I Paid My Dues

Testing one, two, three, four

Rappin 4-tay, Rag Top records, nineteen-ninety-six

West up, let's do this

Yeah Four, you done finally got that parole-CALL

Yeah man, that was long comeing trying get that, man

I understand that Four, but a lot of people don't know

what you've done been through bro'

Man, a brother done been in this rap game for ten years, man

I've been from hell and back, you know Frank

But what's gon' have to do

is lay it down and lace it up like a shoestring

Ok, like this here

Rappin' 4-Tay:

Allow me to take you back down memory lane

When a player was so young in this rap game

Yeah, if you had a fight you best to knock a sucker out

Because moms wouldn't about to let you in the house

Yeah, we had to throw em' in the days

Didn't have glock, never seen a twelve gauge

Wasn't no banging n' gang affiliated deaths

Brother had to go to school in the days to get a rep

Always wanted to bust a gang of these raps

And be the first player to put Frisco on the map

So add this to the list of them hits that be knockin for the new year

I'ma vet in this rappin industry, you wet behind the ear

Shit, I even caught the San Quinton blues

Used to rock that motherfucker every night, I paid my dues

I talked the talk, but now I'm walking the walk

What up, fool! Huh yeah! Yeah! What,what!

Rappin' 4-Tay:

Im from the west but I don't ride the saddle

Used to do a lot of battle,

but you money are make your trunk rattle

Ever since the solar system, boys clubbing house parties

Rap contests at Booker T'S, man it was everybody

snatching it taking it swoop on stuff all the way home

Once me and O' hit the jets, man we was gone

Up the stairs to the vacabt house, thats we're we prctice at

We didn't have a studio so man we had to work with that

No reel to reels, no mic, just the radio

Paper and oen and I was in, the heart of the ghetto

Trying to pursue my dream, trying to make things right

I posted up at other people's shows begging to get the mic

I was kicking down doors, posted up, like the 49ers

All I wanted to do was bust a rap before the headliners

They pushed me to the left, I said alright, that's cool

Now you call my booking agent, everyday, I paid my dues

I talked the talk, but now I'm walking the walk

What up, fool! Huh yeah! Yeah! What,what!

Rappin' 4-Tay:The difference is you're talking about the game you see I'm living in

And all my folks R.I.P, I'LL see you in a minute

Before I cut I gots to shock it cause I'm still pissed

For my mistakes, court dates and the time I missed

A lot of deputies in correctional facilities

I kept they ass up all night, but now they feelin me

From bangin on the walls and bustin raps off the top ten

Bet you never though I be the entertainer of the year

But why not, cause I've got, what it takes to represent

Crowd could be a hundred thousand, I'm never hesitant

Just ask Franky J. to drop me an old school beat

Them funky instrumentals kept me of the streets

They kept me motivated, I was always underrated

I bet my real folks wasn't surprised when I made it

Plus I gave them digits back to the parole board

So now I'm cool, I'd been paid my dues

I talked the talk, but now I'm walking the walk

What up, fool! Huh yeah! Yeah! What,what