Hard Knocks

(Let ya'all know where I'm from)
Yeah, get it on
Ooh, ooh
(Gonna tell you a little bit about myself)

Didn't take nothing that I didn't need
'Cause they didn't offer classes in what I want to be
They didn't offer manhood, responsibility
Had to learn it the hard way
Earned my degree in the street

Graduated from Hard Knocks
Got my education
Hard knocks
Out in the street

Can't bust through that ceiling without feeling the burn
And I ain't got nothing that I did not earn
Chasing that mighty dollar 'stead of hitting the books
Studying Donny and Stevie
Learned to sail the hooks

I graduated from Hard Knocks
The bumps and the bruises to prove it, oh
Hard Knocks
Summa cum laude
Hard Knocks, oh
Hard Knocks
C'mon

Had a real good teacher named Mr. Life
Didn't teach no chemistry but he taught me how to fight
Didn't teach biology but I learned it from the birds and the bees
Said stay close to your friends, even closer to your enemies, oh

Hard Knocks
(Hard Knocks)
Graduated from Hard Knocks
(Hard Knocks)
Bumps and the bruises to prove it, oh
Hard knocks
(Hard Knocks)
Oh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Hard Knocks
(Hard Knocks)
Gotta break it on down, c'mon

(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
Yeah
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
Well
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)

Said these streets keep calling me
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
Don't know what it is
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
Is it the thrill that I seek?
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
I don't know
Is it the night yeah, night yeah?
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
Or the sound of the city?
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
Whatever it is these streets keep calling me day and night
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
(Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh)
I can't get 'em off, c'mon

Said they're calling me, calling me, calling me
They're calling me, calling me, calling
Calling me, calling me, calling me
Calling me, calling me, yeah, yeah

Calling me, calling me, yeah
Calling me, yeah, yeah
Calling me, calling me, calling me
Calling me, yeah, yeah, ooh
Calling me, calling me, calling me, yeah, yeah