Press Rewind - Rittz

I was just a kid from a small town west of Pennsylvania

'88 moved down to GA, overwhelmed by the change

I got treated like stranger 'cause I didn’t fit in

Had a mullet, getting made fun of by the other kids

My brother wasn’t in the same school to protect me

6th grade, every day they would jump me in the gym

Finally got a couple friends

I was in and out of phases, into heavy metal for a stint

Then I started singing Boyz II Men

Playing Poison Clan

Really I just wanna be like them

So I went and brought a gun

In the school to be cool

Wasn’t real but it looked like one

It was chrome but this kid Trovon

Took it from me, making dudes take they shoes off

When he got caught better say it ain’t mine

He said he wouldn’t tell

I was in the office when they rung the bell

I had to go to panel and probably get expelled

I knew I had to answer to my father I was scared

He was known for raising hell

Hit me with an open hand or he whipped me with a belt but today was something

else

Quiet on the ride home when we got into the house

I got swung into the shelf

Getting swung on, I was 12 tryna

Hide my face

Ditching uppercuts from my dad’s punches making

My nose bleed

With my sister and her neighbor friend watching, momma

Cry, but she

Knew it was one of many ass whoopings coming

I received

Can’t hit the back button

There’s a pain way down

That’s been trapped inside

Let the pain drain out

Left the past behind

But sometimes my mind

Press rewind

'95 was the best year of my life that’s without a question

My brother was a senior and I was just a freshman

He would let me hang out with his friends and

Life felt normal for once

But the happiness I had only lasted a second

Mom and Dad separated same year, so my brother moved away when we finally had

our friendship

Made a lot of friends with kids in the same boat

No male role models for us to observe and be our guide

Dropped out of school, hit a learning curve, relied

On each other trying to persevere in life

Insecurities are high

Feeling unloved, searching for a girl that can provide

She wanna take it further, I’m worried that I’m gonna blow my cover 'cause I

said I’m not a virgin and I lied

I finally fertilized

Then she left me for another guy

But years flying by, life is like a circus ride

We done did the worst, too much dirt to purify

Mom was working nights

Helicopters circling outside

Lot of murders, lot of fights

Lot of nights heard the cries from my mom’s room

Household with no one in control

Everything crumbled, I was young but now I’m grown

Suddenly my brother and my father coming home

And it’s

So unreal

When we’re all together you can feel the tension and it’s

Unfair

Started fighting at my brother’s college graduation but it

Goes unsaid

When you love each other ain’t no conversation, hated

All those years

Wishing I could erase them

There’s a pain way down

That’s been trapped inside

Let the pain drain out

Left the past behind

But sometimes my mind…

Press rewind