[Chorus] (ROUGH!) Everytime they held me back I got (TOUGH!) Never could they hold me back I'm too (ROUGH!) Everytime they locked me down I got (TOUGH!) Never let 'em breakin me down I'm too (ROUGH!)
[Verse One] It's all around us everywhere we look we see it everday My brotherman's smile is upside down goin the wrong way I dig deeper, try to search for the cause Is the answer in the nine milli' stuck in my drawers? Or - is it coincidence the projects is full of blacks? And when you're black and trying to get ahead they pull you back? We went from African kings to Martin Luther King Now they wanna make us all Rodney King So they conspire, to murder for hire Is the world just a big cup of water trying to douse the black fire? Is it because I'm the man that you brought to this land and rose above bein labelled as a fieldhand? I made Hustle & Trade in the ninth grade Figured out a way to get paid before I got laid But either way I got my hands in a cuff I got my grill guarded and I knuckle up cause it's real tough
[Chorus]
[Verse Two] How can I find, who's the real divine when everytime I take a book, take a look my strong mind sees a new sign? My black woman degrades me So I grab my clothes, get the gun, kiss the kid and I get Swayze Should I think about the baby at home and go back or should I just say "FUCK IT" and leave it alone? I'm on the road like Billy Jack never lookin back with the fat mac-11 in the backpack Will another man take my place and have my child screaming daddy, lookin all in his face? Or do I turn around and make it up? Or do I let my pride take control, and make it real tough?
[Chorus] - repeat 2X
[Verse Three] Who do I follow, and who do I lead? Do they really wanna help me or is it just greed? Is everybody all for self to get wealth? The streets wanna dust me off and throw me on the shelf Is he my man, or is he tryin to play me? Or is he some hitman somebody sent to lay me? Can I turn a young black boy into a man? Can I kick the rhyme and spread knowledge to a fan? Or do I gotta play the role just to be liked like a whole lot of suckers I know that get the mic? Do I let a label change me to something I'm not and make records that cold flop whenever they drop? Who do I blame if I'm not a success? Do I blame it on my pops that left, when I was feedin on my momma's breast? Or do I blame it on society? With all this black white stuff, man this shit is real tough
[Chorus] - repeat 2X
[Outro] 1994 If you believe in yo'self When the goin gets rough, you gotta get TOUGH~! From Daddy Boot Knock baby