22 Years

[Intro: Sample & Scratches]
It's been 22 long hard years
It's been 22 long hard years
It's been 22 long hard years
It's been 22 long hard years
It's been 22 long hard years
It's been 22 long hard years

[Verse 1: Kleph Dollaz]
A-yo mom's always sayin' do we daze like this
Nowhere to turn, every, which way I got burned
Times was tough when I was growin' up
Seems that I ran outta luck, try my best to blow up
I can't stoop that low so me and G formed a crew
It's '87 rhymin' over off beat loops
I'm sweatin' in the Romper Room rappin' on a 4-track
Schemin' for a deal, on the real I need a contract
But tapes after tapes that we made
Black and Whites with the bio never got a demo play
A&R's say they dig us but I think they tricked us
Wе felt victim to the ways of the industry
Bеlieve you me. we've been to hell and back
'Cause we was fat in Virginia but New York said we're wack
I knew I had skills, just give me a chance to prove
And show after show, kid, I made the crowd move
But still, no deal in our future
Couldn't bag them skins, they said that we were losers
And how about the knuckleheads who fed us for the neck
They dealt of our props but soon we'll be plantin' crops
I persist to keep it real kid, that's true blue
All that in hip-hop, I'm lookin' up to Zulu
Ain't nothin' but love, love baby for my squad
Word to God kid, times is hard

[Chorus: Ill Biskits]
Yo, times is hard
We can't pay your bills, offer your skills but still we kept it real
Times is hard
We couldn't bag up tits, they all popped the lips, now ain't that sum'?
Times is hard
So swift from outta town, brothers wanna clown but now they wanna be down
Times is hard
A-yo, word to God, baby pal
Times is hard
A-yo, word to God

[Interlude: Sample & Scratches]
22 long hard years
22 long hard years
22 long hard years
22 long hard years
22 long hard years

[Verse 2: Kleph Dollaz]
We then strived by Scholastics, I kept on strivin'
Workin' half-ass jobs for 4.25
I'm slavin' in a sweat box, packin' up the stovies
Lord have mercy, can my life get any worse?
And went through episodes and episodes within a year
And built with my skills, so now I am prepared
But within this time, the return to the cipher
No cash flow, I mean no dough to pay the Piper
'Cause life was stressin', anger on my mind
I wrote lines on the dailies while my peeps committed crime
All I wanna do is rhyme to a record rap
So I got my act together, spit the wiz and represented
But little did I know, who was at the show?
It was so and so, checkin' out the flow so
Clap your hands for the zeros, once was nobody
But somebody in your borough but now we're thorough
Bustin' styles out the scenes of reality
Now I know that, it's all about originality
So my man 'Nesse put my skills to the test for the world to hear
It's been greatness for 22 years

[Chorus: Ill Biskits]
Times is hard
Can't pay your bills, offer your skills but still we kept it real
Times is hard
We couldn't bag up tits, they all popped the lips, now ain't that sum'?
Times is hard
So swift from outta town, brothers wanna clown but now they wanna be down
Times is hard
A-yo, word to God, baby pal
Times is hard
A-yo, word to God
Times was hard

[Outro: Ill Biskits, Sample & Scratches]
22 long...
Uh-huh, yeah
Yo, word to God
Word to God
Yo, word to God
The times was hard, uh
22 long hard... strugglin'