Keisha's Song (Her Pain)
[Hook: Ash Riser]
Fancy girls on Long Beach Boulevard
Flagging down all of these flashy cars
[Verse 1]
And Lord knows she's beautiful
Lord knows the usuals, leaving her body sore
She take the little change she make to fix her nail cuticles
Lipstick is suitable to make you fiend for more
She play Mr. Shakur, that's her favorite rapper
Bumping "Brenda's Got a Baby" while a pervert yelling at her
And she capture features of a woman, but only 17
The 7 cars start honking, she start running like Flo-Jo
Don't care if they Joe Blow
If they got money to blow a blow job is a sure go
And sure enough don't see a dime of dirty dollars
She give all to her daddy but she don't know her father, that's ironic
See a block away from Lueders Park, I seen the El Camino parked
In her heart she hate it there, but in her mind she made it where
Nothing really matters, so she hit the back seat
Rosa Parks never a factor when she making ends meet
[Hook: Ash Riser]
Fancy girls on Long Beach Boulevard
Flagging down all of these flashy cars
[Verse 2]
And Lord knows she's beautiful
Lord knows the usuals, leaving a body sore
Her anatomy is God's temple
And it's quite simple, her castle is 'bout to be destroyed
She's always paranoid, watching the law inside the streets
Undercovers the dummies that look like decoys
Remember the sergeant let her slide, said if he seen
What's between her thighs he'd compromise, to no surprise
She took the ultimatum 'round the alleyway and gave him
A warm welcome that filled him right below the navel
Though he was wired up like a pair of jumping cables
His eyes was closed shut, prior charges, he had waived 'em
It was a block away from Lueders Park, I seen a squad car parked
And in her heart, she hate it there but in her mind, she made it where
Nothing really matters, so she hit the back seat
Cause Rosa Parks never a factor when she topping off police
[Hook: Ash Riser]
Fancy girls on Long Beach Boulevard
Flagging down all of these flashy cars
[Verse 3]
And Lord knows she's beautiful
Lord knows the usuals, leaving a body sore
As she bust down like a 12 bunk on tour
She suddenly realized, she'll never escape the allure
Of a black man, white man, needing satisfaction
At first, it became a practice, but now she's numb to it
Sometimes she wonder if she can do it like nuns do it
But she never heard of Catholic religion or sinners' redemption
That sounds foolish, and you can blame it on her mother
For letting her boyfriend slide candy under her cover
Ten months before she was ten he moved in and that's when he touched her
This mothafucka is the fucking reason why Keisha rushing through that
Block away from Lueders Park, I seen the El Camino park
And in her heart she hate it there but in her mind, she made it where
Nothing really matters, still she hit the back seat
And caught a knife inside the bladder, left for dead, raped in the street
Keisha's song
[Bridge]
My little sister eleven, I looked her right in the face
The day that I wrote this song, set her down and pressed play
[Hook: Ash Riser]
Fancy girls on Long Beach Boulevard
Flagging down all of these flashy cars
Keisha is one of the two reoccurring characters in the album. Her story left off at the end of No Make-Up (her Vice), where it was revealed she was hiding a black eye under her makeup.
Long Beach Boulevard is frequented by prostitutes. The flashy girls are sex workers waving down potential customers.
Keisha is beautiful inside and out, but her usual customers are leaving her physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually sore.
The little money Keisha makes she spends making herself look better, and as a result more appealing to customers.
She plays Tupac, her favourite rapper. Brenda's Got A Baby is about a young woman going trying to make it through hardships while unknowingly being pregnant. Keisha's struggles are comparable to Brenda's. It should be noted that Brenda dies at the end of her song.
Keisha looks like a woman but is still just 17. When she gets customers she "starts running like Flo-Jo". Running is slang for having sex with many different people, while Flo-Jo refers to Florence Griffith-Joyner, who set world records for the women's 100 and 200 metre in 1988 that have yet to be broken. Flo-Jo grew up in a housing project in California, yet grew up to be the fastest woman to live. Keisha grew up under similar conditions, yet is a prostitute.
Joe Blow is any regular man, meaning Keisha will have sex with anyone who pays.
All her income goes to her pimp, often called her daddy. Her real father either abandoned her and her mother, or her mother was also a prostitute and even she doesn't know the father.
A block away from a park in Compton, Kendrick sees Keisha having sex with someone in the back of an El Camino for money. She hates being a prostitute, but puts her mind in a happier place and does what she has to do.
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and move to the back of a bus. She is known for standing up for her rights. To Keisha, standing up for her own rights as a human being isn't important if it would get in the way of her making enough money to get by.
Keisha's body, soul
and mind are gifts from God, but her actions as a prostitute are doing unrepairable damage.
Keisha is always worried she'll get caught by a cop, and she keeps her eyes open for undercover officers.
Keisha was confronted by a police officer who told her he wouldn't charge her for prostitution if she pleased him sexually. Not wanting to be arrested, Keisha took the officer up on his deal, bringing him around the alley and giving him what he wanted. The cop was still wearing his radio and still on the job, hence being wired up. His eyes were closed shut literally due to what Keisha was doing and figuratively as he was turning a blind eye to her actions. In exchange for the sexual act, he waived the prostitution charges on Keisha.
Kendrick once again sees Keisha in the backseat of a car, but this time she's pleasuring a police officer to avoid being arrested. Just like with the El Camino, Keisha standing up for her human rights is less important than being charged with prostitution.
Night after night, women go out and stand on the streets as prostitutes, hoping to attract a customer. This is routine for Keisha.
Bust down, like running, is slang for having sex with many people. A 12-bunk refers to the bunk beds on tour buses used by bands and other music artists. They are often the only place musicians have to hook up with fans, and as a result they experience a lot of sex, just like Keisha.
Keisha will never be able to escape the attraction of a man needing sexual pleasure. She started by doing it for her own enjoyment, then began doing it for money, and is now completely accustomed to it.
Keisha wonders if she will ever be able to stop and turn her life around, "doing it like nuns do it", or refraining from sexual activity.
Keisha doesn't understand the concept of salvation and has never seen anyone redeem themselves from her situation. She believes that changing her ways is impossible, that she is doomed to be a prostitute forever.
Keisha's mother had a boyfriend who trafficked cocaine, or candy. She let him live in their house, partially so she could take advantage of living with a dealer. When Keisha was nine years old the boyfriend molested her. Sexual abuse can cause victims to be extremely sexually active, and being abused by her mother's boyfriend is the reason Keisha became so promiscuous and got into prostitution.
Once again, Keisha is in the back seat of an El Camino, forcing herself into a mindstate where she can perform sexual acts for strangers in exchange for money.
Kiesha is murdered and raped by one of her customers. The line comes abruptly and unexpectedly, just as Keisha's death did.
The song is about and for Keisha. Regardless of if the story is true or not, Kendrick emphasizes that it could and may have happened.
Even though Kendrick's sister was young, he played this song to scare her away from promiscuity and the path that leads to prostitution. Potentially scaring her is a much better option than having her go the wrong way in life.
Even with a prostitute just murdered, everything goes on as normal, with another girl standing on the curb to take Keisha's place.