[Intro: Mac Dre] Up in this muthaf**a trippin', man Thinkin' about how it was Back in the days, you know Beat soundin' kinda cool, feelin' kinda cool Let gon' and do somethin' to this though Check it out [Verse 1] Once upon a time, my nine stayed in the small of my back I sold crack and drove a Cadillac Shot craps, made snaps on the corner by the stop sign Strapped with my ‘gnac, dank sack and my Glock nine Kickin' it with the homies on the grind for cabbage A Double-R soldier, 3C savage Runnin' from the ones with the nightsticks High-speed chasin' and racin' in tight sh** Back in '85 selling goop was the sh** Wasn't a thing that them fiends wouldn't do for a hit b**hes s** dick, n***as rented they cars While young players like me became street stars Glued to the track with a sack and a handgun Steady sweatin' sales, stoppin' cars at random Runnin' from the 50, hittin' fences and hidin' out Seven cars deep is how the homies is ridin' out House parties pop, stayed packed with hoodrats n***as on the mic, drunk, bustin' them hood raps Hooked on the dank, Thunderbird we drank Rollin' in the bucket with the f**ed up paint 24-7 on the hunt for coochie Sportin' Troop, Nikes, Fila, and Gucci Makin' much money on the dope track But when the crack slacked then n***as started to jack Every young n***a tryna stay in the mix Was breakin' them tricks and cold hittin' a lick Jackin' became the quickest way to make some mail But some n***as fell and spent years in jail Droppin' nine in the pen tryna make they chest bigger Some n***as died gettin' jacked by the next n***a But that's the way it goes, you pay the price When you're deep in the game, and you're livin' that life [Chorus] Everybody wants a little something (When you're livin' that life) Cool but you got to give it all (When you're livin' that life) ‘Cause everything in life has a price you're… (When you're livin' that life) Livin' the life, livin' the life, livin' the life, oh [Verse 2] I was against all odds, fresh out the womb My only hope was to soak game, so I consume While n***as chilled and parlayed, I learned the hard way Scuffed and roughed up, the game had scarred Dre Back in the days, all I knew was the hood and rocks Lookin' for funk and headed straight for a wooden box Prone to quick cash and gettin' the grit fast Never really trippin' on how long would sh** last Earnin' my ghetto stripes from scraps and ghetto fights f**in' with hoodrats, them tramps and ghetto types Never givin' a f**, nah, not even sometimes Just havin' a fun time, runnin' from one-time Trippin', and wasn't even peepin' the sh** Slippin', and steady gettin' deep into sh** I let the game control me, shape and mold me Then it treated me coldly, it pimped and hoed me I was sellin' the crack but not stackin' a damn thang And now that I look back, man it's a damn shame Couldn't recognize there was game to peep The dank had me gone and my brain is sleep I finally woke up in the federal pen Broke than a muthaf**a beggin' for ends I was a midget, a small digit…forgotten Game was stale, my name was rotten Had life by the a**, my sh** was twisted I thought about the hood and how much I missed it But the life I was livin' wasn't really sh** I was clockin' them ends but wasn't stackin' a grip They had the world thinkin' I was runnin' in vaults I rea**essed my thoughts, and proved my faults And for the next four years, I kicked and waited Becoming top notch while incarcerated But that's the way it goes, you pay the price When you're deep in the game, and you're livin' that life [Chorus] [Outro: Mac Dre] Livin' that life Growin' up in the hood, slangin' that c**aine f**in' with them hoochies Runnin' from the rollers Goin' to juvenile hall, county jail, penitentiary All that sh** But you gotta pay the price, when you're livin' that life If you're soft, homeboy, think twice It ain't nuthin' nice Got my boy Khayree up in here, man We just doin' this sh**