Hip-hop, it will never die   Hip-hop, hip-hop will never, never die      Ghetto **** struttin' with nothin' but dreams and Queens broke   Mack-10's, you can smell the PCP smoke   Mele Mel told it real in the music he wrote   Those were the days I remember, we used to be close      Then I was nine, coldest winter I remember   Was slippin' in December, two feet of snow   Yeah, that's the East Coast, that black ice   Symbolized the rap life, it was slick and smooth   I understood I had to come from the hood      Doin' the Pee Wee Herman, the Smurf   Before them phones chirped   The block's drugs flowin', didn't have your own work   You had to have somebody else's, a small chrome on your pelvis   Starter Jacket, Blue Georgetown or Green Celtic      Your girl's too expensive, she wants shellfish   Red Lobster was poppin', standin' on that line forever   I wish somebody would step on my Bally leather's   Now it's whatever, hip-hop's forever      Kept my radio on 98 or BLS   Had a pre-pubescent lyric gift but **** never hear me spit   My little brother tried to warn 'em, I was a tornado comin'   He knew from inside, like the eye of a storm and told my pops about it      He gave us tickets to that Wild Style flick   Double Trouble, retarded, we was the proudest   I never had a summer job, sweepin' leaves, socks to my knees   Homemade shorts cutoff, Lee's      I ain't work a day in my life   Wipin' away eraser of the paper man   I'm just tryin' to say it right   Big radio, tape slowin' down      Lower the lights go, battery dead   I gotta freeze 'em 'til they ice cold   In the freezer later, I'm starin' at the speaker   Sunk in them 808's deeper, cleanin' my sneakers      Wit' the bristles of a toothbrush, soap and water   I let the shoe strings soak in water      Live hip-hop live, live hip-hop live   Give hip-hop give, give hip-hop give   Stay hip-hop stay, stay hip-hop stay   I pray, hip-hop pray, I pray hip-hop stays      Ain't got nothin' to do wit old school, new school   Dirty South, West Coast, East Coast   This about us, this our thing, 'knaw'sayin'?   This came from the gut, from the blood, from the soul   Right here man, this is our thing man, you know, so I say what I say      Live hip-hop live, live hip-hop live   Give hip-hop give, give hip-hop give   Stay hip-hop stay, stay hip-hop stay   I pray, hip-hop pray, I pray hip-hop stays      And I say what I say, and I mean it   Y'all take it how you wanna take it   'Cause if you're askin', why is hip-hop dead?   It's a pretty good chance you're the reason it died, man      It's a pretty good chance your lame ****   Corny ****, is the reason it died, man   You don't give a **** about, you don't know nothin' about it   You want this paper, be a hustler      Live hip-hop live, live hip-hop live   Give hip-hop give, give hip-hop give   Stay hip-hop stay, stay hip-hop stay   I pray, hip-hop pray, I pray hip-hop stays      You a hustler, you ain't a rapper   Get your paper man   You know what I'm sayin', but this rap **** is real   ****, this **** is real, ****      Stay hip-hop stay, stay hip-hop stay   (Live, live)   I pray, hip-hop pray, I pray hip-hop stays   (Give)      Live hip-hop live, live hip-hop live   (Stay)   Give hip-hop give, give hip-hop give   Stay hip-hop stay, stay hip-hop stay   I pray, hip-hop pray, I pray hip-hop stays