Check the bassline out, uh-huh
Jigga, bounce wit it, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah
Let it bump thoughIt's the hard knock life for us
It's the hard knock life for us
Steada treated, we get tricked
Steada kisses, we get kicked
It's the hard knock lifeFrom standin' on the corners boppin'
To drivin some of the hottest cars New York has ever seen
For droppin' some of the hottest verses rap has ever heard
From the dope spot, with the smoke Glock, fleein' the murder sceneYou know me well, from nightmares of a lonely cell, my only hell
But since when y'all niggaz know me to fail? Fuck naw
Where all my niggaz with the rubber grips, bust shots
And if you with me mom I rub on your tits, and what-notI'm from the school of the hard knocks, we must not
Let outsiders violate our blocks, and my plot
Let's stick up the world and split it fifty-fifty, uh-huh
Let's take the dough and stay real jiggy, uh-huhAnd sip the Cris' and get pissy-pissy
Flow infinitely like the memory of my nigga Biggie, baby
You know it's hell when I come through
The life and times of Shawn Carter, nigga Volume 2
Y'all niggaz get readyIt's the hard knock life, for us
It's the hard knock life, for us
Steada treated, we get tricked
Steada kisses, we get kicked
It's the hard knock lifeI flow for those 'dro'ed out
All my niggaz locked down in the ten by fo', controllin' the house
We live in hard knocks, we don't take over, we borrow blocks
Burn 'em down and you can have them back daddy, I'd rather thatI flow for chicks wishin', they ain't have to strip to pay tuition
I see you vision mama, I put my money on the longshots
All my ballers that's born to clock
Now I'ma be on top whether I perform or notI went from lukewarm to hot, sleepin' on futons and cots
To king size, dream machines, the green fives
I've seen pies let the thing between my eyes analyze life's ills
Then I put it down type braileI'm tight grill with the phony, rappers y'all might feel we homies
I'm like still, y'all don't know me, shit
I'm tight grill when my situation ain't improvin'
I'm tryin' to murder everything movin', feel me?It's the hard knock life, for us
It's the hard knock life, for us
Steada treated, we get tricked
Steada kisses, we get kickedIt's the hard knock life, for us
It's the hard knock life, for us
Steada treated, we get tricked
Steada kisses, we get kicked
It's the hard knock lifeI don't how to sleep, I gotta eat, stay on my toes
Gotta a lot of beef, so logically, I prey on my foes
Hustling's still inside of me, and as far as progress
You'd be hard-pressed, to find another rapper hot as meI gave you prophecy on my first joint, and y'all lamed out
Didn't really appreciate it, til' the second one came out
So I stretched the game out, x'ed your name out
Put Jigga on top, and drop albums non-stop for ya, nigguhIt's the hard knock life, for us
It's the hard knock life, for us
Steada treated, we get tricked
Steada kisses, we get kickedIt's the hard knock life, for us
It's the hard knock life, for us
Steada treated, we get tricked
Steada kisses, we get kicked
It's the hard knock lifeIt's the hard knock life
It's the hard knock life