Lyrics:

Verses alternate between Classified and Maestro starting with Maestro

Yo Class how you doing? Dude, I'm back in the Fax
I'm taking time off the act and I gotta relax
I need a new beat


Yo Freshtro I got a few treats
You been up in the city long?

Nah, only two weeks

Cool well, I'm sorry 'bout the weather
It's been raining all week I hope it gets a little better

Either way Class listen, I got a ill vision
'bout a song I'm working on, you think you got the right rhythm?

Man c'mon, you know I got some shit that'll break your neck
I used up what I want but you can take what's left

Don't give me bullshit dog, you know I blazed a set
You know you got something saved for Wes

I got a ill concept hip hop
How to pay a real line? This is why
1987 I be reppin in the ciphers and the sessions
And I still be gettin stressin
You know it's hard to be hip hop

And ain't nobody stayin real
Don't pay bills when you showcase skill
Ain't nobody living off of doing windmills,
I'm painting train rails, that's real
It's hard to be hip hop

You know it's hard to be hip hop
It's hard to be hip hop
You know it's hard to be hip hop
But we gotta be hip hop

I got no gassy grills, so my raps ain't real
Cause I don't pack steel through my tracks appeal

And to the mass appeal watch how fast they fail
Yeah I'm hip hop son, that's how my casket's sealed
It's hard in a culture when the fans are fickled
Understand my issue, your old man will diss you

One minute you're whack and then your jam's official

And then they switch again,

Two bottles of cancer hit you

First they loved L.L.

Then they hated him

And then they loved him again

Then they degraded him

So lately, basically, I don't know if I can play to win
Survival of the fittest, let me see what kind of shape I'm in

Yo 'stro when I was younger like 19
I could spend all day writing rhyme schemes
Spittin', freestylin', cypherin' the streets
But now I got responsibilities

Yo it's hard to be hip hop

You know it's hard to be hip hop
It's hard to be hip hop
You know it's hard to be hip hop
But we gotta be hip hop

No this is not an illusion
No this is not an illusion
No this is not an illusion
No this is not an illusion

Cats are killing me Luke
Thinking life's like a video shoot
They ain't spittin' the truth

True, I got a similar view
But I guess that's the damage the industry do
I'm 28 unemployed, a grown ass man
Still trying to rap with no fall back plan

Go all out fan you got nothing to lose
'cause only to yourself you got something to prove

Yeah we gotta be hip hop it's all that we know
Blaze up the shelto' 'stro

Yo on with the show
Get the drum track going

Yeah enough small talk
But whatever you drop, keep it hot

It's gotta be hip hop
You know it's hard to be hip hop
It's hard to be hip hop
You know it's hard to be hip hop
But we gotta be hip hop, gotta be hip hop