Mind Playin' Tricks on Me by the Geto Boys

[Edward Appleby]

I just sort of stumbled upon this, but I thought it was an excellent example of how sophisticated rap can be:

I sit alone in my four-cornered room staring at candles

Yo, that **** is on?
Let me drop some **** like this here

At night I can’t sleep, I toss and turn
Candlesticks in the dark, visions of bodies bein’ burned
Four walls just starin’ at a *****r
I’m paranoid, sleepin’ with my finger on the trigger
My mother’s always stressin’ I ain’t livin’ right
But I ain’t goin’ out without a fight
See, everytime my eyes close
I start sweatin’ and blood starts comin’ out my nose
It’s somebody watchin’ the act
But I don’t know who it is, so I’m watchin’ my back
I can see ‘em when I’m deep in the covers
When I awake I don’t see the motherfucker
He owns a black hat like I own
A black suit and a cane like my own
Some might say take a chill, B
But **** that ****! There’s a *****r tryin’ to kill me
I’m pumpin in the clip when the wind blows
Every twenty seconds got me peepin’ out my window
Investigatin’ the joint for traps
Checkin’ my telephone for taps
I’m starin at the woman on the corner
It’s fucked up when your mind’s playin’ tricks on ya

I make big money, I drive big cars
Everybody know me, it’s like I’m a movie star
But late at night, somethin’ ain’t right
I feel I’m bein’ tailed by the same sucker’s headlights
Do that move, then I ran up the block
Or is it that *****r last week that I shot
Or is it the one I beat for five thousand dollars
Thought he had caine, but it was Gold Medal flour
Reached under my seat, grabbed my popper for the suckers
They no used to the line, I was scared of little motherfuckers
Put the left in the Popeye’s and better die quick
If it’s goin’ down, let’s get this **** over with
Here they come, just like I figured
I got my hand on the motherfuckin’ trigger
What I saw make your ass start gigglin’
Three blind, crippled, and crazy senior citizens
I live by the sword
I take my boys everywhere I go, because I’m paranoid
I keep lookin’ over my shoulder, peepin’ around corners
My mind is playin’ tricks on me

Day by day, it’s more impossible to cope
I feel like I’m the one that’s doin’ dope
Can’t keep a steady hand because I’m nervous
Every Sunday morning, I’m in service
Praying for forgiveness
And tryin’ to find an exit out the business
I know the Lord is lookin’ at me
But yet He still has offered me to feel happy
I often drift when I drive
Havin’ fatal thoughts of suicide
Bang! and get it over with
And then I’m worry-free, but that’s bullshit
I got a little boy to look after
And if I died, then my child would be a bastard
I had a woman down with me
But to me, it seemed like she was down to get me
She helped me out in this ****
But to me she was just another *****
Now she’s back with her mother
Now I’m realizing that I love her
Now I’m feeling lonely
My mind is playin’ tricks on me

This year, Halloween fell on a weekend
Me and Geto Boys are trick-or-treatin’
Robbin’ little kids for bags
Till an old man got behind our ass
So we speeded up the pace
Took a look back, and he was right before our face
He be in for a squabble no doubt
So I swung and hit the *****r in his mouth
He was going down, we figured
But this wasn’t no ordinary *****r
He stood about six or seven feet
Now that’s a *****r I be seein’ in my sleep
So we triple-teamed on him
Droppin’ them motherfuckin’ b’s on him
The more I swung, the more blood flew
Then he disappeared, and my boys disappeared too
Then I felt just like a fiend
It wasn’t even close to Halloween
It was dark as **** on the streets
My hands were all bloody from punchin’ on the concrete
Goddamn homey, my mind is playin’ tricks on me

 

[mack11211]

When you hear the track, it sounds even better than it reads.

Early sound out of Houston, if I recall.

Genuinely scary & anguished.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

Ha! I was just listening to this not ten minutes ago.

 

[VMan]

Great song. 'First Light of Day' is also a good Geto Boys song.

 

[Tokyo Slim]

I also liked the entirety of Scarface's solo album - The Diary. There is a reworking of MPTOM on it...

 

[dusty]

Scarface is one of the most underrated rappers there is.

