[Intro: Pete Rock]
Uh-huh
Once again
Back to attack
C.L. Smooth
Talkin' 'bout the ghetto
Yeah
Ghettos of the mind
Let me hear what ya 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 (Pss)
Public housing, a thousand in a tent (Ah)
So I'm forced to sell hell just to pay the rent (Uh-huh)
Killin' my own people (What?), I put 'em out of order (Uh-huh)
Just like the liquor store scene on every corner (Ah)
I'm tryin' but the kids keep cryin' and the bullets keep flyin' (Pow pow)
Look, a boy, he's on the curb just dyin'
Finally the cops come, dumb to the slum (Uh)
Pull out a gun and arrest the wrong one
Wax all the Puerto Ricans and Blacks
So they can never relax (Woo)
I dwell, might as well learn the facts
Pete Rock and C.L. can radio a shack up (Uh-huh)
Sparkin' 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
[Bridge: Pete Rock]
Ain't that somethin'? Come on
La la, ah 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 (Ah), never was a Tom and Jerry (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
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' looney (Ha ha)
Stressin' it, but you know the ghetto keep ya 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
Dope piles workin' hookers by the miles (That's right)
But still my pop's got three jobs to stable (Yeah)
The 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 wanna 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
[Bridge: Pete Rock]
Ain't that somethin'? Come on, la la
Yeah, come on, la la
Come on, come on, come on, la la
Yeah, uh, la la
The funky break
Uh, yeah, the funky break
Kick the flow
Come on

[Verse 3: C.L. Smooth, Pete Rock]
I could never look forward to an early retirement (Uh)
But still I maintain in a hostile environment (Yeah)
Hustle in the concrete jungle for loot
My parents hated blood money so they gave me the boot (Pss)
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 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 pharoah (Yeah)
A concentration camp with the Section 8
Welfare checks given at a monthly rate (Pss, ah)
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 (Whoa)
A hundred-dollar sneakers with the skimpy-ass jacket (Pss)
When people are deaf, dumb, and blind they get left behind (Left behind)
Imagine in the ghettos of the mind (Ghettos of the mind)
[Outro: Pete Rock]
Ghettos of the mind, la la
Come on, la la
Yeah, uh, la la
That's right, come on, la la
With the ghetto, la la
Talkin' from the ghetto, la la, yeah
With the ghetto, la la
Come on, yeah, la la