Ice Cube - You Don't Work, U Don't Eat lyrics

"This afternoon we want to talk about" "Now I want you brothers to dig where we coming from" [WC] Five yers ago when I was in high school No bills to pay, I used to say to myself "Life is cool" I had a roof over my head and a part-time job Slanging at OB's birdstand Washington High was the school I attended Til '87 graduation came and I wasn't with it Kicked out the house at the age of 18 No money for college, mmm, how should I handle things? I tried to go the so-called right way And went to a JC but I wasn't getting paid I'm working at a chicken stand now with the chicken With a spring at the top of my hat getting clowned I gotta pay my rent but my job ain't cutting it So now I'm drinking gin saying "Here's my alternative" To either keep doing what I'm doing, don't trip Or go and buy gats y'all and come up on a grip So like anybody else I went and bought a gun Pulling burgs at night and now I'm counting my funds Three times a day and I drive a coup on danas Cruising through the alley bumping on "Hi" to players Yo, you can say what you want but I was taught on the streets That if a brother didn't work, then he didn't eat "You don't work, you can't eat" [Coolio] Peep this, something kind if for weakness Focus on the park and watch how I freak this Subject for survival, got to stay alive I gotta eat so I do or die Not a full-time crook but I was born right So if I want to eat, sometimes I got to jack So jack I will and go get some presidents A foot in the ground and the other on an oil slick Money ain't everything but either is brokeness Give me a knife cause I can't live off happiness Once a brother said I can't work for the white kind Standing on the corner in a soup line Said he's too black, too strong, ain't done nothing yet Waiting on the fifth for his government relief check Humming and bumming, most hate to see him coming And every first and 15th, these strongs on his life But a hustle is a hustle and a meal is a meal That's why I'm real and I ain't afraid to steal Straight from the street, backed up by a funky beat If you don't work, OG, then you don't eat "You don't work, you can't eat" (Repeat 2x) [Ice Cube] Ayo, I want y'all to meet a n***a from the Lench Mob He gaffled for his meals (McDonald's is my spot) Ayo Jay Dee, kick some sh** for the Maad Circle, G [Jay Dee] If you don't work, you don't eat, need I say more? Cause I'm a kick my rhymes in abundant while you stay poor Since I was 14 I raised myself I built a roof over my head and then I went for self I sold cooked-up rock, made my way through school I'm not saying you should do it cause it ain't too cool Kicking ???, playing to start your back Talking about that bullsh** prize, you slay me right? And you other motherf**ers out here banging for change Need to wise up and seek personal gain Or maintain some type of pain Cause they don't give away hot lunches out here in L.A Yo peace to the Dub and the Maad Circle For giving me the chance to let the rhyme just flow So you can (So you can either sell dope or get your a** a job) Jay Dee (I'd rather roll with the Lench Mob) "You don't work, you can't eat" [MC Eiht] Eiht is stepping from the city down under And I'm robbing more punk fools blind like Stevie Wonder Ain't no punching a clock, I ain't with it For a quarter an hour I make the sh** every minute And please, don't even let me catch a brother slipping He'll be short, shorter than short With my hands around his troat Fool, come off the chain and bracelet I know it's wrong but face it A brother like me won't win the lottery Ain't no faking when it's time to bring home the bacon Cause I was taught get what you're gonna get quick And don't get gaffled in the mix So I guess I'll keep stacking, breaking the law Checking a fool, wrecking and breaking his jaw Gyeah, that's life in the Compton streets Homeboy you don't work, homeboy you don't eat "You don't work, you can't eat" [WC] This record was put together by Jay Dee, Coolio, and the W Eight, Chilly Chill, and DJ Crazy Toons Sic brothers out to get paid cause Nowadays you got to go for yourself or go broke I'm living day by day cause you see the future ain't promised So save that drama for your mama And make sure you're out of my path when I'm on the creep tip Or have your first name changed to R.I.P "You don't work, you can't eat" (Repeat 2x)