Gangster Squad (AOWL no-show verse)

[Artifice]

as a youth i looked up to the dudes who ran the streets
the hero who led the crew, dreamt that one day too that man was me
grew into a teen & pretty soon started to live the dream
chilled with fiends, dropouts & goons, wasn't hard to enlist a team
a collection of misfits, stitch together an eclectic lot
sick minds with wretched thoughts kept in line to protect the block
we ran all the slums, streets littered with alcholic bums
kept the halls free from scum with threats of shots from tommy guns
became a daily shake of dice & drinkin' in the parking lot
a routine leadin' to corruption & once started really hard to stop
out of tune with my manouvres, my views disillusioned
i made the stupidest move & tried to control dope distribution
we caught a guy in a feathered fedora & velvet coat
on our turf tryin' to peddle dope to Joseph... that's Kevin's little bro
we approached him fast, both me & Kevin grabbed his neck
dragged him out back and the two of us each beat him half to death
a few days later we were paid a visit by his associates
it was then i knew to start praying for we were in some holy shit
they arranged us into cars & drove us out to hollywood
a place of fame & stardom, streets of gold you know where all is good
except it wasn't, for these men worked for Frank Knots
who was the top dog... above him was nothin' but blank spots
in a garage with two dudes rockin' suits on top of tank tops
who put their barrels to Kevin's head & then they both sank shots
had me watch him die hogtied, maimed & pistol whipped
said this is the life you wanted right well let's see if you live through it
wall of defense demo'd to rubble, my crew's been snuffed
guess a leader I'm far from bein'... more like a little two-bit punk
best laid plans shot to hell, turned to ash, covered in pitch
thought I was the man on my block but goddamn I plummeted quick
my pain stains the streets & my bloodshed paints the lawns
cuz that's what happens when you go to war with a real gangster squad


any feedback is appreciated.