Can I Live

Can I live? Can I live?
Yeah, it's me, huh, I know you all seen me
I'm the one who brings the blingin'
Pushin' whips and 22 inch chromes spinnin'
(Can I live?)

La da y'all wanna judge me?
Hair braided up, pants saggin'
Can I just live, yo?
(Yo, I'm just tryna live)

Why can't y'all leave me alone?
Man seem like everybody be judging me
Talkin' behind my back, fakin' the smiles and huggin' me
Pointin' fingers, hatin', jealous of my success
Praying for my downfall, can't handle me being blessed

Now you'd rather see me at the bottom of the totem poll
Scraping for dollars on the edge 'bout to lose control
Back on the corner, still livin' in the projects
Still strugglin' down and out with no prophets

Still drivin' through the hood in a bucket
I'm 'bout bringing my people over like I'm Harriet Tubman, huh
Been through the fire like Kanye West
Beat the odds, now I'm on shuffles and i-pods

See most of y'all could never reach stature
'Cuz half of you gangsta rappers is gangsta actors
And back-stabbers, y'all got the game backwards
But Bone and Darkchild make hits like linebackers

Can I live?
If you wanna be in my shoes then get in
You can talk the talk but don't live the life I live
So can I live? That's my question, can I?

Can I live?
If you wanna be in my shoes then get in
You can talk the talk but don't live the life I live
So can I live? That's my question, can I?

I shed blood, sweat and tears, been on this grind for years
I'm at the top of the charts, no respect from peers
I could be the franchise still I'm chastised
Spreading ya lies, need to recognize there's two sides

My whole life been the underdog
Against the odds, back still against the wall
Fighting to represent in the ring for God
Consciously makin' records for a different cause

This crab game keep pullin' me down
But like Ron Artest been known to rebound
And like Roy Jones, I'm pound for pound
Spittin' a different kind of message over platinum sounds

Can I get some love and a little respect?
Can I rock your world without giving you sex?
And can I live in peace? Man I paid my dues
You'll never know where I been until ya walked in my shoes

Can I live?
If you wanna be in my shoes then get in
You can talk the talk but don't live the life I live
So can I live? That's my question, can I?
(Can I live yo?)

Can I live?
If you wanna be in my shoes then get in
You can talk the talk but don't live the life I live
So can I live? That's my question, can I?

Yeah, I'm in it for the long hall, committed to the end like John Paul
I'm tryin' to make a change, throw stones if I'm wrong
If you can do it better then by all means
Shoot for the stars but stop crushin' all my life's dreams

And let me fulfill my destiny and purpose
Why you try to make me feel no good and worthless?
This life is all a player got to give
So back up and give me room to breath, can I live?

Can I live?
If you wanna be in my shoes then get in
You can talk the talk but don't live the life I live
(It ain't easy, yo)
So can I live? That's my question, can I?
(Can I live, yo?)

Can I live?
If you wanna be in my shoes then get in
You can talk the talk but don't live the life I live
(Ya ain't been in my shoes)
So can I live? That's my question, can I?

Can I live?
If you wanna be in my shoes then get in
(Yeah, so hard, yo)
You can talk the talk but don't live the life I live
(Just tryna be me)
So can I live? That's my question, can I?
(It's only when I know how, yo)

Can I live?
(Came from the ghetto I'm just tryin' to give back)
If you wanna be in my shoes then get in
(Ya ain't ever walked in my shoes)
You can talk the talk but don't live the life I live
(So y'all don't know what I've been through)
So can I live? That's my question, can I?
(How can y'all judge me? Can I live, yo?)

I feel about myself in this world sometimes
Nobody relates what I've been tryna do for so many years
Just tryna make a change, make a difference in all your lives
Can I live? Can I live? Can I live?