This Ain't Livin

What, yeah yeah Bronx Queens collaboratin I.G. Off and Hazadous Another winna, DJ spinna 97, uh, bring it bring it NYC, NYC... I like to zone, slip into a world of my own Let the spirit escape, from its physical home Where every thought is like a new birth I had to take a break from the streets To learn myself or can't get stuck with the curse Of limitations from my past generations Find myself still tryin to live up to my mom's expectations Either you hustle or struggle on this modern day plantation Chains made through manifestations of the same variation (Me myself I like to think) that I'm just an angel waitin While the physical state's trapped on the Earth and with temptations Either live life all the time or your life is time wasted Manhood comes with realizin the true worth of what you're chasin If the end is what we're facin why bring seeds into the population The prophets say that that the future's ? P.A. already dead because the ? ain't payin Lack of food for thought means more mental starvation The weight of the work is heavy while I'm strivin for rotation But on our inception be on real a change of direction Know one's words cut deep so I always speak with discretion Remind my niggas and bitches that they come from kings and queens So a wise angel up in the sky can earn its wings, earn its wings yo Cause love of life is what we bring Love is life And life is worth living If I can't die king than (This life ain't livin) ? tight, playin the corner every night ? dun, ay yo, ay yo (This life ain't livin) Wake up and see what's going on In the chess games of the gods you're just a pawn (This life ain't livin) Wake up and see what's going on In the projects my peoples we don't belong (This life ain't livin) [DJ Spinna cuts] I begin to G off on the streets ? Sometimes I wonder what MCs be thinkin when they write their verses Ill rhymes do not consist of 4 bars and 20 curses With no substance it's worthless, if it doesn't uplift Ain't all your stories rhyme about the same ? with no new twist? Impale me at the wrists and let me die with hip hop's sins On the cross to resurrect and let the culture live again Deadly with a pen, we started as madmen ? debates, on who was better Kane or Rakim, way back when Chickens were skeezers, you fought your way out of The Fever Mix tapes were ten a pop and Kid Capri was on top Taggin a wall and doin backspins was the true essence of hip hop Bein hot meant everybody knew you rhymed around the block But then the hammer cocked, and blew us right back into the present Eric B's no longer president, I saw the chair vacant Changed my motto No one's sittin and waitin, time for regulatin Now the world is ours for the takin, for the takin, yo yo [Hook]