I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   Hard times, hard times      You never know how much you miss a person, until they gone   Like to hear it? Hear it go, I'm rehearsing, gotta sing my song   I know I've done some wrong, but I can't get right   'Cause life is like a big fight   I'm stickin' and movin', tryin' to get my shit right   My family's been houndin' me, friends they done turned against me   Kinda like they hearts was on a full tank, but now they empty   And they say I've changed, but like twins I'm just the same   It's because of my job, mo' money, mo' prob in this dirty game      This industry fucked up, that's right I said it, and it's fake as ever   Keep real niggaz around me, stay "Space Age 4 Eva"   Poppa never went and jumped the broom, never got that one degree   But if you looked down from heaven, you'd still be proud of me   Your son was DUI, but my momma made it by   I didn't shed no tears when you left me but the rest of the family cried   Trials and tribulations, ruined my concentration   Losin' my patience, hard times for goodness sake'n      I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   Hard times, hard times      As this Valium slowly starts to kick in   Them subconscious, subliminal thoughts, start tickin'   This whole world around me, diseased, and crumblin'   Babies doin' dope 'cause daddy did it right in front of them   Everybody wanna blame music for they bad kids   Sittin' up in the court talkin' 'bout Eminem made me do what I did   My own hard times rolled in like the fog   Try to think of others, but I can't get past my own thoughts      My momma in 1967, pickin' cotton   While other blacks was gettin' liberated, boycottin'   My old man was a player, ain't no hidin' that   He started tootin' then he graduated to smokin' crack   I never saw him, never needed to see that muh'fucker   He left me and my mother stuck down here in this fuckin' gutter   I tattooed it on my arm so I can't forget it   It's in my mind and my heart so I'm forever with it      I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   Hard times, hard time      A drum machine, the old fo'-track and a pack of new tapes   In the middle of 1988, in a corner cafe   We made beats and hung with old heads and stayed out late at night   Do talent shows, fo'-way split the dough, that was our way of life   My momma stayed, home full time so she could raise me   Knowin' without a household father, things could get crazy   Sometimes I listened, sometimes I thought I knew it all   But nevertheless, momma was with me through it all      I graduated out of nothin', not out of school   It was like twelve, thirteen, forteen years I'm thinkin' cool   I might as well, be focusin' on me tryin' to get paid   Usin' these rhymes I've been writin' since in the seventh grade   Our team played and had physical sex with minimum wage   It was just like a piece of pussy, it fucked me long as I stayed   But still I prayed, Lord I'm tryin' now please help me out the water   It can't get no harder   Help me to get back up and get my shit tomorrow      I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   Hard times, hard times      I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   I'm tryin' to make it through these hard times   Hard times, hard times