DUCKWORTH

[00:00.01] It was always me versus the world

[00:04.82] Until I found it's me versus me

[00:10.33] Why, why, why, why?

[00:14.09] Why, why, why, why?

[00:16.35] Just remember, what happens on Earth stays on Earth!

[00:20.88] We gon' put it in reverse

[00:26.40] Darling, I told you many times

[00:31.42] And I am telling you once again

[00:34.93] Just to remind you, sweetheart

[00:37.70] That my—

[00:39.95] Oh, Lamar

[00:41.45] Hail Mary and marijuana, times is hard

[00:42.71] Pray with the hooligans, shadows all in the dark

[00:46.23] Fellowship with demons and relatives, I'm a star

[00:48.98] Life is one funny ma'fucker

[00:50.98] A true comedian, you gotta love him, you gotta trust him

[00:53.74] I might be buggin', infomercials and no sleep

[00:55.49] Introverted by my thoughts; children, listen, it gets deep

[00:59.01] See, once upon a time inside the Nickerson Garden projects

[01:01.51] The object was to process and digest poverty's dialect

[01:03.52] Adaptation inevitable: gun violence, crack spot

[01:07.28] Federal policies raid buildings and drug professionals

[01:09.53] Anthony was the oldest of seven

[01:12.29] Well-respected, calm and collected

[01:15.30] Laughin' and jokin' made life easier; hard times, mama on crack

[01:18.31] A four-year-old tellin' his nanny he needed her

[01:20.81] His family history: pimpin' and bangin'

[01:23.31] He was meant to be dangerous, clocked him a grip and start slangin'

[01:25.57] Fifteen, scrapin' up his jeans with quarter pieces

[01:29.86] Even got some head from a smoker last weekend

[01:31.62] Dodged a policeman, workin' for his big homie

[01:34.12] Small-time hustler, graduated to a brick on him

[01:36.13] Ten-thousand dollars out of a project housing, that's on the daily

[01:38.89] Seen his first mill' twenty years old, had a couple of babies

[01:42.15] Had a couple of shooters, caught a murder case

[01:45.18] Fingerprints on the gun they assumin', but witnesses couldn't prove it

[01:47.69] That was back when he turned his back and they killed his cousin

[01:51.20] He beat the case and went back to hustlin'

[01:53.46] Bird-shufflin', Anthony rang

[01:55.22] The first in the projects with the two-tone Mustang, that 5.0 thing They say 5-0 came, circlin' parking lots and parking spots

[02:03.26] And hoppin' out while harrassin' the corner blocks

[02:04.77] Crooked cops told Anthony he should kick it

[02:06.52] He brushed 'em off and walked back to the Kentucky Fried Chicken

[02:09.03] See, at this chicken spot, there was a light-skinned nigga that talked a lot

[02:11.78] With a curly top and a gap in his teeth, he worked the window

[02:15.04] His name was Ducky, he came from the streets, The Robert Taylor Homes

[02:17.54] Southside Projects, Chiraq, the Terror Dome

[02:20.30] Drove to California with a woman on him and five-hundred dollars

[02:23.55] They had a son, hopin' that he'd see college

[02:25.81] Hustlin' on the side with a nine-to-five to freak it

[02:28.82] Cadillac Seville, he'd ride his son around on weekends

[02:31.07] Three-piece special with his name on the shirt pocket

[02:33.83] 'Cross the street from the projects, Anthony planned to rob it

[02:36.59] Stuck up the place before, back in '84

[02:39.35] That's when affiliation was really at gears of war

[02:41.89] So many relatives tellin' us, sellin' us devilish works, killin' us, crime

[02:45.92] Intelligent, felonious prevalent proposition with 9's

[02:48.42] Ducky was well-aware

[02:51.68] They robbed the manager and shot a customer last year

[02:52.93] He figured he'd get on these niggas' good sides

[02:55.19] Free chicken every time Anthony posted in line, two extra biscuits

[02:58.97] Anthony liked him and then let him slide, they didn't kill him

[03:02.26] In fact, it look like they're the last to survive, pay attention

[03:04.51] That one decision changed both of they lives, one curse at a time

[03:07.27] Reverse the manifest and good karma, and I'll tell you why

[03:10.05] You take two strangers and put 'em in random predicaments

[03:12.81] Give 'em a soul, so they can make their own choices and live with it

[03:15.57] Twenty years later, them same strangers, you make 'em meet again

[03:18.58] Inside recording studios where they reapin' their benefits

[03:21.09] Then you start remindin' them about that chicken incident

[03:24.34] Whoever thought the greatest rapper would be from coincidence?

[03:26.85] Because if Anthony killed Ducky, Top Dawg could be servin' life

[03:29.87] While I grew up without a father and die in a gunfight

[03:32.37] *Gunshot*