Nas
Yeah, yeah
It started with rhythms i heard listenin to the wall
The bouncin of basketballs on playgrounds and all
The empty bottles is hollow wind blowin inside em
The flow and the rhymin got my alignment to a science
Mixing with my moms in the kitchen, them spoons rattling
Pots and pans, faucet water pouring tunes managing
To come from all the fussing and ramballing what i know this was, pure music untampered with
And all them fuckin things showbiz does
Older thugs showed us stuff, like how to hold a plug
Juice from the street life it almost could have blowed us up
Crates of records, great sessions, had the whole hood jammin
Large speakers fresh made smell the wood sandin
Father did his blues, smooth legendary jazz man
Saw his wife secondary to his true passion
Started with my crew rappin
New jacks in 82
Never look back now look what it changed me to, music
Marsha (floetry)
We gotta believe the future, we gotta believe the past
We gotta believe in more, they know that we have
We gotta believe each other, we gotta open up our minds
Coz music is for life
Hi-tek
Whats the difference between me and you
Is im a real cognisor of this rap shit i really do it
My whole life man is really music
Through my bass line im living through it
Another expression of life i couldnt live without
I like my music straight pure not watered down
Damn it feels good to fulfil my dreams of getting out the hood
Kept me busy, gave me a chance to stop selling drugs
Spending time in the basement kept me from acktin up
Zoneing out, wishin dre could check it out
Im here now
I cant believe the proof in the pudding, everything happen for a reason
Through this music im able to feed my family
When im stressed out its my sanity
Its a life style, all on the street, in here hollywood
Music in my dna, its my lively hood, music
Chorus
Common
Keep the music alive
The good and the strong survive
I close my eyes and imagine i was jackson 5
Randy and michael going through lifes cycle
Music allowed me to let life go
So vital to a youngster comin up amoung street hustlers
The big beat would touch us in such a special place
Given the ghetto a taste of what freedom is like
I reached the point in my life when i was needing a mic
No second guessing, self expression, and lessons learned
Aggression became sessions where sess was burned
Put my soul into it, now my feet is firm
In the game where a name is hard to earn
And hot cats careers get scarred and burned
Through the years mine took a godly turn
This is the story of my life man trapped in the verse
No matter money or the movies, music is first
Not sure if its all right but i couldnt find this any where so i decided to do it myself