Once there was a little kid named Benefit   Walked around town with a frown, face down, lookin bent   Had problems inside, his little sister just died   Keep your head up little man, all you got is your pride   He said 'the world doesn't want me, and neither does my daddy   He'd rather get drunk and puff blunts then have a family'   That's real, and ain't nothing realer then that   The world is much colder then the steal of a gat   But yet he moved on, he fought to stay strong   In this cold world, to stay warm he put a jacket on   Made of 100 percent pain   The label said the only way to wash it was to stand on the rain   But he still was cold, the other kids were old   All he really wanted in life was Jordan's and gold   Then he'd be set, getting fine girls in berrets   See him with a boom box and fat boys cassettes   If he got into a fight, he'd throw down   But he's a little skinny kid, about 70 pounds   And he had a loud mouth so nobody stepped to him   But I guess if they would've, well I guess that he'd do 'em   But it didn't get to that, this little aristocrat   Tryin to live phat, smashing mail boxes with bats   Runnin wild through the streets, his mouth would make peace   Used to play football in mud with baseball cleats   That's the life in my memory inbedded in my brain   As he started growing, things started to change      (Hook)   Who has the right to know?   My life's a standing flow   Who can say, what's right or wrong for people?      As Benefit got older he started to realize   Everybody's smile was just jealousy in disguise   If he turned his back, how is that, a knife would be in it   Draw my face-to-face in any place, no one would begin it   If they knew, what this kid had been through   Nothing nice, ?fest? sacrifice off of lifes menu   But things lately, were starting to get crazy   And if they stuck around maybe, his mom would lose a baby   So they broke out, headed down south on route   This kid was still actin wild, thought he was tough no doubt   Dealt a difficult hand, but he had to play with it   Emotionally disturbed when the kid never quit it   Immediately took charge when in his new neighborhood   Makes me laugh thinkin when he made forts from wood      And if anybody touched 'em, then that's the razz   If anybody frontin, to the creak they get cashed   In school, everybody sayin 'who's the new kid?'   'I heard he's from Chicago, last week know what he did   Such and such,' that's how rumors get started   But at lunch acting all retarded eatin Capt'n Crunch   Thought he was funny, little dummy makin a scene   Lookin happy on the outside, but inside mean   Lotta anger built up, from things in the past   Such an unreal life, reality hard to grasp   That's the life in my memory inbedded in my brain   As he started growin, things started to change      (Hook)   Who has the right to know?   My life's a steady flow.   Who can say, what's right or wrong for people?      He moved again, now his moves totaled thirteen times   Started gettin serious, writin serious rhymes   He began workin, hustling the company   Pockets full of cash, now every day a shopping spree   Got away with it, finally got caught and ?bullshitted?   They didn't fire 'em, instead the job he quitted   His life is slowed down, different then in the beginning   Only worse, cause little bitches had him sinning   Fell in love one time, maybe twice, who knows   Only problem was the girls weren't nice, but hoes   It was a big mistake, messed up the kinds mindstate   The trade? his best-friends for nice ass and a date   Wait, what's goin on here? the girls left him   Now he's scarred from left ear to right ear   That's his whole brain, now his lights are gettin dim   Cause what he did to his best friends, happened to him   Now he cares about nothin, feeling sick everyday   Thank God, eventually the pain went away   Now he's grown mad, then he ever has been   Up late at night at home, his only friend is his pen   Writin angry to get out frustration out through poetry   Treating girls the exact opposite of noblely   The struggle continues on, documented in every song   Made it this far, confident he'll live long   That's the life in my memory, inbedded in my brain   And it's true as he grew, things did change      (Hook x3)   Who has the right to know?   My life's a steady flow   Who can say, what's right or wrong for people?