I tell it like it is, then how it could be

Like it is, then how it could be

I tell it like it— tell it how it—

I tell it like it— tell it how it—

I tell it like it is, then how it could be

Like it is, then how it could be

I tell it like it— tell it how it—

I tell it like it— tell it how it—

I tell it like it is, then how it could be

Like it is, then how it could be

I tell it like it— tell it how it—

I tell it like it— tell it how it—

Heaven or Hell, boy, freedom or jail, boy

A JanSport bag full of shit I could sell for

The high or the low, boy, just me and my homeboys

The police kill us, so we made up our own laws

Been fighting this long war, it's shells in this shore sand

Still young, but a grown man, could tell by my stature

Stacking money and problems as I wait for the Rapture

Death never been no threat, I be chilling, relaxing

Everybody bleed

I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one

To make it up to Heaven, despite the things I've done

I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one

To make my mama proud, feel like her only son

I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one

With everything I need, with everything I want

I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one

To do it like nobody has ever done

When I was in seventh grade, my grandfather taught me

"Don't get caught loving the streets 'cause they never gon' love you back"

But I feel like it's all we got, so it's all we really do love

At the end of the day, I feel like the problem is the people that control it don't really come from here

So they can't do nothing but, you know, look down on us

We look at them, we see somebody that can help, they look at us and all they see is a ****

But do it really matter anyway? We all gon' die one day, man

One day

Do doves cry when a Black man die? Or do we croak with crows?

The young catch gunshots, the old catch the Holy Ghost

Ho, I love not, I never seen no pot of gold

Just bar windows and six-fours with no switches

Was broke with no bitches, she love me, though

You'll kill me if it make you richer, what you screaming you my brother for?

Heart is where the hatred is, the brain'll stain the love below

And life is what you make it, so I'm making money for my folks

I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one

To make it up to Heaven, despite the things I've done

I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one

To make my mama proud, feel like her only son

I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one

With everything I need, with everything I want

I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one

To do it like nobody has ever done

When most people look at a person who does what I do

They look at us with these preconceived notions as if it's a set way for us all to be

But we all people at the end of the day, so I wonder why we don't treat each other like it

You looking at a person, telling them that they story don't matter really no better than me

Walking down the street tryna shoot at somebody

'Cause all we got is these dreams, man, and y'all ain't never had to not have nothing

And that's the last thing you want for anybody

Is to not really have nothing at all

I been through hell and back, I seen my mama cry

Seen my father hit the crack then hit the set to flip a sack

I done seen my homies die then went on rides to kill 'em back

So how you say you feel me when you never had to get through that?

We live for they amusement like they view us from behind the glass

No matter what we grow into, we never gon' escape our past

So in this cage they made for me, exactly where you find me at

Whether it's my time to leave or not, I never turn my back

I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one

To make it up to Heaven, despite the things I've done

I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one

To make my mama proud, feel like her only son

I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one

With everything I need, with everything I want

I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one

To do it like nobody has ever done, nobody has ever done