[Verse 1]
There's people out here dying for grams
Put 9s in their hands, living off of supply and demand
Like, if crack rock would sell in the street
Why the hell would I go to school, just to fail or get E's?
And that's all good, right? Till you sell to police
Or end up in jail in a cell, no bail for release
This is the position we're put in, poverty tricking
Jobs moving overseas and the economy's shifting
We hustle night and day to provide us a living
Keep stock in the kitchen and keep a pot we can piss in
I see it all with my vision, I was it was a lie, but it isn't
People trading dollar signs for they wisdom
Young parents can't adjust, then fail high school
Quit with the job to go back and get stuck in the same cycle
What is the cause of this? The environment? The politics?
Common sense should fucking tell you what the problem is
[Hook]
We're trapped in this war zone
But we gotta snap, fight back — let your axe and your sword show
It's either live or die, get rich or try
Live like a king or just survive, just survive
X2
[Verse 2]
So if you missed to rewind, listen this time
I make music for the blind and give 'em vision through mine
I've never walked with a clip in a 9
For a limited time I hustled dro but it was nickels-and-dimes
It's nothing to brag about
I just needed money for that time
Because I've always tried to put this album out
Living in daddy's house
Alternating with mom until she ran me out
Because I ran my mouth
That's just a cycle that my family has
We've already found in the past that our personalites clash
But, that's really nothing on a larger scale
I'm just tryin' to carve my trail without seeing the bars of jail
It's just too many people we see scarred and frail
Searching hard for meals, digging to a garbage pail
And while I daydream they beg me for change, see
It's funny, I often begged for the same thing
[Hook]
[Verse 3]
Now, I've never claimed to know something I didn't
But I've claimed to know that something is missing
From my government system
Katrina hit and the dumbest decision
Was it taken so long to come and assist them
No wonder half the country's against 'em
But, do you really blame us?
All we have's a TV to entertain us
And look at the way the media portrays us
I guess that's the reason half the world hates us
We're busy changing the world, but who'll change us?
When they invade us, who's gonna save us?
I've never been into politics, I just ignored it
But why die for my country? I'd rather live for it
And why fight for a cause that's been distorted?
I light a Cuban cigar that's been imported
I won't sit aside the sympathies or religious lies
Just to find I'm gettin' mine, it's live or die!
[Hook]
Live Or Die was produced by Equilibrium.
Illmac released Live Or Die on Wed Oct 17 2007.