Average Joe Lyrics - Kendrick Lamar

1 The hardest thing for me to do

2 Is to get you, to know me, within sixteen bars

3 That's the hardest thing

4 Who is K. Dot? A young nigga from Compton

5 On the curb writing raps next to a gun shot

6 On the corners where the gangsters and the killers dwell

7 The fraudulent tender scars that get unveiled

8 Everyone I knew was either crip or piru

9 Cousins in elementary, relatives in high school

10 With that being said, each one of their rivals

11 Was aiming something at my head, I needed survival

12 Got jumped, got jacked, shot at, shot back

13 And I don't even push a line, I'm just tryna push these rhymes

14 In the midst of staying neutral and discrete

15 My momma said you're judged by the company you keep

16 But what you can consider, that if it goes down

17 They'll kill you if you kill me, it gets deep nigga

18 So if you ask what I'm doing

19 I'm tryna duck the influence of my city that's blue-and,.. real talk, and

20 [Chorus:]

21 This is why they fuck with me (real talk nigga, believe it)

22 This is why they fuck with me (do what I do, y'know?)

23 I'm no gangster, no killer, I'm just your average Joe (know that)

24 But one thing you should consider, I'm the realest you know

25 I was walking from Centennial

26 When an unidentified vehicle rolled up, and I was like hold up

27 Where you from? "How-bang"

28 Where you stay? "Westside", that's a piru gang to be exact

29 Well aware they had blue across they hat

30 Dropped backpack and ran inside of the cul-de-sac

31 Shots rang out, hoping to God I wasn't wet

32 Crossed to cross Rosecrans and ran inside of the yet

33 Chirped the homies on the hot ninety-five, they said they already knew

34 What happened, and meet 'em outside the garage

35 Never seen that many guns in my life

36 I was paranoid like a fiend in the night, but needed revenge

37 Grabbed the nine-ball, opened up the door, then got in

38 Somebody said fall back, we gon' make these niggas suffer

39 You my brother like a frat, and that's just to remind you

40 Thought about that so long I had failed my finals, fuck, but

41 [Chorus:]

42 This is why they fuck with me (I told you nigga)

43 This is why they fuck with me (you fake nigga)

44 I'm no gangster, no killer, I'm just your average Joe (you fake)

45 But one thing you should consider, I'm the realest you know

46 I don't do black music, I don't do white music

47 I do everyday life music

48 Give 'em cuts like a nigga pierced a knife through it

49 You say you through, but I've been through it, now that's cold

50 And this is for my county building children

51 In Hub City on hubcaps, no power-steering

52 I use perseverance in this mad city

53 Where the niggas drink Remy and hold semis for cutthroats

54 Bernie Mac died, it's no joke

55 Don't ask why if you don't know about these killers and thieves

56 Seven grams of weed, you smoke that, but I'm high off life

57 I could fall out the sky like twice

58 And land in the land of the AKs

59 And the minivans where the fan never on

60 Cause it's hotter than a lunatic's underarms in a straitjacket

61 In other words, we get it cracking, but I keep it cool, y'know?

62 [Chorus:]

63 This is why they fuck with me [laughs]

64 This is why they fuck with me (real talk)

65 I'm no gangster, no killer, I'm just your average Joe (come on)

66 But one thing you should consider, I'm the realest you know

67 So there you have it

68 But I'm a leave you with this

69 An OG once told me

70 A real gangster is either dead or in jail

71 Or behind the scenes getting real money

72 I'm gone