When I Was Young

[Hook] When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful… Oh it was beautiful, magical… When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful… Oh it was beautiful, magical… [Verse 1: Chris Webby] Rap was all I ever thought about, listened to, talked about Back before money was all they talked about, (aw shit) When I was young, the rappers could really rap, kid Now they more concerned about they ad-libs Listening to rappers like a student in a lecture Mimicking the cadences and practicing the gestures Eminem was rappin’ ’bout pills, so I popped those Swinging my shirt in the air like Petey Pablo Studied the greats from Pun to 2Pac Walked around my private school with my tapes in a shoe box Handed my music out to people I sold weed to Watching MTV, tellin’ myself “that’s gonna be you” Tapin’ the radio and puttin’ it on cassette Now I’m gettin’ bombs dropped on my shit by Funk Flex It’s a trip, man – I just sit back and roll the purple Now watch this whole thing come around full circle [Hook] [Verse 2: Smoke DZA] Young nigga, influenced by the TV heavy Eatin’ Little Debbies’, tuned into Fab Five Freddy Vids I watched ‘em all, emulating applause I ain’t fuck with Superman, my super hero was Biggie Smalls Rappin’ with my dawgs proudly, nobody was cold as me Wishing somebody’d notice me Dreams to get a deal ’cause the speech so sick Now they talkin’ ’bout deals, and I’m like “keep that shit” Went through a lot of BS, lucky me Times had me like “this ain’t what it’s cracked up to be” What’s good for the goose is good for the gander It’s good for the blogs, it’s good for the slander Nowadays, they wishing it was how it was before But that was back in the days when I was young I’m not a kid anymore The OGs that I listened to, I’m friends with When I was younger, a nigga never would’ve thinked this [Hook] [Verse 3: Jon Connor] When I was younger nobody told us or showed us, crooked promoters Flint, Michigan, General Motors held the weight on our shoulders Until the shops started closing, felt like ain’t nobody want us Our parents worked to the bone, now they ain’t got a bone to throw us Now see how many kids is daydreaming about a label Yep, this rap shit is a bitch but the only one that was faithful Make it or die trying, at times it almost got fatal My niggas was moving ‘caine and at times they was barely able Brothers killin’ brothers, shit goin’ on all around me Genesee County would ground me and teachers would try to clown me ‘Cause I had heart that was bigger than my surroundings I got flooded with hate, but no way I could let ‘em drown me Picture this one: I used to go to sleep at night listening to “It Was Written” Then fastforward, Nas is tellin’ me “nigga, you gifted” If you fall, just shake it off Now they sayin’ it’s my time, but time just caught up with my thoughts [Hook] [Outro] When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful… Oh it was beautiful, magical…