Introduced as a Beatnuts and Black Sheep protege, Chi Ali was the Native Tongues’ young’in that had a mischievous side, but a youthful innocence throughout the early ’90s. After a 2000 conviction of manslaughter for a high-profile murder in The Bronx, Chi went from “Funky Lemonade” to over a decade behind bars—a story that inspired Skyzoo to pen a song not so long ago.

Upon his return to the streets, Chi still has his mic skills, but sounds quite different. On “G Check,” he stands besides a contemporary, in Jadakiss, and Holleywood, and raps about a healthy distrust of law enforcement today, the struggles of the self-employed hustler, and how the code of the streets has changed since those glorious ’90s.

Related: Fat Joe & Chi Ali – Games & Things (Video)