Once Upon a Time In the Projects

Once upon a time in the projects, yo

I damn near had to wreck a ho

I knocked on the door (Who is it?)

"It's Ice Cube, come to pay a little visit to ya"

"And what's up with the **** in the parking lot?"

She said "Fuck 'em, 'cause they get sparked a lot"

I sat on the couch, but it wasn't stable

And then I put my Nikes on the coffee table

Her brother came in, he's into gangbangin'

'Cause he walked up and said, "What set you claimin'?"

I don't bang, I write the good rhymes

The whole scenery reminded me of good times

I don't like to feel that I'm put in a rut

By a young **** that need to pull his pants up

He threw up a set and then he was gone

I'm thinkin' to myself, "Won't this bitch bring her ass on?"

Her mother came in with a joint in her mouth

And fired up the sess, it was sess no doubt

She said, "Please excuse my house and all that"

I said, "Yeah, 'cause I was buzzed from the contact"

Lookin' at a fucked up black and white

Her mom's bitchin', 'cause the county check wasn't right

She had another brother that was three years old

And had a bad case of the runny nose

He asked me who I was, then I had to pause

It smelled like he took a shit in his little drawers

I saw her sister, who really needs her ass kicked

Only thirteen and already pregnant

I grabbed my forty out the bag and took a swig

'Cause I was getting overwhelmed by Bebe Kids

They was runnin' and yellin' and playin' and cussin'

And tellin' and look at this young punk bailin'

I heard a knock on the door without the password

And her mom's got the twelve gauge Mossberg

The **** said, "Yo, what's for sale?"

And the bitch came out with a bag of yeyo

She made the drop and got the twenty dollars

From a smoked out fool with ring around the collar

The girl I was waiting for came out

I said "Bitch, I didn't know this was a crack house!"

I got my coat and suddenly

(Stop! The police, don't move, freeze or I'll kill ya!)

The cop busted in, I had a MAC-10 pointed at my dome

And I said to myself, "Once again, it's on"

He threw me on the carpet and wasn't cuttin' no slack

Jumped on my head and put his knee in my back

First he tried to slap me up, wrap me up, rough me up

They couldn't do it, so they cuffed me up

I said "Fuck!" How much abuse can a **** take?

"Ayo officer, you're making a big mistake"

Since I had on a shirt that said I was "dope"

He thought I was selling base, they couldn't hear my case

He said, "Get out my face," and must have had a grudge

His reply, tell that bullshit to the judge

The girl I was with wasn't sayin' nothin'

I said "Ayo bitch, you better tell 'em somethin'"

She started draggin' and all of a sudden

We all got tossed in the paddy wagon

Now I beat the rap, but that ain't the point

I had a warrant, so I spent two weeks in the joint

Now the story you heard has one little object

Don't fuck with a bitch from the projects

(I tell you man, these mother fuckin' projects man, ain't no joke, man, I'm telling you)

(Especially them motherfuckin' ones in Watts, in South Central L.A., boy)

(You don't fuck around with them projects, boy)

(The rat's will whoop yo ass)

(Yo, yo, you see that ho over there man?)

(Look at that ho over there, man, I'll bust that ho out, straight up)