Ice-T: That's how i'm livin

I was born in new jersey, I said it before But I guess nobody heard me My mother died young No sistas or brothas, I was the only son When I was twelve my pops died too What a brotha 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 busted 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 new cru Some brothas that 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 When the 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 came my only I was glad: a 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 join 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 a hesitation Even though it passed the statue of limitation... I checked the bank Bought a porsche and gear, earn high streetrank But as I grew my whole crew fell thru Cops had us on the books as innerstate 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 intread with the pimpgame Took on the ice-name But the pimpgame moved too slow Especially for a nigga who was hooked on quick dough In one nite late I was in a carwreck And I was lucky to escape Hospital for teen weeks, in bed almost dead And when I got well, I got gaught in a cross And got locked in a jailcell That's how I'm livin'... They cutted me loose And I had to change troops This time they didn't catch me Next time they'll strecth 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 Putted 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 junk And he gets in my face Wrong mothafuckin' place And I aint lyin', that's how you dyin'...