[Featuring R. Kelly]
[R. Kelly]
Still somehow I believe
We always survive, Oh why...
[Nas]
To my doggs
Wherever you are
Whattup Big?
You know shit is rough after you slid
You in Gods hands now
Keep a place for me, kid
Ain't nothing changed
Still partyin' bullshit
We used to fuck r & b bitches and see who rhymes sickest
For every hit you made
More rappers afraid to come out
Machine gun funk,
From Queens I came through to smoke blunts
You came to my hood
We was broke
I wonder if we stayed that way, would there have been gunsmoke?
Still on the block around fiends
Numb from coke, I guess so
Cause now with paper, shit is still ghetto
But fuck it black
You livin' your life though your loved ones
Peace to your daughter and your newborn son
It used to be fun
Making records to see your response
But now competition is none now that you're gone
And these niggaz is wrong using your name in vain
And they claim to be New York's king
It ain't about that
Its more serious
I plan to toast it up with you
Joke with you
Happy we on top, the most Official
Ain't to many real ones out there
I feel some but doubt they're
Capable to take it where you took it to
I missed you're weight
Not cause I'm fake
Cause I hate to see somebody so great in that wake
I woulda stayed so long with so much to say
I had to put it in writin'
To keep me and Brooklyn from fightin'
Tellin' me to pay my respects and move to the side
But I probably wouldn't have got off my knees to let people by
You can't kill nothin' thats ready to die
You was like God to us
In the form of Allah
[Chorus- Nas & R. Kelly]
Still somehow I believe
We always survive, Oh why...
Still we will survive
No matter what
My people just stay alive
Still we will survive
No matter what (Thug Life baby)
My people just stay alive
[Nas]
Dear Pac
Every thug sheds a teardrop
And use to teeth to bite off beer tops
And pour out a lil' liquor
You was more than the wildest nigga
2Pacalypse, I understand your style nigga
Its goin' on the 3rd year
Since you've been gone
On the East and West Coast the same shit is goin' on
The industry be talkin'
Offendin' me often
They don't beleive you dead
Wanna see you in your coffin
I pray late
Shootouts and court dates
All eyes on you
Niggaz in your face
Invadin' your space
You asked if I could trade in your place
How would I hold up?
How long would I ride, before I fold up?
How did you know through your rhymes it was your time to go?
You predicted it in every line
All in your flow
There could never be peace
I have to quote
Can't believe I heard my name on the relaest shit you ever wrote
We had words
Cause the best supposed to clash at the top
But kept it brotherly
When we seen each other and stopped
In NYC, at MTV
People watched
We was both deep
After you left, I got no sleep
Think about how us real niggaz would be
If we united, a nation of thugs who could fight it
You was caught in a wild homicide
Or were you crucified like the son of God?
Or Lucifer lied?
Make the world think young blacks should be extinct
But Thug Life'll never die
We stay high and just link
Will there ever be another MC as nice?
Will you return to us like the resurrection of Christ?
Chorus
[Nas]
I wonder what the Commodores went through on tour?
Did Smokey Robinson have to shoot his way outta war?
What has Al Green seen that made him religious?
Was it the drugs?
Put a end to the music business of soul
Should I put out the indo right now and write down a plan
And pursue my dream
Turn my life around
Cause I'm bound for the movie screen
Cuties'll scream
I'll need a exit Uzi riding through my own hood of Queens
It be the ones you always knew
That want it on
Tellin' everybody it was him you fronted on
Though we walked a million miles and was just 20
Not used to walking in the path of legit money
I thought I made it but we only took baby steps
Up the success ladder where they pay me checks
To my clicks when I got it I said "Baby bless"
That was the 80's, but now look at this crazy mess
We in the 90's and finally its lookin good
Hip-hop took it to billions, I knew we would
Alot of ups and downs in the game
Could lose or gain a couple pounds tryin' to maintain
One day you here, the next you not
When you around niggaz check 'em out
Some is 'bout out
Most individuals plots'll run the spots
Some choose to stay to theyselves
While others have no cares and stay in jail
More than 50% of us
Ending up with holes through the chest, through the head, through the gut it
shows
The future for us young shooters and old killas
Who become rich as dope dealers
Nothing left for us but hoop dreams and hood tournaments
Thug coaches with subs sitting on the bench
Either that or rap
We want the fast way outta this trap
Whether it be 9 to 5 or slangin' crack
To my deceased Gods wishin' I could bring ya back
But life is a dream and you taught me that
Chorus