[Intro:]
This song go out to anybody who lost one of they homies man
You ever lost somebody
That felt like you was in this sh** by yourself
But you gotta fight man
It's hard
[Verse 1: Lil Herb]
My momma used to say, "Never quit, baby that just don't exist!"
And just cause she'll s** ya dick, don't mean you could trust the b**h!
I'm just giving you the real
Cause I don't come from Hollywood or Beverly Hills
I'm from where mothers don't care and babies get k**ed
Where you gotta rob and go steal for stomachs to fill
And it's hard for a young, black n***a like myself
Where the police compare oneself with everybody else
So that means if you yourself they think you're everybody else
So I don't care 'bout no one else
Just my family and myself
Yeah, that's just my way of thinkin'
In my city and it helps cause no one gives a f**
About me, you, or nobody else
And it's cool
I'm still livin' over East
We still chillin', sippin' lean
Smokin' swishas, stackin' hunnits to the ceilin'
We still winnin'
We just fightin' to survive
It's a shame I gotta ride with this nina on my side
They used to say...
[Hook:]
Never quit, never give in
Hey, don't you quit
Never give in
[Verse 2: Common]
Rings and watches, kings deposites
Chains that seemed preposterous
Gettin' paper never seemed monotonous
Time is money, the streets is watchin' like a scene from Clockers
Fiends is nauseous, chicken wings they gossip
n***as wings is tied up in dreams and product
The block gets hotter when the streets is dried up
We react like shottas when n***as is fired up
On some James Brown sh**, I'mma take you higher
To stay live n***as still livin' like The Wire
A tight rope so they steppin' on that white dope
I ride with my n***as cause that's the cycle
Suppliers, buyers, leaning like they biased
This is circus, n***as and broads wearin' wires
The eye of the tiger in my iris
Eyes on the prize, I'm a fighter
[Hook:]
[Verse 3: Chance The Rapper]
Me and my pops shared the same home phone number
Called us "single parent home", sorry, wrong number
I did my push ups, and my homework, and my house work
And my dirt, talk back until my mouth hurt
Daddy furious, Trey hopped in the car though, close the car door
Wonderin' why our father God couldn't spare Rod for
Spoiler alert, Trey get out the car and walk home with his heart broke
My poppa love me, ops left me
Stains fed me, and they dressed me
Come home freshly dressed and he addressed me
And he pressed me
Called me a thief, called me a boy, called me a coward
At least he ain't call me from county with an hour worth of advice from my 5 day
Why Doughboy couldn't have the same pops that he had on Friday?
I'd rather be a real man than a real n***a, real talk
[Hook:]
[Verse 4: Lil Herb]
I've seen mommas treat their daughters like the scum of the Earth
Snake n***as put their homies since they was young on a shirt
It's your life well, tell me what it's worth
Cause when you come across that d**h you don't get another birth
You better live it up
Haters want me dead, they better work, I ain't gonna give it up
f** around get hit with every one like you ain't feel enough
p**y n***as gotta feel the d** before they start feelin' tough
In the streets I'm tryna feel the love but I ain't feelin' nothin'
I love my squad, I love the hustle
I love success cause I'm from the struggle
I used to think that I could go back what I used to do
Now I cry less and less at all my homie's funerals
It's hard but it's gonna get harder and harder
Why momma always tell me just be smart and keep your guard up
I said to myself: check your back, put your squad up
Bibby tell me how to keep your head above water