How Life Changed

By T.I.

On No Mercy

Released on December 7, 2010

8K Views

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[Verse 1: T.I.]

Ay say K.T., I remember bruh, standin out ten of us

Flip a bird, split it up, antenna stickin up

For crooked cops patrollin if the red dog rollin all the dope

I'm throwin, fuck a jail, I ain't goin tonight

Quick to pull a fo'-fo' in a fight

Under the street lights rollin the dice

We were so enticed, by niggas like slick money and ice

We figure prison it just come with the life, along with losin your life

And there was no way we thought

We'd go to jail for e'ry case we caught

For all the yay we bought, not a dime did we say we borrowed

Bought damn near every pair of J's at the mall

Had our way with the broads, hit the rink but we ain't skatin at all

Seem like every other day we'd brawl, that A.K. on call

When I think about all we done

It's amazin to see how far we've come

Remember? Ay


[Chorus: Mitchelle'l]

Ohhh! Oh-ohhh!

I remember walkin (walkin)

Didn't have a dollar in my pocket (in my pocket)

Now I'm watchin stocks like what's the options (options)

Uh-huh (uh-huh) uh-huh (uh-huh) how life's changed

I remember hustlin (hustlin)

Tryin to keep these crooked cops off us (off us)

Now I read about it in my office (in my office)

Uh-huh (uh-huh) uh-huh (uh-huh) how life's changed


[Verse 2: T.I.]

Ay say C-Rod, remember days we was slangin the hard?

In a crib with no lights we used to stay in the dark

Remember Cap and Mac Boney man, they were retarded

I don't know who kept us laughin the hardest

Since our stacks was the largest, didn't take us long to corner the market

I remember every day was a party

15, 16, was dreams of bein cocaine bosses

In pursuit of that we made so many terrible choices

Like the time we made away with that millenium

From the dealership before our day, wasn't we killin them?

Late nights, gun fights, high speed chases

So close to the good life, we taste it

Damn the consequences pimp, if it's a chance we'd take it

First case a month in juvenile and get probation

When I think about all we done

It's amazin to see how far we've come

Remember?


[Chorus: Mitchelle'l]

Ohhh! Oh-ohhh!

I remember walkin (walkin)

Didn't have a dollar in my pocket (in my pocket)

Now I'm watchin stocks like what's the options (options)

Uh-huh (uh-huh) uh-huh (uh-huh) how life's changed

I remember hustlin (hustlin)

Tryin to keep these crooked cops off us (off us)

Now I read about it in my office (in my office)

Uh-huh (uh-huh) uh-huh (uh-huh) how life's changed


[Verse 3: Scarface]

We started small time, dope game hustlin that cocaine

Interstate traffickin, high feelin no pain

Numb to the fact that we was poisonin our own kind

I ain't give a fuck, he gettin his so I want mine

Young'n with that attitude, somebody finna give me that

I ain't give a fuck, how I got it, it was real as that

So if I had to peel a cap, somebody was dead then

Since I'm a killer that's the condition my head's in

Can't work too hard to get my money, I refuse to

Slave for the next man who raised nigga, fuck you!

These streets are 9-to-5, you want it we can get it for ya

And even though they steady changin this is still a hustle

Still got them same rules, may not be the same game

We done found some brand new money, still we maintain

The same integrity we upheld in the street light

Livin a motherfuckin dream nigga singin like


[Chorus: Mitchelle'l & Scarface ]

Ohhh! Oh-ohhh!

I remember walkin (walkin)

Didn't have a dollar in my pocket (in my pocket)

Now I'm watchin stocks like what's the options (options)

Uh-huh (uh-huh) uh-huh (uh-huh) how life's changed

I remember hustlin (hustlin)

Tryin to keep these crooked cops off us (off us)

Now I read about it in my office (in my office)

Uh-huh (uh-huh) uh-huh (uh-huh) how life's changed

“Still we maintain The same integrity we upheld in the street light”
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To quote NAS, “I shall stay real, stay true stay holdin' figures”. There are unwritten rules to slinging crack, respecting other dealers hustle, staying off the radar, don’t rat each other out etc. Now that they a sell music instead of drugs, they still live by the same code of honor in some ways.

“And there was no way we thought We’d go to jail for e’ry case we caught”
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T.I. is saying that he never thought that he would get caught, and thus go to jail, for his buying and selling of cocaine. T.I. is trying to get across the point that he was naive growing up, and did things with out thinking of the consequences.

“We figure prison it just come with the life, along with losin your life”
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When T.I. and his friends were young, they thought that it would be fine if they went to jail and/or lost their lives because that was the thing that happened if you were a rapper. As they got older and matured, they realized how precious life is and how difficult jail is.

“I ain’t give a fuck, he gettin his so I want mine”
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Echoing from the previous line, he wouldn’t have cared anyway. Everyone else is poisoning the hood for his own benefit to make it out so he is going to do the same. If he isn’t doing it, someone else will, so why not cash in?

“Numb to the fact that we was poisonin our own kind”
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The recurring theme of the song: They didn’t care about the consequences when they were younger. This is a specific revelation they were ignorant to the fact that trafficking and selling crack in low-income communities, they were perpetuating the cycle of poverty which produced the environment they came from.

“Didn’t have a dollar in my pocket (in my pocket) Now I’m watchin stocks like what’s the options (options)”
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When T.I. and Mitchelle'l were young, they would roam the streets of their hood, instigating trouble. Now that they’re older, more mature, rich, and famous, they don’t participate in these things; rather they hear about others doing it.

“These streets are 9-to-5, you want it we can get it for ya”
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Hustling isn’t a part time job, you’ve got to dedicate your life to it. Scarface has connections; he can get you involved in the life if you’re dedicated enough.

“How life’s changed”
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When these rappers were young, they did life-threating things without realizing the consequences. Now they are older, and are speculating on things in their lives have drastically changed from when they were in their glory days