Freedom is ours, though we trapped on a firm block
Crackheads only ten learn to duck cops
Still I rise
So now I got roller blades, bitch
Now I plan to keep my glock cocked
And if I die
Thugs snatchin bags, we out for power, makin' cash, it wasn't fast
Meet up at the cemetary then get smoked out, pass the weed, nigga
Whenever we come around, I'm runnin' down
I don't want you to cry
Chancellor Ave, where many turn to the streets
All the time this is how we grind
You can ask my man, he's a mind reader, keep my nine heater
Try to make the best of bad situations
Still I rise
And can't nobody live this life for me, it's a ride y'all, a long hard ride
I used to hustle with my moms 'til the sun came
Still I rise
Dreams are dreams, and reality seems to be the only place to go
And if I die
From a single drop, this is what they got
My homey harm, doin' time from this drug game
Look how it began, nobody gave a fuck about me
Secrets of war, prepare me for the worst
Y'all niggaz are fake, all day, everyday
And my reply 'til they kill me
I stay sharp as always
I'd rather go to college, but this is where the game stops
But now my dreams, it seeems though
Behind bars
Swimmin' upstream, planted in the womb while screamin'
Somebody wake me, I'm dreamin, I started as a seed, the semen
Act up if you feel me, I was born not to make it but I did
Show 'em what I'm made of plus raised on, on my block
I send my missiles through your mattress
Leavin' holes in your body like a cactus
How can I survive? Got me askin' white Jesus
Don't get it wrong 'cause it's always on, from dusk to dawn
Please give me to the sky
Runnin' ya bricks with blitz, through ya 'Project Hallways'
Only plan he had for momma was to fuck her and abuse her
I hit the strip broke where the fiends get coke
While me and my crew be boppin' more cream than toppin'
Stolen cars, war scars, born a Outlaw
Diamond pinkie ring, got the loot poppin' out my jeans
In '96 my glock's, my plastic passion for blastin' bastards
He tryin' to rise up and we just go doe, still he rise
Thought you knew, your mouth is rich
Be placin, triple beams and things, bro
If trouble was searchin' for me then why not?
I open my window, jump to the streets and get to creepin'
You can buy rocks, glocks or a herringbone
I don't want you to cry
No faces for open caskets, peelin' ya cap backwards
And loot to keep the seams
Youngest, they buckin' somethin', the life he leads
Dumpin' crews like two's, nigga all day
Go to sleep just to see the stars
In the deep dark clouds of the projects, ain't no sunshine
That Hennessey'll keep me keyed, nigga
My homey on the corner with his gat tucked in
When everybody's sleepin'
I can live or die, hope I get some money before I'm gone
Will a nigga live or die? 'Cause the Lord can't see us
Leavin' ya spleen to pick up
I'm only 19, I'm tryin' to hustle on my own
The only place for us, I know
Clutchin' a pound, live as sirens, duckin' the sound
And still I rise, and still I rise
No sunny days and we only play sometimes
On the spot where everybody and they pops tryin' to slang rocks
Pistol in my hand, this cruel world can do without me
Seems to be my life's story
Not to disrespect my peoples but my poppa was a loser
A life that's lavish, full of cabbage or a life that's in a hearse
Half of you niggaz is softer than a Snicker
Now what was I to be, a product of this heated passion
On the top was my pops, my momma screamin' stop
I don't want you to cry
The life he don't need, don't we all know
Momma got pregnant and poppa got a piece of ass
Even as a lil' seed I could see his plan for me
Please give me to the sky
Please give me to the sky
In my motherfuckin' jeans poppin
Stranded on welfare, another broken family
And if I die
The tribulations of a ghetto kid, still I rise
Dreams of lost hope
It'll make me mad, I'm just like, pimpin'
Let's go to war and see who draw quicker
Ain't no glory in pain, a soldier's story in vain
Everywhere I go, niggaz holla at me, keep it real G
Ya cowards, ain't prepared for pistol practice
And still I rise now, I float, cowards ghost
