[Intro: Pete Rock]
Uh-huh
Once again, back to attack
C.L. Smooth
Talkin' 'bout the ghetto
Yeah, ghettos of the mind
Lemme hear what you got, come on

[Verse 1: C.L. Smooth & Pete Rock]
I catch a body at a party, sort of herbal with the verbal (Uh)
Look above and see the vultures fly around in a circle (Woo, yeah)
Baggin' while you're lollygaggin', raggin', toe-taggin' (What?)
Assassin with the millimeter roars of a dragon (Yeah)
Here stood the black hood, thirsty for the ends (Uh-huh)
And for the love of money, kind of funny, new friends (Psh)
Public housing, a thousand in a tent (Aw)
So I'm forced to sell hell just to pay the rent (Uh-huh)
Killin' my own people, I put 'em out of order (What? Uh-huh)
Just like the liquor store scene on every corner (Aw, yeah)
I'm tryin' but the kids keep cryin' and the bullets keep flyin' (Pow)
Look, a boy is on the curb just dyin'
Finally the cops come dumb to the slum (Uh)
Pull out a gun and arrest the wrong one (Buck)
Wax all the Puerto Ricans and Blacks so they can never relax (Woo)
I dwell, might as well, in the facts (Buck)
Pete Rock and C.L. can radio a shack up (Uh-huh)
Spark it off and have 'em all callin' for backup (Say what?)
Watch another crime and you're gonna do time (Yeah)
All this you'll find in the ghettos of the mind (Ain't that somethin'? Come on)
[Chorus: Pete Rock]
La-la, aw, yeah
La-la, come on, it's like that, uh
La-la, yeah, come on
La-la

[Verse 2: C.L. Smooth & Pete Rock]
Listen to cats and rough rats war under the window
When the ghetto forts flurry, never was a Tom and Jerry (Uh, uh-huh)
Livin' ain't cheap, my survival is deep
In this part of town where the city never sleep
A Barney Miller rollin', you can bet the car's stolen (Uh)
Or static with your BM, only when you see them (What?)
Speakin' on your baby's mom, a best for the drama
Always tryna make a movie, little stark-ravin' loony (Haha)
Stressin' it, but you know the ghetto keep me busy (Yeah)
A place that, when I die, it would never even miss me (Miss you)
Crack vials in the aisles as one pimp smiles (Uh)
Dope piles workin' hookers by the miles (That's right)
But still my pops got three jobs to stable (Yeah)
A family household and food on the table (Woo)
So as we pray for all our souls to keep (Yeah)
Somebody's on the project roof ready to leap (Woo)
I want to stop the pain, Lord, a bad situation (Uh-huh)
But backwards wisdom, I can't afford to give 'em (Yeah)
Self savior is much braver with the conscious behavior
Designed in the ghettos of the mind (Ain't that somethin'? C'mon)
[Chorus: Pete Rock]
La-la, yeah, come on
La-la, come on, come on, come on
La-la, yeah, uh
La-la, the funky break

[Post-Chorus: Pete Rock]
Uh, yeah, the funky break
Kick the flow, keep on, come on

[Verse 3: C.L. Smooth & Pete Rock]
I could never look forward to a early retirement (Uh)
But still I maintain in a hostile environment (Yeah)
Hustlin' the concrete jungle for loot
My parents hated blood money, so they gave me the boot (Task)
Take a risk cause the peer pressure has the edge (Word?)
It was a blessin' when I saw my life dangle on the ledge (Uh)
The streets coulda swallowed me whole, but
The coma's all gone when I got to see my healthy son born (Uh)
And now I bring him home to the ghetto only to make a stronger fellow (Woo)
Maybe do some good for the neighborhood (Yeah)
It's hard playing hero livin' less than a zero (Uh-huh)
Raging Bull like DeNiro, the modern day pharaoh (Yeah)
A concentration camp with the section eight
Welfare checks given at a monthly rate (Psh, aw)
Apply for the get high or just plain lazy (Uh)
Many steady collect right around the fifth, baby (Uh-huh)
The hawk is out but the n***as never pack it (Woah)
A hundred dollar sneakers with a skimpy-ass jacket (Tsk)
When people are deaf, dumb, and blind they get left behind (Left behind)
Imaginin' the ghettos of the mind (Ghettos of the mind)
[Chorus: Pete Rock]
La-la, come on
La-la, yeah, uh
La-la, that's right, come on
La-la, with the ghetto

[Outro: Pete Rock]
La-la, talkin' from the ghetto
La-la, yeah, with the ghetto
La-la, come on, yeah
La-la