You Gotta Be...

(I used to be a stick-up kid) --> Rakim

Everybody in the ghetto tell me...

Is it a lie that I must be a ruffneck

And wear a frown just to be down?

I kinda don't agree with bein (tough)

But you gotta be (rough)

It's either you claimin your hood, or you're not a gee

Forget about respect, I refuse to be the next guy

Fitted for a casket, either with it, or get blasted

I choose to gangbang, they give me a chrome-plated trigger

Say, "If you got any heart, go rob that Mini-Mart, nigga"

Now look what I done did, damn, I had to be the big man

They're lookin at me shifty, better shut up 'fore I get slammed

Man, I'm not a thief, good grief, and I don't wanna act hard

But then they said if I didn't do it, they was gonna gat, far

As I could see (I was gonna be)

The next new member of the crew, cause it's 8 of them and 1 of me

I don't wanna do it, but I will

Cause I still want folks to think that I'm hard and tough

Cause you gotta be (rough)

Cause you gotta be (tough)

Cause you gotta be (rough)

(I used to be a stick-up kid)

Well, it's the niggeroe, again, right back in where I left off

Still tryin to make a decision, I might go to prison if I don't step off

But if I don't rob this store, then I'm not sure

If I'm gonna be considered as a gee

And you gotta be (rough)

Cuffs are temporary, homies are for life

So I grab the deuce-deuce and go inside

I decide to prove in the Mini-Mart, "Don't nobody move

Start fillin up the paper sack with loot, or I might shoot"

But things didn't go as planned, cause this man had his own gun

We're standin toe to toe, eye to eye, so I figured why not

Pull the trigger? Put this nigga on the ground

It'll show that I had poise, then my boy'll know I'm down

But I didn't do it quick enough, or he thought of it first

Cause he blasted to the chest, and now I'm restin yellin, "Nurse!"

And holdin on to life, or at least tryin to hold on

In a jailward wearin cuffs

Cause I had to be (rough)

Cause you gotta be (tough)

Cause you gotta be (rough)

(I used to be a stick-up kid)

And everybody, everybody gotta be rough, y'all

(I used to be a stick-up kid)

And everybody, everybody gotta be tough, y'all

(I used to be a stick-up kid)

Well, that's the end of my tale, but before we know

Fools'll just forget what I said, and the story go

On and on, until you're up to no good

And back throwin up your hood

And still doin what you shouldn't

Niggeroes, come together, cause divided we fall

So stall that gang shit, stand up

Quit standin in handcuffs

Really hard's when you got loot

And you ain't gotta shoot

Damn man, enough is enough

So why you gotta be (rough)

Cause you gotta be (tough)

Cause you gotta be (rough)

(I used to be a stick-up kid)