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That's How I'm Livin' It
Ice-T
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I was born in New Jersey
I said it before but I guess nobody heard me
My mother died young
No sisters and brothers, I was her only son
When I was twelve my pops died too
What's a brother supposed to do?
They sent me out west
To live with my aunt, I guess they thought that was the best
But there was no love there
But growin with no moms I guess I was prepared
To live in a vacuum
The bedroom, the kitchen, the hall, the bathroom
I didn't leave home much
Didn't like L.A., didn't have no friends to trust
Got bussed to a school
Blacks and whites, I guess the shit was cool
But by high school I changed
Didn't wanna bus, 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 a 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
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 in the tenth grade pregnant and needed cash
I had to change my style
Switched from bangin for 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 the fuck you can be
Came back to the hood
My homies had done good
Had elevated their game
About a hundred G's a lick, no mothafuckin shame
Bashed for the jewels
Baby, sledgehammers were the tools
I speak on this with hesitation
Even though we're past the statute of limitations
That's how I'm livin
That's how I'm livin
That's how I'm livin
ย
I checked the bank
Bought a Porsche and gear and earned high street rank
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
We'd rob a nigga blind
I had too much juice
I cut my boosters loose
I was intrigued with the pimp game
Took on the Ice name
But the pimp game moved too slow
Especially for a nigga who was hooked on quick dough
Then one night late
I was in a car wreck and was lucky to escape
Hospital for ten weeks in a bed
Almost dead
And when I got well
I got caught in the cross and got locked in a jail cell
That's how I'm livin
That's how I'm livin
They cut me loose
And I had changed, troop
This time they didn't catch me
Next time they stretched me
'Cause my time was gettin short
All my homies was in court
Or locked in the hole
This shit was gettin old
So I changed my life
Put down the gun, 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 the pen
And we all work together, true friends
But every once in a 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're dyin
That's how you're dyin
That's how I'm livin
ย
That's how I'm livin
ย