That's How I'm Livin' - Ice T

I was born in New Jersey, I said it before

But I guess nobody heard me

My mother died young

No sisters or brothers, I was the only son

When I was twelve my pops died too

What a brother was supposed to do?

They sent me out West

To live with my aunt

I guess they though it was the best

But there was no love there

Growin' with no moms

I guess I was prepared to live in a vacuum

The bedroom, the kitchen, the hall and the bathroom

I didn’t leave home much, didn’t like L. A

Didn’t have no friends to trust

Got bused to a school

Blacks and whites, I guess the shit was cool

But in highschool I changed

Didn’t wanna bust, didn’t wanna play the game

I walked to Crenshaw High, shit was fly

I hooked up with a new crew

Some brothers that seemed like they knew what the fuck to do

You might call it «gang» but we called it a set

And it was our own thang

The whole school was down

And one way or another everybody fucked around

Whether hardcore or not

You wore the right color or your ass got shot

That’s how I’m livin'…

I did three years in and made close friends

Havin' no love my homies became my only

I was glad: the family I never had

But I grew up fast, got a girl on 10th grade pregnant

Needin' cash, I had to change my style

Switched from bangin' to hustlin'

No more goin' buckwild

Had to get a cashflow

But my hustle was weak, it was a no go

I joined the army, four years in that shit

Be all fucked you can be

Came back to the hood

My homies had done good

Had elevated their game

About 100 gees a lick, no mothafuckin' shame

Passed for the jewels

Baby sledgehammers with the tools

I speak on this with hesitation

Even though it passed the statue of limitations…

I checked the bank

Bought a porsche and gear, earn high streetrank

But as I grew my whole crew fell through

Cops had us on the books as interstate crooks

Murder robbery rape escape, the whole damn nine

You robbed a nigga blind

I had too much juice, I cut my boosters loose

I was in tread with the pimpgame

Took on the Ice name

But the pimp game moved too slow

Especially for a nigga who was hooked on quick dough

In one night late I was in a carwreck

And I was lucky to escape

Hospital for ten weeks, in bed almost dead

And when I got well, I got caught in a cross

And got locked in a jailcell

That’s how I’m livin'…

They cut me loose

And I had to change troops

This time they didn’t catch me

Next time they’ll stretch me

Cause my time was gettin' short

All my homies was in court

Or locked in a hole, this shit was gettin' old

So I changed my life

Put down the gun and picked up the mic

It took ten years to get from there to here

But I still keep a gun, cops got me on the run

And they hate me more now

Than they ever did before

My homies came back from pen

And we all worked together

True friends but every once and while

Some punk mistakes me as a chump

And he gets in my face

Wrong mothafuckin' place

And I ain’t lyin', that’s how you dyin'…