Hold on, yeah, it's gonna be alright
Don't trip, baby, it'll get better
Ay, do this thug style man, thug style
When this whole beat drop
We just gon' run it to 'em bad
It's all good
I never had much, ran with a bad bunch
Little skinny kid sneakin' weed in my bag lunch
And all through Junior High, we was just gettin' by
And driveby's robbed my homies of their young lives
I never did cry and even though I had
Pain in my heart, I was hopeless from the start
They couldn't tell me nothin', they all tried to help me
The marijuana had my mind gone it wasn't healthy
I traveled places, caught cases, what a ill year
I felt the pain and the rain but I'm still here
Never did like the police, let the whole world know
Now I gets no peace 'cause they chasin' me down
And facin' me now, what do I do?
These thangs that a thug goes through and still I rise
So keep ya head up and make ya mind strong
It's a struggle every day but you gotta hold on
Hold on, be strong, hold on, be strong
Hold on, when it's on it's on
Hold on, be strong, hold on, be strong
Hold on, be strong when it's on it's on
Hold on, be strong, hold on, be strong
Hold on, when it's on it's on
Hold on, be strong, hold on, be strong
Hold on, be strong when it's on it's on
There's never a good day 'cause in my hood they
Let they AK's pump strays where the kids play
And every Halloween check out the murder scene
Can't help but duplicate the violence seen on the screen
My homies dyin' 'fore they get to see they birthdays
These is the worst days, sometimes it hurts to pray
And even God turned his back on the ghetto youth
I know that ain't the truth, sometimes I look for proof
I wonder if heaven got a ghetto and if it does
Does it matter if you blood or you 'cuz
Remember how it was? The picnics and the parties in the projects
Small time drinkin' gettin' high with the mamis
Just another knucklehead kid from the gutter
I'm dealin' with the madness, raised by a single mother
I'm tryin' to tell you when it's on, you gotta keep your head
To the sky and be strong, most of all hold on
Hold on, be strong, hold on, be strong
Hold on, when it's on it's on
Hold on, be strong, hold on, be strong
Hold on, be strong when it's on it's on
Hold on, be strong, hold on, be strong
Hold on, when it's on it's on
Hold on, be strong, hold on, be strong
Hold on, be strong when it's on it's on
(Hold on, be strong when it's on it's on)
I know them ain't tears comin' down your face
(But hold on, be strong when it's on it's on)
Wipe your eyes, in this world only the strong survive sweetheart
(But hold on, be strong when it's on it's on)
Hmm, I know it's hard out there
(But hold on, be strong 'cause when it's on it's on)
Welfare, AIDS, earthquakes
(But hold on and be strong 'cause when it's on it's on)
Muggings, carjackings, yeah, we got problems
(But hold on and be strong 'cause when it's on it's on)
But believe me when I tell you things always get better
(But hold on and be strong 'cause when it's on it's on)
God don't like ugly and God don't like no quitters
(But hold on and be strong 'cause when it's on it's on)
You know what Billie Holiday said baby
God bless the child that can hold his own
(But hold on and be strong 'cause when it's on it's on)
You know? You got to stand strong
(But hold on and be strong 'cause when it's on it's on)
And when these bustas try to knock you out your place
You stand there to they face
(But hold on and be strong 'cause when it's on it's on)
Tell 'em hold on and be strong
The game don't stop
(Hold on and be strong 'cause when it's on it's on)
This here is Black Man
(But hold on and be strong 'cause when it's on it's on)
If you don't never learn nothin', learn one thing
It don't stop 'til the casket dropped, uh
Thug for life, feel me
All my homeboys and my homegirls, stay strong
When things get bad, especially come the first and the fifteenth
Stay strong and stay ballin', hold on
I'll catch y'all at the next life, we in traffic