The Only Life I Know

Lyrics

Yeah nigga, this is what the fuck I do. Yo, Who the fuck is gonna save you? No one, that’s who mother fucker. Yall bitch niggas better look out. Fuck niggers. [Verse 1] Wake up to the rababa on a loop inside my head Same three notes my grandfather bled before he fled Same alleyway, same thirty dollars on the shelf Same choice I never chose — it just made itself I don't do this 'cause I hate you, don't do it 'cause I'm brave Do it 'cause the landlord's knockin' and there's nothin' left to save Mama needs the insulin, the lights are overdue And every nigga I've ever loved went out the way I'm goin' through [Chorus] It's the only life I know, the only way I eat Hand steady, eyes open, quick feet on the street It's the only life I know, you don't get to pick your road Somebody's gotta feed the house — I carry it alone It's the only life, the only life I know [Verse 2] Quarter tank of diesel and a coat that's two years thin Count the doors on Cedar Street before the block wakes in Somebody's brother, somebody's son — I don't look at the face I look at the exit, I look at the pace There's a nigga who pays me Fridays, never asks him why He's got a daughter in the valley with a laugh like July I go home, I wash my hands until the water runs cold And the rababa plays the same sad thing it's always told [Chorus] It's the only life I know, the only way I eat Hand steady, eyes open, quick feet on the street It's the only life I know, you don't get to pick your road Somebody's gotta feed the house — I carry it alone It's the only life, the only life I know [Bridge] My uncle made it out — drove a truck down to the coast He sends a postcard every Christmas, never asks what I do most I could fold this whole thing up, I could learn to sleep at night But who's gonna pay the electric when the checkbook's runnin' light? Who's gonna teach my little cousin how to read a nigga for lies? There's a version of me somewhere — I don't know where that nigga hides [Verse 3] The music stops. The silence is the part I can't take. That's my father's voice, that's my father's mistake. I won't say I'm sorry 'cause the rent don't hear a prayer I won't say I'm proud, 'cause I'm not — I'm just another nigga with a gun. [Chorus] It's the only life I know, the only way I eat Hand steady, eyes open, quick feet on the street It's the only life I know, you don't get to pick your road Somebody's gotta feed the house — I carry it alone It's the only life, the only life I know It's the only life, the only life I know