[Verse 1: Raekwon] I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side Staying alive was no jive Had secondhands, moms bounced on old man So then we moved to Shaolin land A young youth, yo rockin' the gold tooth, 'Lo goose Only way I begin to G off was drug loot And let's start it like this son, rolling with this one And that one, pulling out Gats for fun But it was just a dream for the teen, who was a fiend Started smoking woolies at 16 And running up in gates, and doing hits for high stakes Making my way on fire escapes No question I would speed, for cracks and weed The combination made my eyes bleed No question I would flow off, and try to get the dough all Sticking up white boys in ball courts My life got no better, same damn 'Lo sweater Times is rough and tough like leather Figured out I went the wrong route So I got with a sick a** clique and went all out Catchin' keys from across seas Rollin' in MPV's, every week we made forty G's Yo n***a respect mine, or anger the TEC-9 Ch-chick-POW! Move from the gate now [Hook: Method Man] Cash rules everything around me C.R.E.A.M Get the money Dollar, dollar bill y'all [Verse 2: Inspectah Deck] It's been 22 long hard years of still struggling Survival got me buggin', but I'm alive on arrival I peep at the shape of the streets And stay awake to the ways of the world cause sh** is deep A man with a dream with plans to make cream Which failed; I went to jail at the age of 15 A young buck selling d** and such who never had much Trying to get a clutch at what I could not The court played me short, now I face incarceration Pacing, going upstate's my destination Handcuffed in back of a bus, forty of us Life as a shorty shouldn't be so rough But as the world turns I learned life is hell Living in the world no different from a cell Everyday I escape from Jakes givin' chase, sellin' base Smoking bones in the staircase Though I don't know why I chose to smoke sess I guess that's the time when I'm not depressed But I'm still depressed, and I ask: what's it worth? Ready to give up so I seek the Old Earth Who explained working hard may help you maintain To learn to overcome the heartaches and pain We got stickup kids, corrupt cops, and crack rocks and Stray shots, all on the block that stays hot Leave it up to me while I be living proof To kick the truth to the young black youth But shorty's running wild smoking sess drinking beer And ain't trying to hear what I'm kicking in his ear Neglected for now, but yo, it gots to be accepted That what? That life is hectic [Hook: Method Man]