1997, same-old shit, (whats happening), niggas locked down   a cage bird can only sing for so long nigga, you know what I'm sayin'   wanna be free, thats real      [Verse 1]      I was on my way upstate, for felonies, Mac'll never see   The sunshine, these good old times, it's haunting me   My family is wanting me to break free   Plus it's looking as if I'm about to die, in the arms of the justice   Plotting my escape, before I made it to the gates   Thinking I'ma break, no matter what the shit takes   The maximum incarceration is what they got me facing   I'm having thoughts of pacing and masturbation   Laying up in a cell, never seeing females   Reminiscing about the skins I gave hell, oh well   Courts ain't even trying to hear my pleases   Yelling you gonna get parole when hell freezes   A double murder is what I got to explain to God   With no holds barred, it's hard, my mind is forever scarred   Mercy on a soldier, I'm seeing things Nostradamus couldn't see   When all I really wanna be is free nigga      [Chorus]   (I want to be free, oh yeah    I want to be free, oh yeah    I want to be free, oh yeah    I want to be free, oh yeah    I want to be free, oh yeah)      [Verse 2]      My baby girl is pregnant with a future Mac   Waiting for me to come back, but old judge ain't tryin to hear that   He wanna see me die of old age, in a two man cage   A straight rage, I'd rather be on stage   Instead I'm in the pit, over some shit, I didn't commit   It was the niggas I was with, but I'm silent   Its funny how Lucifer can seduce ya   These so called niggas be on the Seas of Madusa   Its funny how time walk, when they be in the slammer   Facing the type of sentences you can't correct with grammar   And I'm dealing with these lifers, some of these niggas find me attractive   And be trying to bend me over backwards, but I'm active   Years add on, every enemy I shank, penitentiary ain't what you think   I wanna be free, wishing I could strangle up all the jurors and prosecutors   But I'm trapped with lots of losers      [Chorus]       [Verse 3]      Its been 9 months of pain, in this ball and chain   Still thinkin about them days, I was living vain, ain't it strange   Cause I'd give anything to move on   And play a game of peek-a-boo with my newborn   I'm seeing niggas take they own lives under pressure   You come in here with attitudes, niggas gonna test ya   I'm lookin at the gates, ready to break, I don't fake   Tell the judge I'll be rhyming at his wake   I'm free nigga