Otara (Misunderstood)

It's the home of the brave You can tell where I'm from If you take a look into my eyes 'Cause it's 274 that I rep 'Til the day that I die If you see the boys out on the streets You already know why 'Cause it's 274 that I rep 'til the day that I die Uh, Otara raised me Turned me from a boy into a man As a youngin' comin' up My parents always had a plan Raised in the city of the faithful We didn't have much But gah' damn we were grateful From Sandbrook to Flatbush down Preston to E.T Bring it back around the long slide is where you'll find me Kickin' it with the USOs jamming tag down at Ngati Otara you already know what's f***in good g Stereotypical views is what we're fighting The typical news about the place that I reside in The gangs, the violence is all they care about It's like you'll never make it far If you're a kid from the South There isn't a place on this earth that's so similar to heaven But they paint a different picture when you watch that Ten 7 THERE'S NO WAY Just shows how little they know When all they see's a kid screamin' out AYO From the 274 to the 685 Reppin' my city like I'm reppin' my tribe Straight chillin' on this high Hittin' rhymes right off the mind Sippin' on this lemon lime while I ride the 49 Forever loyal to the soil I was raised on Never forgetting where I came from I'll always keep it in my heart And I'm reppin' my city Lua Fiku to the Fa Cheeehooo It's that love and it's tuff You can tell where I'm from If you take a look into my eyes 'Cause it's 274 that I rep 'Til the day that I die If you see the boys out on the streets You already know why 'Cause it's 274 that I rep 'til the day that I die My home my heart that's Ōtara History made foundations laid Through the Dawnraid of my forefathers Fighting for our rights Shedding light upon our people Creating opportunities to make sure that we're equal I'm talking 'bout the hood with so much pride And minimal praise And most people just get by on minimum wage Though it's a given Individuals no matter the age Will have their cover judged Without the person reading the page Is that a ploy g saying I ain't from the hood to annoy me Boy out the hood but you can't take the hood out of the boy See, all these dudes should know better See I moved out but always got the hood on my mind Like my New Era Parents they been go-getters from the get go Made a change - though it wasn't presto One thing remains they taught me respect those People that deserve to be respected My elders and show love to the neglected Now tell the world that we ready steady comin' up If there's a problem we'll put our your light like ciggy butts Channel that inner Ruben Wiki when we run it up Lisone when it's up the guts But if it's uppercuts then that's the inner Uncle Jake the Muss 'Cause we Warriors to the E N D Otara Flea Markets right next to the M.I.T Listening to freestyles that have the peeps like O M G Feelin' Bizarre like they was listening to OMC It's the H.O.B Or the home of the Scorpion Double check the colours that you walking in Or the tone that you talking No gawking or acting staunch I see it clear in my eyes We from the same hood so put the hate and ill feeling aside, yeah Said it's that 274 buzz And if I'm eatin' We all eating 'Cause it's all love There ain't no changing where you came from 'Cause at the end of the day I reckon we'll be singing the same song Like, aye You can tell where I'm from If you take a look into my eyes 'Cause it's 274 that I rep 'Til the day that I die If you see the boys out on the streets You already know why 'Cause it's 274 that I rep 'til the day that I die Shoutouts to all the boys from the hood New Zealand's Inglewood And big shoutouts to the USOs that make noise in the hood Bring stories to the hood Bring glory to the hood If you're a stranger there's some places to avoid in the hood See we were raised in the hood Getting blazed in the hood And if somebody got beef Scoop up the boys and we're good Ain't nothing changed in the hood Still full of rage in the hood And you can leave but you never really get away from the hood It just stays in the hood Nothing fades in the hood So when I die you can scatter my remains in the hood 'Cause even though there's so much pain in the hood There's so much good buried just beneath the surface - misunderstood