[ Featuring Erick The Architect, Kota the Friend ]
Ayy, yeah
Ayy, ayy, uh
This is how the story begins
Yeah, uh
It started as a little middle-aged
Married couple who just had an only kid to raise
Sean Joseph, and then about five years later
Conceived a little Jesse on vacation to Jamaica, they was
They was living in Brooklyn, from the Basin
His dad wanted life with no limitations
Took him to the park and covered his head
With yellow tape from the bench, then you know what he said?
"I'll call you Caution, it seems fittin' for your character"
That wild child that run around
Bad at taking rules and always fresh when he run his mouth
Maybe it was destiny to name him something that he was all about
The process a lot harder than it seemed
In middle school, he started writing in his book full of dreams (full of dreams)
He told his friends he had these rhymes and raps
He tried to flow, they just smiled and laughed
'Cause they was at the park doing shit that he wouldn't do
Well, he was there too, but a different path, he would choose
Poppin' pills like they vitamins, that shit not exciting him
Still he turned out dope (dope), so yeah
Guess he's just a product of his environment
Yeah, uh
I'm just a product of my environment
Uh, save up, get a pack, serve the hood, get it back
If I see the opps, they receivin' shots
Never leave the block 'cause gotta get these dollars
Streets don't sleep, so neither do I, cuz
Got a couple homies in the ground, got a couple homies in the cell
Got a couple homies doin' well
Went to college, graduated, met a girl, had kids
We both from the trap, but they made it out this shit
And I'm glad 'cause I'm here and I'm stressed out
Bullets in my door, this ain't livin', it's something different
We never had a pot to piss in
Mama an alcoholic and Daddy just a lazy optimistic
Just ass whoopings and empty fridges
Ever since a youngin, was hustling 'cause I had to
Junior high, selling dime bags out the bathroom
Now I'm selling weight and with the money come the hate
I got a ulcer in my stomach, but the cash rules
I'm just a product of my environment
I'm just a product of my environment
Ayy, the way I came up, man, I can argue for less
Mom's totally blind, Pop's partially deaf
Always strive without the strength, the weight is all in my chest
Most important is the love when postpartum depressed
Ma raised her two sons, she named 'em Chris and Ron
By the time I was conceived, grandpa already gone
Never met him but I struggle with the thought
That my dad is in Jamaica while my moms is in New York
Thank God that they ain't split up, too many without pops is gettin' hit up
When the opposition break your optimism and you give up (grrt)
A Reiki healer told me I was born with guilt
So when you say you lost your way, I know just how you feel (right)
Cry tears to fill a bathtub, it's all relative
I'm transparent like the films, I made negatives (shit)
Comparing pain with another? It's irrelevant
We all goin' through some shit (yo, yo, yo), but who's tellin' it?
I hated seeing through they lens, grateful that I ain't dumb
Never been ashamed of who I am or where I came from
F*ck the mainstream, I stream through rivers like the ancients
My head inside my studies, help me break it down to basics (basics)
I guess I'm a product of my environment
