Nas We Will Survive

Still somehow I believe, we always survive.. but why?

[Nas]

To my dogs.. wherever you are

Whattup Big? You know shit is rough after you slid

You in God's hands now, keep a place for me kid

Ain't nuttin changed -- still _Party and Bullshit_

We used to +Fuck R&B Bitches+ and see who rhyme sickest

For every hit you made, more rappers afraid to come out

_Machine Gun Funk_, from Queens I came through to smoke blunts

You came to my hood, we was broke

I wonder if we stayed that way, would there have been gunsmoke?

Still on the block around fiends numb from coke, I guess so

Cause now with paper, shit is still ghetto

But fuck it black, you livin your life, though your loved ones

Peace to your daughter and your newborn son

It used to be fun, makin records to see your response

But, now competition is none, now that you're gone

And these niggaz is wrong -- usin your name in vain

And they claim to be New York's king? It ain't about that

It's more serious, I plan to toast it up with you

Joke with you, happy we on top, the most official

Ain't too many real ones out there; I feel some

but doubt they're, capable, to take it where you took it to

I missed your wake not cause I'm fake

cause I hate to see somebody so great in that way

I woulda stayed so long with so much to say

I had to put it in writin to keep me and Brooklyn from fightin

Tellin me to pay my respects and move to the side

But I probably wouldn't have got off my knees to let people by

You can't kill nothin that's _Ready to Die_

You was like God to us in the form of Allah

Still somehow I believe, we always survive.. but why?

[Nas]

Still, we, will survive

No matter what, my people just stay alive

Still, we, will survive

No matter what, my people just stay alive

Thug Life never die..

Dear 'Pac, every thug sheds a tear drop -- and use teeth

to bite off beer tops, and _Pour Out a Lil' Liquor_

You was more than just the wildest nigga

+2Pacalypse+, I understand your style nigga

It's goin on the third year, since you've been gone

On the East and West Coast the same shit is goin on

The industry be talkin, offendin me often

They don't believe you dead, wanna see you in your coffin

I can relate, shootouts and court dates

+All Eyez on You+, niggaz in your face invadin your space

You asked if I could trade in your place, how would I hold up?

How long would I ride, before I fold up?

How did you know through your rhymes it was your time to go?

You predicted it in every line, all in your flow

There could _Never Be Peace_ I have to quote

Can't believe I heard my name on "the realest shit you ever wrote"

We had words cause the best supposed to clash at the top

but kept it brotherly, when we seen each other and stopped

in NYC, at MTV, people watched

We was both deep, after you left, I got no sleep

Think about how us real niggaz would be

If we united, a nation of thugs, who could fight it?

You was caught in a wild homicide, or were you crucified

like the son of God, when Lucifer lied

and make the world think, young blacks should be extinct?

But Thug Life'll never die, we stay high and just link

Will there ever be another MC as nice?

Will you return to us like the resurrection of Christ?

Still somehow I believe, we always survive.. but why?

[Nas]

Still, we, will survive

No matter what, my people just stay alive

Still, we, will survive

No matter what, my people just stay alive

I wonder what the Commodores went through on tour?

Did Smokey Robinson, have to shoot his way out a war?

What has Al Green seen, that made him religious?

Was it the drugs -- put an end to the music business?

If so, should I put out the indo right now and write down

a plan and pursue my dream turn my life around

Cause I'm bound for the movie screen, cuties that scream

I'll need a extra Uzi riding through my own hood in Queens

It be the ones you always knew, that want it on

Tellin everybody it was him, that you fronted on

Thought we walked a million miles it was just twenty

Not used to walkin in the path of legit money

I thought I made it but we only took baby steps

Up the success ladder, where they pay me checks

To my clicks when I got it I said "Baby bless"

That was the 80's, but now look at this crazy mess

We in the 90's, and finally it's lookin good

Hip-hop took it to billions, I knew we would

A lot of ups and downs in the game, could lose or gain

a couple pounds tryin to maintain -- one day you here

the next you not; when you around niggaz, check 'em out

Some is bout it, most individuals plots

and run the spots, some choose to stay to theyselves

While others have no cares and stay in jail

More than fifty percent of us

endin up with holes through the chest

through the head, through the gut it shows

The future for us young shooters and old killers

Who become rich as dope dealers?

Nothing left for us but hoop dreams and hood tournaments

Thug coaches with subs sittin on the bench; either that or rap

We want the fast way outta this trap

Whether it be 9 to 5 or slangin crack

To my deceased Gods wishin I could bring you back

But life is a dream and y'all taught me that

.. always survive.. but why?

[Nas]

Always survive, always

Still, we, will survive

No matter what, my people just stay alive

Still, we, will survive

No matter what, my people just stay alive

Still, we, will survive (no matter what)

Still, we, will survive (no matter what)

Still, we, will survive

No matter what, my niggaz just stay alive