| You know man, you watchin TV, I see what’s poppin
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| These dance songs
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| Shaking and moving, and rapping about this and that
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| But all I know is hard, man
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| I gotta do me, you know what I mean?
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| I’m tryna uplift the gutter with my music
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| I don’t know no dance moves
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| I’m tryna paint a picture, delivered a little different
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| Hoping you can feel it, picture just how I’m living
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| It ain’t all bad, that’s why I’m loving the hood
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| It ain’t all sad, man, there’s plenty stories of good
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| On these corners of corners, they done brought up a man
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| Raised my mama, help my family, I do all that I can
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| So it seems gutter dreams rest in piece on the block
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| Still I skeme and I dream to make my way to the top
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| I’ll admit I’m in the middle, with these words that I heard
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| Industry, it’s gotta be that bullshit they surve
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| Ain’t no romancing, no dancing, just the pictures of life
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| On this corner where I’m grinding, also tought me to fight
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| So Imma fight, and Imma scrap, get my foot in the door
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| Bang the walls with my dogs, till they open some more
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| Spit it raw, give my vision of how I’m living this life
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| I can’t change it, rearange it, no matter the price
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| I only know hard
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| That’s all I see at night, that’s the way I live
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| I only know hard
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| City streets
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| I only know hard
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| And it’s so hard in the hood, tryna be a kid
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| 10 toes down, bad motherfucker
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| Mama was a housekeeper, daddy was a hustler
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| House full of rats, roaches in my serial
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| Chearch on Sundays, praying for a mearical
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| Funny when I think back, when I was a youngster
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| then we got crunk
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| 15, learned how to cook a little Crack up
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| Coughed a little weed, learned how to stuff a little sack up
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| Wrote my first rhyme right about the same time
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| My young mind fell in love with them storylines
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| I used to listen to Marvin, and pray that I
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| Could touch people like him, when I seen him write
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| Soul music, get into your soul music
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| Discover it when you young, keep it to your old music
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| Don’t you judge your man and what shoes he in
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| Judge your man by what shoes he been
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| I only know hard
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| That’s all I see at night, that’s the way I live
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| I only know hard
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| City streets
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| I only know hard
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| And it’s so hard in the hood, tryna be a kid
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| I only know hard
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| I’m battered, broozed and scarred
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| Hard life to move, I can Tom Crues the part
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| I keep it hard, I got so much heart
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| I’m a hard head, shit, I eat my doughnuts hard
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| You don’t wanna start, I keep a grown man hard card
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| So I’m coolin in any city, any hard part
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| In the hood, man, I’m harder than a train rail
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| Look in my eyes, tell the truth, you can’t tell
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| I don’t understand Kushing or a safe mat
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| Everytime I stumbled, I just fell down on my face flat
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| Got back up, with my head straight up to the sky
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| Oh my, I’m a stand up guy
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| I’m pimp tight MJ, and I’m fly
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| Some real good sticky, and I’m real high
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| Imma take my time, I’m a plan out guy
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| And I don’t snitch, bitch, I’m a man bout mine
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| I only know hard
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| That’s all I see at night, that’s the way I live
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| I only know hard
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| City streets
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| I only know hard
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| And it’s so hard in the hood, tryna be a kid |