[Intro: Trife Da God]
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Uh-huh, whoo, just smoothing it out, right now
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My nigga Halloween, we gon' get rich this year, nigga (see)
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Sip on this little bit of odor, made brown
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Zone out, turn the lights off
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Ant boogie, what up? Uh-huh
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[Trife Da God]
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In the crib, with my wiz, getting my grown man on
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Listening to classic soul, with the slow jams on
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Smokey Robinson, Tears of a Clown, shedding tears
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Popping beers, almost twenty five years in the town
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I seen niggaz die off, like dandelions in the fall
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Niggaz heard of Chip Banks and left him lying in the hall
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Your boy Sandy Brock was ill, like Kobe Bryant with the ball
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It's no exceptions, even the biggest giants gotta fall
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Cuz we living in denial, but these lessons are vital
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When marinating in the slums, you gotta practice survival
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Now everybody wants to be next American idol
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But these are more than just songs pressed up your vinyl
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Being rich is a poor man's dream, and we all wanna shine
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But we all can't green, knahImean?
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Being rich is a poor man's dream, and we all wanna shine
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But we all can't green...
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[Chorus: Solomon Childs]
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I grew up hard, maybe you grew up harder
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But I ain't been to many operas
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Or had money for private doctors
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As harsh it sound, these just a tears of a clown
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I grew up hard, maybe you grew up harder
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The message is I'm too strong to hold down
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I know the ledge, and I ain't planning to drown
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As harsh it sound, these just a tears of a clown
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[Trife Da God]
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Momma ain't raised no fool, they say we gotta save the children
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But first, we gotta save our spoons
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I was taught not to waste my food
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Even if I didn't like it, every scrap on my plate got chewed
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Either you ate, or you didn't eat, the memories are bitter sweet
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Used to get teased by my friends, cuz I had bigger feet
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I think about them jokes and laugh, crack a smile
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Cuz as a child, I never knew that being broke was bad
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Growing up I was close to my dad, but that still didn't stop a nigga
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From putting that coke in them bags
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That was the past, now, I'm riding with the oak in the dash
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Got jealous niggaz hating, big time, hoping I crash
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I can't blame 'em, and on the same note, I can't change 'em
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Let a nigga disrespect my shit, I'm gonna flame 'em
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That's word to my son little Jay, my little homey
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Ask niggaz how your boy get down, ain't nothing phony
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[Chorus]
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[Trife Da God]
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Yeah, they say two heads are better than one, and in the process
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I learned that slow progress, is better than none
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That's why I'm still here persuing my goals, baking that bread
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In the bakery, if I ain't out, doing no shows
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I hit the block, once in a blue, and front with the crew
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And show niggaz a good time, by getting drunk in the stud'
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Some niggaz find happiness, with a blunt and a brew
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They talented niggaz, but they just need something to do
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It's kinda hard try'nna look beyond buildings and bricks
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We can't condone broken homes, when our children is sick
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Try'nna survive off the cereal and milk from the WIC
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And all the good ones we got, be getting killed in the mix
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He could of been the next Jordan, who knows, the next Emmitt
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Young Tiger Woods, or the new Arthur Ashe of tennis
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That's why I'm looking past the gimmicks, getting cash with Dennis
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Criminal grind, we gonna smash the business
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[Chorus]
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[Outro:]
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Yeah, when you see that big thing pull up
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Don't be mad at us, man, be glad, we done made it from the projects
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We done came up, Stapleton Houses, man
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Straight up, Theodore, Toney Starks Enterprise
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-----------------
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Grew Up Hard
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| Ghostface Killah |
