Jus Lyke Compton Lyrics
Finally out the muthafuckin' CPT
Off to other cities and shit
No longer just an underground hit
Movin thangs, a local nigga made good
I made a name off of making tapes for niggas in the hood
And now, let me tell a little story
About the places that I been to and the shit that I been through
Like fightin' and shootouts and bangin and shit
All because a nigga made a hit, check it
1991, it was double or nothing, not a nigga wit' hit
Then we broke out with the fonky shit
About bitches and niggas and gettin' drunk and off that bud
I was doing the shit they hadn't heard of
But foolish was I to think that it wasn't no other cities like this
And they didn't like this
That Compton was the home of a foot in yo' ass
Where you got blast, and now that's just a thing of the past
Let me tell ya why firsthand
We did a show up in Oak-land and niggas was kickin up sand
To them bangin' ain't nothin' new, and slangin' ain't nothin' new
And for every nigga we done shot, they done shot two
Straight doin' locs since the sixties, before I was born
Families of young niggas mourn
So I'm just letting you know
That if ya plan to take a trip to the Bay
Keep your hand on your clip
Yeah, I'm telling y'all Oakland (ha ha ha, is just like Compton, fool)
[Verse 2: DJ Quik]
Moving on to St. Louis, where they country as fuck
With gold teeth in they mouth but they still know what's up
Where it's hot as a muthafucka, hot enough to make ya cuss
That's why I kept my ass on the bus
But later on when it cooled off we came down and met a couple of friends
Who put us up on the St. Louis cap
The Smith Center, with Big Bob, Little Steve, Tojo, Biss and Rich
And a couple of bitches
Then they took us to a man named Gus in a store
He put us down with a herringbone and shoes galore
That's when I started thinking that this wasn't like home
But then they had to prove me wrong
'Cause later that night after we did the show
We went back to the afterset, and wouldn't ya know
Yeah, Bloods and Crips start scrappin' and shootin' -- in Missouri?
Damn, how could this happen?
Now St. Louis (ha ha ha, is just like Compton)
Yeah y'all, St. Louis (ha ha ha ha, is just like Compton, nigga)
[Verse 3: DJ Quik]
I don't think they know, they too crazy for their own good
They need to stop watchin' that Colors and Boyz n the Hood
Too busy claimin Sixties, tryin to be raw
And never ever seen the 'Shaw
But now, back to the story that I'm tellin'
We packed up the tour bus one more time and started bailin'
When we arrived I saw red and blue sweatsuits
When I'm thinkin' 'bout horse dookie, and cowboy boots
I guess Texas ain't no different from the rest
And San Antonio, was just waitin' to put us to the test
And before it was over the shit got deep
A nigga got shot in the face, and was dead in the street
Then they came in the club thinkin' of scrappin'
Little did they know that we was packin'
Yeah, we was puttin' 'em down and scaring the rest, shit
I even had to wear the bulletproof vest
Yeah, San Antonio (ha ha ha ha, is just like Compton, bitch)
[Verse 4: DJ Quik]
After about a month on the road
We came home and I can safely say
That L.A. is a much better place to stay
How could a bunch of niggas in a town like this
Have such a big influence on niggas so far away?