 

[Kent Wang]

Similar in content and sophistication is 2Pac - Death Around the Corner


Child: Why you by the window?, what's wrong daddy?
Mother: I know what's wrong with that crazy motherfucker
He's just stand by the goddamn window
with that fuckin' AK all day
You don't work, you don't ****, you don't,
you don't do a goddamn thing

[2Pac]
I see death around the corner, gotta stay high while I survive
In the city where the skinny niggas die
If they bury me, bury me as a G *****, no need to worry
I expect retaliation in a hurry
I see death around the - corner, any day
Tryin to keep it together, no one lives forever anyway
Strugglin and strivin, my destiny's to die
Keep my finger on the trigger, no mercy in my eyes
In a ball of confusion, I think about my daddy
Madder than a motherfucker, they never shoulda had me
I guess I seen too many murders, the doctors can't help me
Got me stressin with my pistol in my sheets, it ain't healthy
Am I paranoid? - Tell me the truth
I'm out the window with my AK, ready to shoot
Ran out of indo and my mind can't take the stress, I'm out of breath
Make me wanna kill my damn self; but I see death around the corner

I see death around the corner, the pressure's gettin to me
I no longer trust my homies - them phonies tried to do me
Smoking too much weed, got me paranoid, stressed
Pack a gat and my vest, under my clothes when I dress
Here's hopin I die the way I lived, straight thuggin
Huggin my trigger for all them niggas that was buggin'
My homie told me once, don't you trust them other suckers
They fought like they your homies but they phony motherfuckers
And even if I did die young, who cares
All I ever got was mean mugs and cold stares
Got homies in my head that done passed away screamin, please
Young *****, make G's
I can't give up, although I'm hopeless, I think my mind's gone
All I can do is get my grind on, death around the corner

I was raised in the city, ******
Ever since I was an itty bitty kiddy
Drinkin liquor out my momma's titty
And smokin weed was an everyday thang in my household
And drinking liquor til' you out cold
And though I'm grown now, ***** it's still on - Pow!
Bustin on them ****** 'til they gone
How many more jealous ass bitches, comin for my riches
Now I gotta stay suspicious when I bone
Cause if I ain't sharp and heartless, them bitches'll start ****
Excuse me, but this is where we part *****
No more game for free, please explain to me
Why ****** trip *****, who you came to see?
Murderin now but see me later man, as for my pops
I got homies that will hunt you 'til you drop
I hope the Lord can forgive me, I was a G
And gettin high was a way of bein free; I see death around the corner

 

[dusty]

This doesn't have the same sense of paranoia, but the tone is similar and the lyricism is outstanding.

Cannibal Ox - Iron Galaxy

[Vast Aire]
And if there's crack in a basement
Crack heads stand adjacent
Anger displacement
Two step arangements
You were a still born baby
Mother didn't want you, but you were still born
Boy meets world, of course his pops is gone
What you figure?
That chalky outline on the ground is a father figure
So he steps to the next stencil, that's a hustler
Infested with money and diamond cluster
Lets talk in laymen terms
Rotten apples and big worms
Early birds and poachers
New York is evil at it's core, so those who have more than them
Prepare to be vic-tims
Ate up by vultures, the politicians
In a dog eat dog culture, that'll sick 'em
Lack of mineral, we take it personal
A pigeon can't drop **** if it never flew
Every day is no frills, empty krills
Broken 40 bottles and m.c's with skills
I rest my head on 115
But miracles only happen on 34th, so I guess life is mean
And death is the median
And purgatory is the mode that we settle in
"No doubt"
I've got that Eve's Bayou sense of touch
So I fought, to touch every hand of a fan to read their thoughts
Battered wives, molested children
Roaches on the floor, rats in the ceiling
Cats walk around New York with two fillin's
One is in their mouth the other, does the killin'
I'm Vast Aire, Kramer, top billin'

 

[edmorel]

Weren't the Ghetto Boys the ugliest mother-ucking rappers you've ever seen

 

[whodini]

I didn't even know they had a video for that song:

 

[kronik]

Originally Posted by edmorel

Weren't the Ghetto Boys the ugliest mother-ucking rappers you've ever seen

Hell yes. And yea, they're out of H-Town. I listened to this song the other day for the first time in months.. as well as one of my favorite "songs" ever, the intro to Black Sheep's "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" album. "Woke up, didn't choke up Saw my AK, it was broke up Put it together like a jigsaw Got my nine and my rambo knife off the floor Went to the bathroom and beat the rush "Yo who the **** used my toothbrush?" Went to my sister's room, "Yo, ***** wake up" "You stupid ass, dirty ass, nasty ass slut" Shot her in the leg, shot her in the thigh Kicked her in the *****, and punched her in the eye Slapped her in the head, stepped on her cord Don't **** around ***** word is bond Went downstairs to eat with my folks "Ma... you broke the fuckin' egg yolk" Punched her in the chest, got on her cheek Then I made her scream like the ***** was a thief Knee to the *****, kick to the skull AK yo I shot the ***** in the temple Pops' got mad cuz Mom got licked I didn't give a **** so I shot 'em in the dick Hungry ass ****, said my grace Pop kept screamin' so I shot him in the face Ate my food found my coat Mail man came so I cut his mutha-fuckin' throat Waiting for the mutha-fuckin' school bus... I had a dream that I was hard....." The most significant being the last 3 lines.. to me.