It got to be that way
Sometime it got to be that way

Sittin in my room smokin cheeba
And then I heard the beep of my beeper
Callin back, "Yo brother, what you need?"
Ounce of lleyo and a forty and weed
Got in my ride for the drop-off
But when I got there it was nothin but a knock-off
He said, "Yo, I'm gonna make it clear and simple"
And then he put a Uzi to my temple
"Damn right Schoolly-School, it's a set-up
And if you're smart you just shut up
Give me all your gold and your cash
So a brother like me'll make a dash
Like a bullet from a A.K.
Sometime it got to be that way"

It got to be that way
Sometime it got to be that way

Yo brotherman, I was fakin
Who the hell do they think that they're gankin?
Always tryin to tell a brother how to live
But reality they don't really give (don't give a damn)
How to hell you gon' tell me what to do?
When I'm livin in the ghetto in the zoo
Cause to you I ain't nothin but a nigga
And to me you ain't nothin but a sucker and a gold-digger
Like a bullet from a A.K.
Sometime it got to be that way

It got to be that way
Sometime it got to be that way

Yo homes, this is what I figure
In order for us to get bigger
Sometime we got to pull on the trigger
Sit back and take a little swigger
Of Miller, smoke a little killer
For a brother on the street it's notin but a thriller
All this, you're talkin all that
But you still sell a brother a cat
You didn't know it was the 911
Now they got another brother on the run
Like a bullet from a A.K.
Sometime it got to be that way

It got to be that way
Sometime it got to be that way


My destination I crusade, don't question what I'm doin
To keep the brothers hype and leave the suckers boo-hooin
To sway away the sayers that's frontin on what I'm sayin
Or trippin, even flippin and knowin I ain't playin
And playin, yeah buddy, that's the word
Describin all the games bein played in the rock world
I would like to do it, liked to tell you, my man
But we're in America, I might get banned

It got to be that way
Sometime it got to be that way

It got to be that way
Sometime it got to be that way

(Bass)