But still my story ain't over 'cause I got one more to tell
And the people of Colorado, they know it well
It was all in the news and if you don't remember
I had this show I did in Denver
With a punk ass promoter in a bunk ass skating rink
Bitches was lovin it, but niggas was shovin and shit
To the front of the stage to throw their gang signs
But I'm getting paid so I didn't pay it no mind
Then I poured out my brew onto their face and chest
Then they start throwin' soda, and fuckin' up my Guess
When it was over two niggas needed stitches
Got cracked in they jaw for being punk ass bitches
Now Denver (ha ha ha, is just like Compton)
Yeah, y'all Denver (ha ha ha, they wanna be like Compton, bitch)
And you know that Oakland (ha ha ha, is just like Compton)
Yeah, y'all, St. Louis (ha ha ha ha, we made it just like Compton, fool)
Uh-huh, San Antonio (ha ha ha ha ha, is just like Compton)
Yeah, and Denver (ha ha ha, they wanna be like Compton, punk ass niggas)
I thought ya knew (ha ha ha, yeah)
About
In 1992 DJ Quik returned with his sophomore album “Way 2 Fonky”. While touring for his first album Quik encountered lots of drama on the road and did a great job of fitting these stories into his rhymes. Songs like this are why many consider Way 2 Fonky one of Quik’s best albums
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
DJ Quik had this to say to Complex:
DJ Quik: “Now fast-forward from the time my first album hits the streets and started to propel and sell. I’m on a tour bus, I’m being told ‘Congratulations!’ I’m like, Why? They’re like, ‘Your record just hit gold this week, so they’re going to have a party for you.’ Here I am, all I really cared about was getting back home to get to my equipment.
“Back then, I couldn’t afford to have a studio on the bus. So I was homesick for my music. Because I just wanted to make more music. I wanted to make another whole album. Like, why are we still touring? They’re like, ‘Your record is still sellin.’ I’m like, I want to go start on Way 2 Fonky.
“During the time I started the record, at the end of that tour, some crazy shit started happening on the road. I was representing the B card pretty tough. Like, I wasn’t a super-banged out gangbanger.
“I was letting it be known, I was wearing Chicago White Sox hats with the little red in them, Chicago Bulls gear. That was about the time Michael Jordan & them started to come into prominence, so it was just an all-around good time to rock red.
“But some of the Crips in some of the places I was going kind of wasn’t having it. Me being as naïve as I was to the fact that gangbanging did just go a little bit farther than California. And to go out of town and see that motherfuckers really didn’t have nothing to lose, & to witness these crazy riots at the end of our shows.
“I’m thinking, I’m not invoking all of this violence, it ain’t me, this is a movement bigger than me. Because they’re like, ‘DJ Quik started a riot last night.’ How did DJ Quik start a riot when all I did was get on stage & rapped? I didn’t even say ‘blood.’ It was my cousins and the fucking idiots that I had with me on stage. I’m not gonna say their names, but these motherfuckers was real gangbangers.
“I’m trying to get them record deals and get them out of this shit. But they want to sit on stage and fuck my shit up, throw glass bottles into the audience—you know, real irresponsible shit. Getting me sued, getting me arrested. I gotta fight lawsuits & shit.
“For $81,000 in 1991 I had to pay this lawyer in Denver as a retainer fee for a misdemeanor. They were just using me because I was a celebrity. It was all blown up because I was popular. If I had been a Joe Schmoe little ignorant motherfucker from the hood, they would have thrown that shit out of court. Just some mayhem or whatever and it would have been done.
“But because it was me, they made a big fuss out of it. And the motherfuckers that I had with me, these bastards didn’t even come back to court out there in Denver with me to go support me even though I gave them a lifestyle, these ungrateful sunofabitches didn’t even represent.
“So ‘Jus Lyke Compton,’ I wrote that because of the shit that I experienced, the murder of somebody outside of one of my concerts at a club in San Antonio, Texas, which—by the way—Shaquille O'Neal was present at, before he got signed.
“And primarily it was just me giving a very visual assessment of the year prior. And regretfully so, too. When I listen back to that record now I don’t think I had any choice but to do that record.
“If there was anything I could change, I probably would have added more stories to it. But it was already four minutes long. I mean, I rapped so long on that record that I would have to take the hooks out. And I shortened the hooks!
“The hooks are not the normal eight bars, like most choruses are eight bars. Those choruses are four bars because I had so much to talk about, and there was some shit I left out. But again, it was my naïvete. You are who you associate yourself with, and motherfuckers next to you can truly sink your battleship, literally.”
- 2.Mo’ Pussy
- 3.Way 2 Fonky
- 4.Jus Lyke Compton
- 8.No Bullshit
- 12.Tha Last Word