Xzibit | Lyrics | Back 2 the Way It Was

Yeah, yo, c'mon
Ride wit me, lemme take you somewhere

My father was a soldier, my mother was a rider
I was born wit my fists balled up, I'ma fighter
Inspired, a real rhyme writer
Get past the past the future looks brighter

But, I wanna get it back to the way it was
Exchange blows, elbows and it was still love
A better time, better place in space
'Cause nothin' can erase, shame tat' like my nigga Chase

'Cause Bigga B will never be replaced, right
And I'ma scream it to the whole f*****' human race
Get a bar, get a taste
Enforce the muscle to ya hustle and ya did it with grace

'Cause real niggaz don't save face, they make movements
Back to the time when hip-hop was music
When N.W.A. got booed at the Apollo
Broke "Straight Outta Compton" and the whole world followed

'Cause right now hip-hop is hollow
With no substance, X-Man with the roughness
'Cause success can suck sometime
And many of us the way we act, we even lost our minds

You can hold your breath, 'til you're blue in the face
But you can never ever take my place
I stay strong whether right or I'm wrong
Through the struggle I will live on

You can speculate, on every breath I take
But you can never ever take my place
I stay strong whether right or I'm wrong
Through the struggle I will live on

Back to the day when Cooley was High
Hustle big like Butch in the Y B I
We did it n' died, the gang still multiplied
Sock yo wind pipe, cut yo air supply

Hypnotized, not by the glitz n' glamor
So f*** them cameras, all I need is clips and hammers
The X-Man said that the first rhyme out
Were my fans worth my time? The first line out, so

Here we are eight years strong and still movin'
Groovin' with a reputation ya can't ruin
I wanna take it back how it used to be
Five thousand f***** up, rockin' outta unity

You can hold your breath, 'til you're blue in the face
But you can never ever take my place
I stay strong whether right or I'm wrong
Through the struggle I will live on

You can speculate, on every breath I take
But you can never ever take my place
I stay strong whether right or I'm wrong
Through the struggle I will live on

Was it the alcohol in you, the money the power the fame
That made you actually attempt to try to disgrace my name?
Played those games nigga when I was younger in life
'Til I seen another man's life cut short with a knife

Lose teeth, 'cause b***, no peace with us
Ya can't hang, and ya sho' can't eat with us
When times get tough, the tough get rough and drastic
Never been blasted, never been an arrogant b******

But I coulda been a lawyer, I shoulda been a doctor
I never been a actor, I'm nothin' but a monster
I move in silence, speak with violence
Think with science, live free and walk with lions

Cats around me with gats like Yasser Arafat
It takes a nation of millions to hold me back
Pounds of cush to push what I'm talkin' about
It's hard to talk the talk with a gauge in yo mouth

It's hard to walk the walk with ya back blew out
Don't let the things that you can't change stress you out
'Cause X take the money and run, and raise a man from a son
And change the world with the power of one c'mon

You can hold your breath, 'til you're blue in the face
But you can never ever take my place
I stay strong whether right or I'm wrong
Through the struggle I will live on

You can speculate, on every breath I take
But you can never ever take my place
I stay strong whether right or I'm wrong
Through the struggle I will live on