling me
Yeah, you were telling me
Ooh, baby, baby, baby
I don't want you
to explain
How you're afraid of me
Yeah, I just want you
to remain
Isn't my heart
your main supplier?
Ain't that what
you told me all along?
If it's too wet,
I'll make it drier
But it's not time
to take it home
Isn't it hot
just like a fire?
Won't it get cold
if left alone?
(chattering)
Yo, we need to find
something to do.
Nah, now, like,
get into it, little bro.
Hell, yeah.
What's good, fool?
What you got into today, man?
Where you coming from, son?
Chilling with my girl.
- Oh, yeah, yeah?
- Yeah, living the good life.
- Go on a little date
and shit like that?
- Yeah, you know.
Yeah, yeah, but you--
what you fittin' to do now?
- Oh, I ain't got nothing to do.
- Let me holler at you
real quick.
Yeah, yeah, so, uh,
you still doing that drawing
shit and all that, right?
- Yeah, you know.
- Okay, cool.
Cool, cool, cool.
Yeah.
(doorbell rings)
G-Rod said
they have to jump me out
or they're gonna mess up
Grandma and Shay-Shay.
Did he give you
a number?
Ty.
Two.
Get some rest.
I'll tell your grandma
you're staying with me tonight.
Miss Maddy.
Miss Maddy.
Miss Maddy,
I'll help you.
I'll do whatever you need.
Miss Maddy.
Miss Maddy.
(music playing)
Miss Maddy, why me?
Because you're here.
Thank God you here.
(thunder rumbling)
(chattering)
(line ringing)
- JomHello?
- Lance: Jomo.
This is L.
I need your help with Ty.
Yo. Yo, my nigga.
Yo, what's up?
- I thought we were good.
- Yeah, yeah, man, we good.
But, you know,
little bro came in my face
and be all cool, man.
- I ain't with all that.
- Mm-hmm.
I hear you.
So we gotta kill
two people to leave out?
(scoffs)
Man, look.
Law respects law, O.G.
- You know that.
- Mm-hmm.
I'm jumping out for him.
And the number is three.
What?
(screams)
(sirens wailing)
I got you.
(music playing)
I often hear gunshots
From my window
Oh, yeah
Not missiles
of liberation
Demanding freedom overdue
Sometimes
Just plain old gunshots
Yes
450 years
Of self-hate
and depravation
Collide and explode
We've got babies
killing babies
Blood running
on our streets
Yeah
Oh, where's the love?
Where's the love?
Where's the love
for our people?
Oh-oh
We rise
We cry
We live
But then we die
Oh-oh
We need freedom
We need freedom
Liberation
Oh-oh
There ain't no gunshots
From the window
There
From my window
Hey
I often hear gunshots
From my window
Oh-oh
Yeah
Not missiles
of liberation
No, demanding
freedom overdue
Then just plain old
Hey, gunshots
Yeah, yeah
Oh
We got babies
killing babies
Yes, we do
Hey
Oh
Where's the love?
Tell me,
where's the love?
- (music playing)
- Still finding my way
There's no other way
You live and you learn,
I'm just writing my own way
They pray for the worst,
so I'm gonna put me first
These are my words
A whole chapter and verse
Write it up,
write it up, write it up
Write it up, write it up,
write it up
Write it up,
write it up, write it up
Write it up, write it up,
write it up
See, the money
was the mission
And the game
playing different
And it ain't like
it used to
Best friend snitching
and your girlfriend
switching
Like they never knew you
Gotta make a right way,
gotta see a bright day
The new cats,
they play wrong,
I just want to live long
They tell me
it'll never work,
that I'm in it for the worst
But I run my own way
Whole chapter and a verse
They telling me
it'll never work
They said
I'm in for the worst
But I just write
my life out
Whole chapter and a verse
Still finding my way,
there's no other way
You live and you learn,
I'm just writing my own way