AS I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH= As I live in this dangerous and sad place (this metaphor was composed by King David 3000 years ago. Read under the MEANING tab to learn more about this)

BLASTING= (slang) To blast is to have a wild time, partying and all that.

MOMMA= (AmE) BrE mamma, mum.

MY MIND HAS GONE= I am crazy, insane.

AIN’T= (slang) The negative form of the verb to be or have in the present:
- I ain’t bin to London never = I have never been to London.
- You ain’t no better than me = You aren’t better than me

I AIN’T NEVER CROSSED A MAN= I have never met/known a man.

ME= (black AmE) I.
ME BE TREATED= I am treated (they treat me)

A PUNK= Someone who is worthless, not important.

YOU BETTER= (coll.) You’d better = You had better = You should.

HOMIES= (slang, originally “homeboy/homegirl”) Close friends.

LINED IN CHALK= (slang) Killed.
When someone is killed, the police draws a white line around the corps with chalk to mark the exact place and position of the body before removing it.

TRIP= to consume drugs to get a hallucinatory experience.

I GOTTA= I’ve got to = I must.

LOC= (slang) man, buddy, mate (a way of addressing your friends from the band)
- Wassup*, loc?  (= How are you, man?)
- Not much, man. (= I’m ok)

CROAK= Die.

THE KINDA G= (coll.) The kind of gangster.

THE LITTLE HOMIES= buddies, friends (here “little” is not about size, but about feelings, so this means something like “dear friends”)

WANNA BE LIKE= (coll.) Want to imitate.

ON MY KNEES= Kneeling down.

GANGSTA= (black AmE) Gangster = A member of a mafia or a criminal association; a hooligan.
In fact, this spelling is only a way of reflecting black American pronunciation. In standard American English, people pronounce the letter R everywhere (for example in “rose” and in “car”) in black American English (same as in British English), the R is only pronounced when followed by a vowel (so they pronounce it in “rose” but not in “car”). So in “gangster” they don’t pronounce the final R, so it sounds like “gangsta”, and this spelling is trying to reflect that pronunciation.

A GANGSTA’S PARADISE= A gangster’s haven, a place perfect for gangsters.

I WAS RAISED BY THE STREETS= If your parents raise you, they take care of you and educate you. If the streets raise you, you learn everything from criminals, hooligans and bad people.

THE HOOD TEAM= I suppose he refers to “people wearing hoods”. A hoody (a sweater with a hood) is the typical thing street gangsters or hooligans wear.

CHASING DREAMS= Trying to make your wishes come true.

WITH MONEY ON MY MIND= Who wants to get rich.

MY TEN= A 10 is a perfect woman (physically perfect, that is), but here it is a slang word for a ten millimetre automatic pistol.

GLEAM= Jewellery, gold. “I have a gleam in my eye” means “I can see jewellery” (so I have it, or my perfect girl has it on). It could also refer to that spark of light you get in your eyes when you are excited about something or have a brilliant (or evil) idea.

LOK’D OUT= (slang) Crazy.

NOTHING BUT A HEART BEAT AWAY= Only a moment away (= you can die any moment)

DO OR DIE= (coll.) If you do something “do or die”, you are desperate.

THINGS IS GOING= (black AmE) Things are going.
In black AmE the present tense of the verb to be can use the forms is, are or be for any person (but “am” can only be used for “I”)
- She be a ten, bro! = She’s so hot, man!
- Yep, you is loco = Yeah, you are crazy.
- I be livin’ wit’ them bros = I am living with those people.

GOING ON= Happening.

IN THE KITCHEN= (slang) A mental place where your brain is running at its highest level of power. If you have something “in the kitchen”, you are thinking very hard about it. To continue with the kitchen metaphor, he then says “but I don’t know what’s cooking”. So he means that there is something very intense happening in his brain, like an idea trying to get shape, but he doesn’t know exactly what it is yet.

I GUESS= (coll.) I suppose.

THEY FRONT= (slang) They are hypocrites, they pretend to be what they are not.