Hard Times

(Full time hustle on a part time pay grade
No days off like we don't believe in holidays/
Cuz everydays a dollar day, cuz everydays a dollar day
Go get it or forget it, either way you gotta pay/)

Ham, damn... who knew swine would be the death of us
After all the bullshit we sit through whats left for us/
After all the stool, and gruel these niggas fed to us
After all the tools they used just to embellish us/
As if we are just some ornament on the top of a hood
All a nigga gotta do is shine and nigga he good/
All a nigga gotta do is attach strings and he straight
Watch him hang like the Strange Fruit Lady Liberty ate/
But wait, we still got these unresolved issues
No amount of ballots, or bullets or even tissues/
Not enough decisions,lawsuits or even I miss you's
Because we all got dues to pay, like they past due/
Not enough money and not enough time
Not enough people that care unless you talkin bout dimes/
Cuz everyone's only lookin for what makes sense
Who's paying attention when you mention the bills & the rent/
In America...

Cuz the harder the times the brighter we shine
The harder it gets the harder we climb
Cuz the harder the times the brighter we shine
Put it all in perspective & read between the lines/
All you see is
(Hard Times, Hard Hard Times)
All we see is
(Hard Times, Hard Hard Times)
All you see is
(Hard Times, Hard Hard Times)
All we see is
(Hard Times, Hard Hard Times)

Maybe it's just the plight, maybe it's just the flight
Maybe I'm just crazy, or maybe I'm just right/
In light of the line of sight or your perpetual height
They living like the likes of the lower class is light/
Though our burdens is like that of the version or type
Coercion on the conversion what real life is like/
Like The very moment that you graduated from school
And you in debt up to your neck while you drowning in a pool/
Of job applications when very few are hiring
Aspiring for the finer things in life that we admiring/
While we tryin, we barely making ends meet
Hell yeah it's hell here cuz healthcare ain't cheap/
And this welfare ain't geared for long term relief
Food stamps and WIC forms form formulas for eats/
Me & my people tryin to get it by any means
It's us vs them in the grand scheme/
In America...

Listen We hold these truths to be self evident
The ways in which we live don't make no sense/
And if it don't make cents how our families supposed to eat
They miseducating people so how we supposed to compete/
Our Prison population compared to the world is crazy
The prison system now is nothing but a form of slavery/
And that's why they set up the schools the way they do
Even if you educated you still ain't got much to lose/
Cuz student loan or credit card debt is bad news
Cuz you'll still be subjugated to indentured servitude/
I guess the more things change the more they stay the same
That's why the rich and the poor black and white is still a game/
From the race card to EBT they say we all pull it
And we lazy when they ration the hrs ain't that some bullshit/
But still we go through it cuz all we do is hustle and grind
As for the rich who bitch fit you can't talk about mines cuz/