HEROES (feat. DJ Premier)

Alright, alright

Nah, nah

When I grew up, criminals were my heroes

The beanie from New Jersey Drive over my earlobes

From jump, it was always fuck cops and the bureau

Mix of Casper, Harold, Hunter, and De Niro

Now I'm with my kids and we watchin' Olaf

And I'm like, "Damn, used to wanna be like O'Dawg"

Tuck the Deuce Deuce under the goose, boostin' y'all

Couple screws loose, cashier turns, poof, I'm gone

Seven, I heard NWA in the street

From my older neighbor who was playin' "Fuck tha Police"

Eleven, writin' graffiti, fifteen, I'm sellin' weed

By sixteen, I had an MPC

(It was Hip Hop's fault) That I wanted to grow up

Sell drugs, smoke blunts, drink Mad Dog and fuck

Wanted a windbreaker and some Eastbay kicks

Wanted a perm like DJ Quik

My mama said, "Ben, are you aware your hair is way too thin?"

But in my mind, I was Junior High Iceberg Slim

Feelin' fine, gettin' high, spendin' time with a bitch

Takin' Heineken sips, this is live as it gets, shit

But me, man, I wanted to be a vandal

Wanted to kick it with the people livin' in the bando

On Third and James by the fountain where they panhandle

Runnin' from the cops, pullin' scandals, those where my heroes

Pick up the mic, put your money where your mouth is

Doin' petty crimes, back in the days

Too much OE, tipsy off the whiskey

Pick up the, the, the, the mic, the, the, the mic

Put your money where your mouth is

Doin' petty crimes, back in the days

Drink it, smoke it, my clique is too great

Back in the days, at the Boulevard on Broadway

Before the downtown turned to a big All Saints

I was rollin' 'round with a forty-ounce of malt drink

Posted up in front of the 7-Eleven all day

My heroes didn't look like yours

My heroes didn't look like yours, nah, nah

They didn't work a nine-to-five, they worked a five-to-four

Woke up at three and recorded more

See, my heroes died of overdoses, ridin' for the culture

Mind tied to psychosis, all the lies in show biz

My heroes shot dope and inhaled blow in their noses

Got locked up, got out, and did some more shit

I got that devil in me and a bunch of Henny with me

And we fuck up any city, heavy hitting, any innings

Steal the pancakes off your plate and then I'm robbin' you at Denny's

In a Plymouth that is tinted and the sherm has got me spinning

You don't want it with this, put the truck in his ribs

We don't fight fair, fuck that, we jump and get our licks

Reds and whites flash through the dash, hop the fence

Wake up, smoke a blunt, hit the park and do it again

For my heroes

Pick up the mic, put your money where your mouth is

Doin' petty crimes, back in the days

Too much OE, tipsy off the whiskey

Pick up, pick up, pick up the mic

Put your money where your mouth is

Doin' petty crimes, back in the days

Drink it, smoke it, my clique is too great