Featuring: Anthony Hamilton

Songwriter: Lupe Fiasco

Producer: Mark Batson Anthony Hamilton Jermaine Dupri

[Intro: man]
You know you got this fantasy
In your head about -
Getting out of the life
And, setting that other world on it's ear
What the fuck are you gonna do except hustle
Now man I ain't puttin' you down
I'm just tryin' to make it real baby like it is, like it is

[Lupe Fiasco:]
Lupe Fiasco... came from the ghetto
You know! food and liquor!
It's the ghetto right here man!

[Verse 1: Lupe Fiasco]
Ay it's real here, dope fiends steal here
Turn around give us the money, to buy wheels here
Give you the chills yeah?
Developers don't build here
Property values low, cause we still here
Better believe most of us wanna leave
Furthest we went was out of our minds
But we still here
Weapons concealed here
Little sisters on the pill here
Can't pay bills here but we like to chill here
Gotta reap what you sow, grow what you til here
Your momma weep where you sowed ‘cause you was killed there
Police put cameras on poles too many deals there
Gotta go to the county, cause you was filmed there
How does it feel knowing innocence was killed here?
Last night, down the park beating harpo still there
For loveliest chain I make up pills here
Let's pray for our brains bust-downs kneel here

[Hook: Anthony Hamilton]
Sometimes I get rushed
Coming from where I'm from, (I'm from)
Times have got hard yeah
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I gotta work to work, yeah
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I gotta do a little dirt
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

[Verse 2: Lupe Fiasco]
There was once a child in here
Cause all the tribulations and the trials in here
And all the limitations of his housing there
Became a teenage trafficker a thousandaire
Captivated with what the drug dealer told
Infatuated by what the drug dealer drove
A life validated by what a drug dealer holds
On the stand because what another drug dealer told
A drug dealers woe: 'time waits for no man'
No woman waits for a man with time on his hands (they don't)
Didn't you know? lord they fearing ye now
They hearing ye now
Specially when the conspiracy comes down
We come down get humble
It's no longer fun now
But who gonna hustle to feed his son now?
From the cradle to the cage
We bring our sons to be be gunned down
Our daughters to have more - it's war

[Hook:]
Sometimes I get lonely
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Things ain't what they seem to be
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I get a little angry
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes it gets the best of me
Well I tried to be good
Wanted nothing but to love somebody
Didn't wanna die young
But it helps me try to feed my family
Too scared to have kids
And do what daddy did, because I'm so scared of failing
Sometimes it gets hard
Coming from where I'm from

[Verse 3:]
But, but it's beautiful here
There's nothing like the feeling when you do it from here
You ain't have to move or pack
You ain't have to shoot a gat
And you still took your mama
And you moved her from here
You ain't dropped out, you figured the world out
Can survive out anywhere
Learn how to do it in here
Yeah, that's how we do it in here
Hearing shorty’s at play is like music to the ear
We still get by, you know?

[Hook:]
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes you gotta mourn
Coming from where I'm from (I'm' from)
Sometimes I gotta cry a little bit
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I gotta fight the pain
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I gotta walk along
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I get a little worried
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I get lost, out of touch
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I think I pray a little bit too much
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)
Sometimes I get a little scared
Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Lupe Fiasco

The Chicago born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco first tasted success when he featured on Kanye West’s hit “Touch the Sky”, a track that shortly preceded his real breakout, his 2006 debut album Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor, and he never looked back. He has established himself as one of the greatest urban wordsmiths of all time, with Genius even dubbing him the ‘Proust of Rap’.

While he’s now regarded of one of the 21st Century’s Hip-Hop greats, he wasn’t always a fan of the genre, initially disliking it due to the prominence of vulgarity and misogyny within it. In his late teens, he aspired to make it as a lyricist. In his early twenty’s, he met Jay-Z, who helped him sign with Atlantic Records in 2005. The following year, he released his debut album (Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor), which was met with acclaim from fans and critics alike, as did his sophomore effort, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool.

The following eight years of his career saw far less output than many would’ve anticipated. This can be partly attributed to his struggles with Atlantic Records. The executives wanted him to sign a 360 deal; however, as he refused to do so they instead shelved his already completed 3rd album, Lasers, and wouldn’t promote him as they had previously. The overseers at the label also interfered with his music (as they had tried to do with his fan-favorite track “Dumb it Down”); subsequently effecting the quality and sound of his third and fourth albums.