[Verse 1: Mac Dre]

Once upon a time, before I had a 9

I didn't have to grind all the time

Thangs was cool and brothers hung out

The South with the North and the North with the South

As time went on I started cravin' for mail

Then came the yayo and then I started to sell

Money, money, money is all I knew

'Cause 24-7 the fiends came through

Luxurious living in the fast lane

But little did I know it wouldn't last, mayne

From selling the base cocaine I caught me a case

And then they put me away in a correctional place

They said I was beyond parental control

A hard-headed fool with no mental control

But for months and months I wrote and wrote

And when I got out of jail, I was funky and dope

[Interlude: Mac Dre, Ray Luv]

Yeah I was straight spittin' it to them fools up there, man

They didn't understand this mouthpiece I had, you know

I knew I was coming up

Yo, that's what I try to tell 'em, man

They don't realize it's a straight come up in the nineties

Ayo, but what happened when you got back to the hood, though?

[Verse 2: Mac Dre]

Back in the hood, thangs was so different

The rollers was jackin' and the brothers was trippin'

Uzis and 9s was kept in the trunk

'Cause the North and the South had high-powered funk

Thinking to myself: Dre, leave it alone

Khayree hooked me up with a microphone

Deeper and deeper the funk kept on gettin'

But I wasn't trippin', I had to keep spittin'

Now I'm cold chillin' on the T-O-P

And still ain't trippin' off the funk, baby

And if you don't get the point of the story I tell

Quit trippin' off the funk and make some mail

[Interlude: Mac Dre, Ray Luv]

Ray Luv is in the house

One, two

[Verse 3: Ray Luv]

I grew up on the westside of Rose

Slangin' and gangbangin', hangin' and smokin' dope

"Stay in the house, don't even think about going out!"

My room is a jail cell, so young Ray sneaks out

I run with the rat pack, stack that, jack that

Need some for gold ones, then go mack that

Tender for dollars and don't take no less

Than a C-note and stack that with the rest

Thinkin' and knowin' it's all about the game

Dropped out of school for big fortune and much fame

Runnin' around with a rag in your knapsack

Necks is cracked, Jack, now you pack, black

Why? To smoke another brotherman

Mac Dre, I don't see why they don't understand

[Verse 4: Ray Luv]

Never was much of an athlete

Always craved stages and pages of rhyme sheets and rap beats

Working inside my room through the late night

Damn near goin blind writing rhymes by a dim light

Changin' up my styles, learnin' to flow fast or slow

Kickin' the funky tempo, bass breakin' the bedroom window

But now at age 19 I'm made with a crazy fade

Pockets feeling fat because a brother's crazy paid

Back, to where I used to kick it at

But since it got crazy everyone comes with a gat

Got myself a ounce and a bottle of Boone's

I checked my watch 'cause I knew I had help soon

Now I'm just sitting here thinking 'bout days past

When the police stayed in a brother's ass

While some brothers every week were gettin' bailed out

I stayed my little black behind out of the jailhouse