[Verse 1: Raekwon] I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side Staying alive was no jive Had secondhands, Mom's bounced on old man So then we moved to Shaolin land A young youth rocking the gold tooth, 'Lo goose Only way I begin to G off was drug loot And let's start it like this son, rolling with this one and that one Pulling out Gats for fun But it was just a dream for the teen who was a fiend Started smoking woolies at 16 And running up in gates, and doing hits for high stakes Making my way on fire escapes No question I would speed for cracks and weed The combination made my eyes bleed No question I would flow off and try to get the dough all Sticking up white boys in ball courts My life got no better, same damn 'Lo sweater Times is rough and tough like leather Figured out I went the wrong route So I got with a sick-ass clique and went all out Catching keys from across seas Rolling in MPV's every week we made forty G's Yo nigga respect mine or here go the TEC-9 Ch-chick-POW, move from the gate now
[Hook: Method Man] Cash rules everything around me: CREAM, get the money Dollar, dollar bill y'all
[Verse 2: Inspectah Deck] It's been twenty-two long hard years of still struggling Survival got me bugging, but I'm alive on arrival I peep at the shape of the streets And stay awake to the ways of the world cause shit is deep A man with a dream with plans to make cream Which failed; I went to jail at the age of fifteen A young buck selling drugs and such who never had much Trying to get a clutch at what I could not touch The court played me short, now I face incarceration Pacin' - going upstate's my destination Handcuffed in the back of a bus, forty of us Life as a shorty shouldn't be so rough But as the world turns I learned life is hell Living in the world no different from a cell Every day I escape from Jakes giving chase, selling base Smoking bones in the staircase Though I don't know why I chose to smoke sess I guess that's the time when I'm not depressed But I'm still depressed and I ask what's it worth? Ready to give up so I seek the old Earth Who explained working hard may help you maintain To learn to overcome the heartaches and pain We got stickup kids, corrupt cops, and crack rocks and Stray shots, all on the block that stays hot Leave it up to me while I be living proof To kick the truth to the young Black youth But shorty's running wild, smoking sess, drinking beer And ain't trying to hear what I'm kicking in his ear Neglected for now, but yo, it gots to be accepted That what? That life is hectic
[Outro: Raekwon] Niggas got to do what they got to do To get through - know what I'm saying? Because you can't just get by no more - word up - You gotta get over - straight up and down