Coming from Where I'm From

## Song by Lupe Fiasco

"**Coming from Where I'm From**" is a song by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, released as the 14th track from his mixtape, *Fahrenheit 1/15 Part I: The Truth Is Among Us* (2004). It samples the 2003 song "Comin' from Where I'm From" by Anthony Hamilton and the 1974 film *The Education of Sonny Carson*.

## Critical reception

*The Fader* described it as a "masterwork," where "its second verse alone imagines a kid on the curb, captivated by a local hustler's passing car, a man sitting in county fretting about whether or not his partner will wait for him if he takes a plea deal, and ends with the heartbreaking couplet 'We bring our sons up to get gunned down, our daughters to have more / It's war.' That verse thankfully gives way to a final one that allows a little optimism to creep in."

## Lyrics

**Lyrics**
[Sample: *The Education of Sonny Carson*]

You know, you got this fantasy in your head about getting out of the life and setting that other world on its ear. What the fuck are you gonna do except hustle? Now, man, I ain't puttin' you down. I'm just tryna make it real, baby, like it is— like it is—

[Intro: Lupe Fiasco]

Lupe Fiasco

Came from the ghetto

You know! (Ugh, yeah)

*Food & Liquor*!

It's the ghetto right here, man!

Uh-huh

[Verse 1: Lupe Fiasco]

Ayy, it's real here (Uh-huh), dope fiends steal here

Turn around, give us the money to buy wheels here

Give you the chills, yeah? Developers don't build here

The property values low 'cause we still here (Ha)

Better believe most of us wanna leave

Furthest we went was out of our minds, but we still here

Weapons concealed here, lil' sisters on the pill here

Can't pay our bills here, but we like to chill here (Yeah)

Gotta reap what you sow, grow what you till here

Your mama weep where you sowed, ‘cause you was killed there

Police put cameras on poles—too many deals there

Gotta go to the county 'cause you was filmed there (Yup)

How does it feel knowing innocence was killed here? (Mm)

Last night, down the park, beating heart was stilled there (Tss)

For the love of his chain, I make appeals here

Let's pray for our brains, bust-downs kneel here

Church, yeah

[Hook: Anthony Hamilton, *Lupe Fiasco*]

Sometimes I get rushed

Coming from where I'm from, (I'm from)

Times have got hard, yeah (*Y'know? Yeah'*)

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Sometimes I gotta walk to work, yeah (*Tales of a young Black male, woo!*)

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Sometimes I gotta do a little dirt (*Facing this old Black [?]*)

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

[Verse 2: Lupe Fiasco]

There was once a child in here

'Cause all the tribulations and the trials in here (Yeah)

And all the limitations of his housing there

Became a teenage trafficker, a thousand-aire

Captivated with what the drug dealer told

Infatuated with what the drug dealers drove (Mm)

A life validated by what a drug dealer holds

On the stand 'cause what another drug dealer told

A drug dealer woes, time waits for no man

No woman waits for a man with time on his hands (They don't)

Didn't you know? Lord, they fearing Ye now

They hearing Ye now, 'specially when the conspiracy's come down (They scared now)

We come down, get humble; it's no longer fun now

But who gonna hustle to feed his son now? (Oh)

From the cradle to the cage

We bring our sons to get gunned down, our daughters to have more

It's war

[Hook: Anthony Hamilton, *Lupe Fiasco*]

Sometimes I get lonely (*Yuh*)

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Things ain't what they seem to be (*Or a reasonable facsimile of it*)

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Sometimes I get a little angry (*Just ain't me, though*)

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Sometimes it gets the best of me (*It's all us, man*)

[Bridge: Anthony Hamilton]

Well I tried to be good

Wanted nothing but to love somebody

Didn't wanna die young

Grinding, hustling, tryna feed my family

Too scared to have kids

And do what Daddy did

'Cause I'm so scared of failing

Sometimes it gets hard

Coming from where I'm from (Sometimes)

[Verse 3: Lupe Fiasco]

But, but it's beautiful here

There's nothing like the feeling when you do it from here

You ain't have to move a pack, you ain't have to shoot a gat

And you still took your mama, and you moved her from here

You ain't dropped out, and you figured the world out

Can survive 'bout anywhere—learn how to do it in here

Yeah, that's how we do it in here

Hearing shorties at play is like music to the ear

We still get by, you know? (Yeah)

[Hook: Anthony Hamilton]

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Sometimes you gotta mourn

Coming from where I'm from (I'm' from)

Sometimes I gotta cry a little bit louder

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Sometimes I gotta fight the pain, yeah

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Sometimes I gotta walk along

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Sometimes I get a little worried

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Sometimes I get lost, out of touch

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Sometimes I think I pray a little bit too much

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

Sometimes I get a little scared

Coming from where I'm from (I'm from)

## References

1. ↑ Thompson, Paul (May 2, 2019). "The Brilliant Ambiguity of Lupe Fiasco's 'The Truth Is Among Us'". *The Fader*.