Vince Staples - Like It Is

[Intro:]
I tell it like it is, then how it could be.

[Verse 1:]
Heaven or hell, boy, freedom or jail, boy,
A Jansport bag full of shit I could sell for
The high or the low, boy; just me and my homeboys,
The police kill us so we made up our own laws,
Been fightin' this long war, there's shells in this shores sand,
Still young but a grown man, could tell by my stature,
Stackin' money and problems as I wait for the rapture,
Death never been no threat, I be chillin', relaxin',
Everybody bleed.

[Chorus:]
I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one
To make it up to heaven, despite the things I've done,
I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one
To make my momma proud, feel like her only son,
I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one
With everything I need, with everything I want,
I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one
To do it like nobody has ever done.

When I was in seventh grade my grandfather told me, “Don't get caught lovin' the streets ‘cause they never gonna love you back.” But I feel like it's all we got so it's all we really do love. At the end of the day I feel like the problem is the people that control it don't really come from here, so they can't do nothin' but look down on us. We look at them, we see somebody that could help, but they look at us and all they see is a nigga. It don't really matter anyway, we all gon' die one day, man. One day.

[Verse 2:]
Do doves cry when the black man dies, or do we croak with crows?
The young catch gun shots, the old catch the holy ghost,
Ho, I love not, I never seen no pot of gold,
Just bar windows and 64 with no switches.
Was broke with no bitches, she love me, though,
You'll kill me if it make you richer, what you screamin', you my brother, for?
Heart is where the hatred is, the brain that stained the love below,
And life is what you make it so I'm makin' money for my folks.

[Chorus:]
I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one
To make it up to heaven, despite the things I've done,
I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one
To make my momma proud, feel like her only son,
I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one
With everything I need, with everything I want,
I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one
To do it like nobody has ever done.

When most people look at a person who does what I do, they look at us with these preconceived notions as if it's a set way for us all to be. But we all people at the end of the day, so I wonder why we don't treat each other like it. You're lookin' at a person tellin' them that they story don't matter is really no better than me walkin' down the streets tryna shoot at somebody. ‘Cause all we got is these dreams, man, and y'all ain't never had to not have nothin', and that's the last thing you want for anybody. Is to not really have nothin'. At all.

[Verse 3]
I been through hell and back, I seen my momma cry,
Seen my father hit the crack then hit the set to flip a sack,
I done seen my homies die, then went on rides to kill 'em back,
So how you say you feel me when you never had to get through that?
We live for they amusement like they view us from behind the glass,
No matter what we grow into, we never gonna escape our past,
So in this cage they made for me, exactly where you find me at,
Whether it's my time to leave or not, I never turn my back.

[Chorus:]
I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one
To make it up to heaven, despite the things I've done,
I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one
To make my momma proud, feel like her only son,
I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one
With everything I need, with everything I want,
I gotta be, I gotta be, I gotta be the one
To do it like nobody has ever done.