[Intro]
[Verse 1]
Born thuggin'
Heartless and mean, muggin' at sixteen
On the scene watchin' fiends buggin'
Kickin' up dust with the older G's
Soakin' up the game that was told to me
I ain't never touched a gat that I couldn't shoot
I learned not to trust the bitch from the prostitutes
Taught lessons, a young nigga askin' questions
While other suckers was guessin', I was gangsta sexin'
I'm buckin' blastin', straight mashin'
Mobbin through the overpass laughin'
While these other motherfuckers try to figure out, no doubt
They jealous of a nigga's clout, tell me Lord
Can ya feel me? I keep my finger on the trigger
And mama raised a hellraiser, everyday gettin paid
Wanted for investigation, and even though
I'm marked for death, I'ma spark 'til I lose my breath
Motherfuckers, every time I see the paper
I see my picture, when a nigga's gettin' richer
They come to get ya, it's like a motherfuckin' trap
And they wonder why it's hard bein' black
[Hook]
Mama raised a hellraiser, stress gettin' major
Lord be my savior, unnh
Mama raised a hellraiser, stress gettin' major
Lord be my savior, unnh
Mama raised a hellraiser, stress gettin' major
Lord be my savior, unnh
Mama raised a hellraiser, stress gettin' major
Lord be my savior, unnh
Mama raised a hellraiser
Stress gettin' major, unnh
Mama raised a hellraiser, stress gettin' major
[Verse 2]
Tell me Lord can ya feel me, show a sign
Damn near running outta time, everybody's dyin'
Mama raised a hellraiser, can't figure
While the po' babies rushin' into early graves
God come save the youth
Ain't nothin' else to do but have faith in you
Dear Lord I live the life of a Thug, hope you understand
Forgive me for my mistakes, I gotta play my hand
And my hand's on the sixteen-shot, semi-automatic
Crooked cop killin' Glock, tell me Lord
Can ya feel me? Show a way
I'm prayin' but my enemies won't go away
And everywhere I turn I see niggas burn
Every nigga that I know's on death row
My younger homie's seventeen and he paid a price
Little young motherfucker doin' triple life
Though I tell him in his letters, it's gettin' better
If my nigga knew the truth he'd hit the roof
Just heard ya baby's mama was smoked out, fuck the drama
Wanna break my Loc out, smokin' blunts
'Bout to break my nigga out the fuckin' pen'
Mama raised a hellraiser, uhh, yeah
C'mon, uhh, mama raised a hellraiser
Uhh, dear Lord can ya feel me, stress gettin' major
(Lord be my savior, unnh)
[Hook]
Mama raised a hellraiser, stress gettin' major
Lord be my savior, unnh
Mama raised a hellraiser, stress gettin' major
Lord be my savior, unnh
Mama raised a hellraiser, stress gettin' major
Lord be my savior, unnh
Mama raised a hellraiser, stress gettin' major
[Verse 3]
Dear Lord can ya hear me, it's just me
A young nigga tryin' to make it on these rough streets
I'm on my knees beggin' please come and SAVE ME
THE WHOLE WORLD done made a nigga crazy!
I got my three-five-seven can't control it
Screamin' die motherfucker and he's loaded
Everybody run for cover, aww shit
Thug Life motherfucker, duck quick
Now am I wrong if I am don't worry me
Cause do or die gettin' high 'til they bury me
And when I saw it on the news how she bucked the girl, killed Latasha
Now I'm screamin' fuck the world, in the end
Thug Life motherfucker, I lick shots
With my hands on the trigger, thug nigga
2Pac is a rap artist who rapped about racial issues of the black community (known as black consciousness) among other topics. In his song, “Hellrazor”, he reveals some of the struggles he has faced as a black man in the 90’s. In the beginning of the first verse, he talks about the violent influence of guns in the black community when he says, “Heartless and mean, muggin' at sixteen/On the scene watchin' fiends buggin'/Kickin' up dust with the older G's/Soakin' up the game that was told to me/I ain't never touched a gat that I couldn't shoot” (2Pac). In these lines he is expressing the effect that white supremacists had on the black community when they planted humongous amounts of guns into ghettos with the intention of making the bloods and crips violent toward each other. In the film, “The Fire This Time”, the young black man explained that the guns were shipped in trains and would stop in the projects. Then people would come out and grab as many as they wanted. This is a tactic that the white government chose to influence the gangs to incite violence upon each other. Purposefully this train was set to come into the projects, where gang banging was fluctuating and young black boys were beginning to get curious about guns. In his lyrics, I believe that he purposefully included the fact that he could shoot multiple guns when he was sixteen because guns were very accessible in 1992.
In the second verse of “Hellrazor”, 2Pac rhymed, “My younger homie's seventeen and he paid a price/Little young motherfucker doin' triple life.” In these lines he means, rather than the government policy using social welfare money to rehabilitate communities, create better infrastructure, or integrate preventative programs for youth, they prioritized that welfare be reserved for penal institutions, and the advancement of law enforcement so as to fill up the quotas of prisoners; purposefully after they planted the weapons causing the crimes in those communities. The effects are seen through the poor infrastructure in our communities, the lack of jobs, the 1 in 4 lifetime likelihood of imprisonment for black men, poor and eurocentric education, felon disenfranchisement, and ever still present police brutality. Black folks and many other marginalized groups were already placed in a low position in society, the prison industrial complex is simply slavery in another form. Except now it is more palatable to the general public and is disguised as justified punishment. Thus, pushing these marginalized communities further below the poverty line; as CEO’s, and government officials bask in the wealth acquired from the literal blood sweat and tears off the most vulnerable in America.
-Jazzie Wycoff
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