Intro:
n***as just can't have nuttin' (have nuttin')
n***as just can't have nuttin' (have nuttin')
n***as just can't have nuttin' (nowadays yo)
n***as just can't have (n***as just can't have)
n***as just can't have (n***as just can't have)
n***as just can't have nuttin' (n***as just can't have nuttin')
n***as just can't have nuttin' (n***as just can't have nuttin')
n***as n***as nowadays yo
Verse 1: dray
Well yo, they used to say that dray was a motherf**in bum
Cos when it came to profit, son i really wasn't gettin none
The wilest motherf**er that you ever saw
They used to call me petey wheezthrow, the devil's son-in-law
Now i'm in the sh**, like a fly i was buggin
From robbin to stealin to dealin, yo, and even muggin
Sellin c**aine in the high school halls
Playin it slick i kept the balms up in some tennis balls
I used to run across the bridge with my peeps
I packed a tray-8, in dem days i was playin for keeps
I used to roll around my hat and all day
Lookin for a prey that we could rob on broadway
Stickin n***as for their j**els if they're worthy
Made a couple of hits and then we jetted back to jersey
'86 and '87 was the year
Had the gucci hat, rock the rac-coon fur coat yeah
Keep em in disguise and n***a don't ya blink
See yeah saturday, we robbed another n***a at the rink
The beats was always showin up at my rest
Askin "does a certain drayzie live at this address? yes?"
The spot was hotter than the sun, without a doubt
I had the choice to go to school and get the f** out!
I hit the south just like a bandit cos i was stranded
Virginia state in '88, you know that's where i landed
I couldn't stand it, sh** was feelin strange
I made it outta range but yo, my sh** was just about the dough
Chorus:
Aiyo, n***as just can't have nuttin ( yo n***as just can't have nuttin)
n***as just can't have nuttin (n***as just can't have nuttin)
n***as just can't have nuttin (n***as just can't have nuttin)
n***as just can't have nuttin (nowadays yo)
*repeat x2*
Verse 2: skoob
Yo bust a move, peep the flav
Cos i'ma take you back to the days of brown envelope trays
Twenty-something years ago as i proceed to recollect
A newborn shorty had to 'ford cheques off bushwick
Bless the days, pops shot to get forth the *?vock?* and fifth
Damn, fam got to shift
From the tenth flo' down four flights to the sixth
This was around the time smokin reefer was the sh**
But now the crib a little bigger
I was the first man in the fam so it's plans for a n***a
Had my clan from my building and my man from 8-11
Wit me when we hit the jams behind 2-57
Mom's babysittin, pop's on the hustle
54 block was on lock, bust a knuckle
Game rip, some n***as slipped and got greedy
Believe me, another "rest in peace" in graffitti
But i couldn't resist a few fights and petty heists
Cos now i'm 'cross town in the heights
My nights are a little quieter but still amongst the schemes for the fun
Where sons run guns and blow slums with the dums
And motherf**ers don't care
I love the street game so i stashed the green leaf by the air
You couldn't tell me sh**, evil was more eager than a beaver
Kept it fresh, double-parked in the caesar
But i got deceased with this behaviour-type flavor
And do moms a favour, go to school and get this f**in paper
So what's the caper cos now i'm all in
At virginia state, now let the bullsh** begin
Chorus:
Nowadays n***as just can't have nuttin' (n***as just can't have nuttin')
n***as just can't have nuttin' (yo n***as just can't have nuttin')
n***as just can't have nuttin' (n***as just can't have nuttin')
n***as just can't have nuttin' (n***as just can't have nuttin' yo)
n***as just can't have nuttin' (n***as just can't have nuttin' yo)
n***as just can't have nuttin' (n***as just can't have nuttin')
n***as just can't have nuttin' (nuttin', nuttin', nuttin', nuttin')
Nowadays n***as (n***as just can't have nuttin')
Verse 3: dray, skoob
It was '89 and yo, i'm stayin out of fights
I'm runnin with this n***a named books from crown heights
Gettin toe-up from the flow-up, we're drinkin til we throw up
We're thinkin we can blow up so to cla** we wouldn't show up
Well n***a so what? you f**ed the holdup and went whatevers
Then bucked the leathers, son i got to get my sh** together
Gettin drunk, gettin flunked in cla** is what's the function
Smokin blunts-in, son we need to stop frontin
We're goin huntin, virginia didn't have sh** for us
That's why we broke out with dice and blitzed into blue chorus
Gettin busy, flippin rhymes on the weekend
The deal we was seekin from styles we was freakin
But yo, now it's '91 and me and son we got to scram
(aiyo it was a rap contest, nuttin we couldn't handle)
And yo, something got ta happen or i'ma get tha pappin
We got tha blueprints to this new style of rappin
Packin sk**s from the sewer, i knew we had a shot
Gotta go and blow the spot and show them n***as how we rock, what?
If pmd is judgin it, yeah the cautious crew
Makin all that money on that business as usual
(tip tip tip) tip, we flip the tongue and started wilin
They hit us with the digits to the cribs in long island
So, we packed the henny and my men we got swayz
And never lookin back, that's how we thinkin nowadays
Chorus:
Cos yo n***as just can't have nuttin' (n***as just can't have nuttin' yo)
Word up n***as just can't have nuttin' (n***as just can't have nuttin')
Nah n***as just can't have nuttin' (n***as just can't have nuttin')
(yo that's why they got me rockin on the microphone)
n***as just can't have nuttin' (yo n***as just can't have nuttin')
n***as just can't have nuttin' (have nuttin', just nuttin')
Nowadays n***as didn't have nuttin' (n***as just can't have nuttin')
n***as just can't have nuttin' (n***as just can't have nuttin')
(well now they got me rockin on the microphone)
(n***as just can't have nuttin')
n***as just ain't (got a motherf**in thing)
Nowadays (word up) n***as ain't got nuthin'