Mary J. Blige: Where I've Been

[Spoken]
(To all the youth in the world that thinks nobody understands...
Well I understand that)
It's been hard for me
Trying strugglin' in the streets
But where I've been- Is no longer where I'm at
And where I'm going- Is not where I'm stoppin' at
It's been hard for me
Trying strugglin' in the streets
But where I've been- Is no longer where I'm at
And where I'm going- Is not where I'm stoppin' at
I grew up as a 70's baby
Brought up in poverty and sin
Makin' jokes at the crazy lady
Never cared how she was dealin' within
I knew all the words to
Micheal Jackson's album as a kid
And when it came to the biggest crusher
No he wasn't my man
At the age of seven years old
A strange thing happened to me
Before I even saw
My life had flashed before me
And I've got the mark to show
And it became a thang of beauty
So I gotta let you know
That my life, that my life
It's been hard for me
Trying strugglin' in the streets
But where I've been- Is no longer where I'm at
And where I'm going- Is not where I'm stoppin' at
It's been hard for me
Trying strugglin' in the streets
But where I've been- Is no longer where I'm at
And where I'm going- Is not where I'm stoppin' at
It's been hard for me
Trying strugglin' in the streets
But where I've been- Is no longer where I'm at
And where I'm going- Is not where I'm stoppin' at
Now mama's workin' hard all day
And she said this before she left home
Take care of your little brother
Have the place cleaned when I get home
All these priorities
Me and Tanya had to learn to be grown
But at the time for me
Being grown had seemed so lone
Woke up and I'm seventeen
With nothing going for me
Except the fact that I sing
You know it hurts so much
From all the sights that I've seen
From abusin' the hole in trust
You probably couldn't take some of things
That I've lived in my life
It's been hard for me
Trying strugglin' in the streets
But where I've been- Is no longer where I'm at
And where I'm going- Is not where I'm stoppin' at
It's been hard for me
Trying strugglin' in the streets
But where I've been- Is no longer where I'm at
And where I'm going- Is not where I'm stoppin' at
It's been hard for me
Trying strugglin' in the streets
But where I've been- Is no longer where I'm at
And where I'm going- Is not where I'm stoppin' at
It's hard and the street's a jungle (I'm telling you, I'm telling you)
Especially with your pretty colors (I'm telling you, I'm telling you)
So stay low and keep it humble (I'm telling you, I'm telling you)
Black women hold it down, keep your feet on the ground
Black men keep searching and you'll be found
It's been hard for me
Trying strugglin' in the streets
But where I've been- Is no longer where I'm at
And where I'm going- Is not where I'm stoppin' at
It's been hard for me
Trying strugglin' in the streets
But where I've been- Is no longer where I'm at
And where I'm going- Is not where I'm stoppin' at
[Rap by Eve]
In this world of continuous bullshit and full clips
Seems all we have to pass down is being useless
Broken homes, babies all alone, parent's never there
No food, no clothes to wear, anger everywhere
Ain't no values being taught, no productive thoughts
Jealousy rules the world, take shit at any cost
Gotta change our state of life, keep it worth livin'
God gave us voices to speak and that's our way of givin'
It's so much bigger than the furs and the jewels
What about encouragin' the youth to do well
What about givin' back- what about unifying
Shit we all black- get it together
Everybody's got their trials and tribulations
Learn to change the negative to positive situations
Don't hold the lessons that you learn
Pass it on and except the blessings that could earn
It's been hard for me
Trying strugglin' in the streets
But where I've been- Is no longer where I'm at
And where I'm going- Is not where I'm stoppin' at