Hood Gone Love It – English Lyrics

• By: Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the raw and authentic narratives of "Hood Gone Love It" by Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar. This powerful West Coast hip-hop track offers a vivid lyrical landscape, rich with slang, cultural references, and poignant storytelling from the streets of Compton and Watts. Learning the language through this song provides a unique window into urban American vernacular, community pride, and the harsh realities faced, making it an engaging and culturally insightful listening experience.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
hood /hʊd/ B1	noun - a poor or violent urban neighborhood
love /lʌv/ A1	verb - to care deeply about someone or something
struggle /ˈstrʌɡəl/ A2	verb - to experience difficulty or hardship noun - a forceful effort to attain something
rise /raɪz/ A1	verb - to move upward
grind /ɡraɪnd/ B1	verb - to work hard and persistently
real /riːl/ A1	adjective - actual or genuine
pain /peɪn/ A1	noun - physical or emotional suffering
pride /praɪd/ A2	noun - a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction
hustle /ˈhʌsəl/ B1	verb - to work hard or be busy making money
dream /driːm/ A1	noun - a series of thoughts or images experienced during sleep verb - to imagine or hope for something
survive /sərˈvaɪv/ A2	verb - to continue to live or exist
strong /strɒŋ/ A1	adjective - having power or ability to withstand force
voice /vɔɪs/ A1	noun - the sound produced by someone speaking
change /tʃeɪndʒ/ A1	verb - to make or become different
truth /truːθ/ A2	noun - the quality of being true or genuine

Key Grammar Structures

• I'm on the road to riches, they on the road to prison

  ➔ Present continuous tense

  ➔ The phrase 'I'm on the road to riches' uses the present continuous tense ('I'm') to describe an action happening now or in progress.

• They say the hood gone love it, I told 'em, 'Prove it'

  ➔ Future tense with 'gone'

  ➔ The phrase 'hood gone love it' uses 'gone' as a colloquial way to express future tense, meaning 'will love it'.

• I'm just a product of my environment, that's on my momma

  ➔ Present simple tense with emphasis

  ➔ The phrase 'that's on my momma' uses the present simple tense ('that's') with emphasis to strongly assert a statement.

• I'm straight up out the gutter, but I'm still in the kitchen

  ➔ Contrastive conjunction

  ➔ The phrase 'but I'm still in the kitchen' uses the contrastive conjunction 'but' to show a difference between two ideas.

• They can't stop me, I'm a problem, cause I'm ruthless

  ➔ Comma splice

  ➔ The line uses a comma splice to join two independent clauses ('They can't stop me, I'm a problem') without a conjunction.