Damn Right

[Spoken Word Intro: Brother Ali] As I grew I would see them my comrades In corridors, grouped in 2's and 3's and 4's Sharing a blunt, talking, cursing, fighting Sometimes weeping, lost And it seemed to be no way whatsoever To remove this cloud that stood between them and the sun Between them and love [Verse 1: Joell Ortiz] We all took losses, workers, the hood bosses 9 to 5'ers, drug dealers, the hood warship Hood Hoopstars that could have went to the league But they whole game went to the weed Little girl trapped in the crib off the strength of they seed Some older nigga had her pimped in a v She was used to them rebox But he got them rims that keep spinning when the v stop So when the v stop, she stop He got right, took flight, now her little daughter needs socks And the grandmother need rock Cause she a victim of these street blocks The hood is a wall and it's not made of sheet rocks It's made of project bricks, elevators is full of project piss Incinerators is the project snitch That's where you find old ripped checks And notices from housing cause this malcolm ain't paid the rent yet [Hook: Joell Ortiz with (sample)] Damn right I like the life I live (Well the going it's kinda rough hey) Cause I went from negative to positive Damn right I like the life I live (Well the going it's kinda rough hey) Cause I went from negative to positive And it's all what? And it's all good [Verse 2: Joell Ortiz] The first and the third like christmas in the projects That we use food stamps to buy inedible objects Man the hood is a trap Why my man can't read but he good with a mac? You figure it out Why my aunt and my cousin had to live on a couch? Simon came back from the storm, couldn't get in his house Housing padlocked the door for the pettiness Guap My cousin dead because of the color of the sweater he rocked My little homie buying cocaine, 20 a pot Not to sell but to inhale, damn he ready to drop My man play ball, remind me of penny a lot Weed got him in Fedex lifting the heaviest box All the ladies in that lotto playing numbers, they was dreaming They playing them so long, when they hit them they break even Too many of us out in this world that ain't eating The problems we trying to make excuse is a great reason [Hook: Joell Ortiz with (sample)] Damn right I like the life I live (Well the going it's kinda rough hey) Cause I went from negative to positive Damn right I like the life I live (Well the going it's kinda rough hey) Cause I went from negative to positive And it's all what? And it's all good [Verse 3: Brother Ali] The going get mighty rough, doors keep falling shut Bills you can't ignore them but you know the piling up Police round us up, authority hard to trust And they ain't slowing up until you're inside the cuffs Act us if the human rights don't apply to us Throw us in front of the judge, load us on a bus We escape the maze and the poetry that we buss The rap industry, fucked, ain't nobody signing us A lot of daddies ain't here to show us how to love We learning from the radio, of course it's not enough And listen to the soundtrack of homies growing up Boys in love with strippers and shawty want a thug When you know you stuck, running short on love Oven door open to warm the apartment up The baby start to fuss, you know when times are rough The only thing for certain, is you cannot give up [Verse 4: Joell Ortiz] When the going got kinda rough, I was moving all kind of stuff Grinding to find a buck, fiends never could buy enough Them bills kept piling up, the haters would try their luck So at night I'd have to fire while running and try to duck Them Ds inside the truck with my name on them iron cuffs They want Joell in that cell, They'd love to just line it shut The Ladies admired us My team was fly as fuck On roof I would try to pluck I ain't give a flying fuck man I'm gutter My daddy left my mother, no sisters no brothers No inspiration, just calculating it undercover Patiently waiting, hoping I'd slip up, on a pick up But me get caught slipping? pause, like a hiccup But nah, it ain't fun out there serving them bombs I was grimy i had a duke and was serving his moms Over this griminess my mans took permanent naps I feel better in this studio just murdering tracks for real [Hook: Brother Ali] Damn right I like the life I live Times I gotta smile just to hide my tears Struggle made me wise, beyond my years I hustle to survive just for my kid Damn right I like the life I live Times I gotta smile just to hide my tears Struggle made me wise, beyond my years I hustle to survive just for my kid Well the going it's kinda rough hey