Verse One

Check it, I can’t talk about gold chains and diamonds

Sitting on the beachfront for whole days admiring the beautiful skies

Drinking a glass of Long Island iced-tea

And watching the sunset expiring

I come from the inner city, tarmac and concrete

Gravel under my feet and ain’t no sign of palm trees

Speeding cop cars, ambulances with they sirens

Rooftop bars, ain’t no chance of getting silence

I can’t talk about hedge funds and equity from land ownership

Stocks and shares at jeopardy and black poker chips

Back-handed donations, corrupt politics

And getting standing ovations from sly dirty tricks

I come from public housing tenements

Where most of the residents surviving on benefits

And a damp interior, pollution increased

But the motto of the city is we all deserve peace

I can’t really talk about trust funds, inheritance

Antiques, private school, trademarks and dividends

Gold bars, private jets, sports cars

Champagne from the finest fruits of the vineyards

I come from nothing in the bank

High interest rates, credit cards and a blank chequebook

Fresh page, never written, still attached to the stub

Yeah that’s how I came up

Chorus

Yeah that’s how I came up, yeah that’s how I came up (raised)

Yeah that’s how I came up, yeah that’s how I came up (raised)

Yeah that’s how I came up, yeah that’s how I came up (raised)

Yeah that’s how I came up, yeah that’s how I came up (yeah, yeah, yeah)

Verse Two

I can talk about the faith of the seed from a mustard

Living with the hope and belief that I trusted

Working seven days of the week til’ I’m flustered

Remembering the hand-me-downs appropriately adjusted

I can talk about seeing someone on they face

Giving them a helping hand so they can get back in the race

And I let them use my shoulder

So they got a firm place they can trust and can lean on

They know that won’t break

I can talk about the lack of fear that I live with

Responsibilities as I control my own business

Taking care of everything so my ship don’t sink

Vigilant with details, wide eyed, don’t blink

I can talk about staying calm in a storm

Adapt to situations, but reluctant to conform

Remember my uniqueness is my greatest ammunition

Remember preservation just as much as acquisition

I can talk about my whole life as I’ve lived it

Every accident and everything I did deliberate

The failures, success, shortcomings, victories

Tomorrow is the future and the past is my history

I can talk about me, maybe not you

But there are things collectively that people go through

So everybody different, equally we are the same

I just got my perspective from the way that I was raised

Chorus

Outro

Raised (repeated multiple times)