Coming up in the city 
Back in the day was so much fun
Because during those times 
You didn’t have to carry a gun
All was well we played kick ball in the streets
And hide and go seek with every one we’d meet
Christmas time was like that back then
I remember playin’ board games with all of my friends
1 2 3 CONNECT 4
Back in those days we could just open the door
Roller skates and Big Wheels Buster Browns and Jeepers
I remember back in those day I use to loose my sneakers
And catch a beat down from my Mom & Dad
Thinkin’ bout them days really make me glad
To be blessed with a wonderful childhood
Things have changed a lot but it’s still all good!


Getting my braids adorned with aluminum foil and beads
Head crouched down in between my acid washed jeans
Never wanting to be Billy bad I wanted to be Billy Jean
Bamboo earrings and necklaces that bore my name
Remember, remember, do you remember FAME?
Back then the only LIFE we worried about was the board game
Thinking back to it all...those are the times that I miss
Would give my life to escape it all and go back to it
Leaving behind all things unjust and all of the accompanied madness
No more worrying about if this day would be my last
Stripped away by the AK of a lunatic driving past
Bullets Reigning on tender souls of Sons leaving overcasts
Powder dust from the residue leave my eyes glazed
Amazed that I can still see clearly amidst all of the haze
These verses should leave minds opened and eye brows raised
And If they didn't then obviously you don't know
the meaning of the good ‘ole Days


Waking up to the smell of House Money Blessings
Always before 7 to watch the old school wrestling
With my brother holding the antenna and me twisting fine tune
My mother screaming “quiet” from the other room
Thoughts and images take me back to a time
When you could buy a dollar bottle of wine
And sit on your neighbor’s porch to kickback and unwind
Watching barefoot children run themselves to death
Fearing nothing in the ‘hood but fear itself   
No fear of the Reaper lurking outside the classroom
Pushing poison from the stalls of the boys bathroom
Can you reminisce on Good Times?
With JJ turning every “Chelooo” into pimp daddy rhymes
Those were the days when "not enough" was even enough
And whatever you didn't have.....tough!
Still I cry to remember that point in our lives
When we gave up on everything that money couldn't buy   



Jacks, hopscotch, and even double dutch
Saying cheers for the neighborhood, our rhymes you couldn’t touch
Sitting by the record player, writing down every line
“Rapper’s Delight”, Kurtis Blow, boy those were the times
Beads on my braids, jeans a little fade
Ed
Fights off the bus was as bad as it got
No Columbine, no trench coat Mafia
No burial plots
For the young and the innocent
We knew that mama would’ve bent
That switch on our behinds
Better be in before nine
Syrup sandwiches, grilled cheese, and Mayonnaise too
Was thankful for it all…….and that’s how we made it through
We prayed a lot, and loved a lot and knew how to make our way
And that’s just how it was….. ‘Back in the Day’



The last seed to be placed in the Reign
To grow
My thoughts of ‘Back in the Day’
Flow
Like Joy dishwashing liquid in the bath
Bubbling
Feeling parental wrath at night as the darkness kept me shaking
Awaking
To the smell of breakfast homemade as an infant
Nothing instant
You worked to achieve your goals and treasures
Measured
Life not by what you had but whom you loved
Above
Anything else remember ‘Back in the Day’ not as consequence but
Innocence
When you truly loved yourself.