[Intro]
That's the way it's got to be
That's the way it's got to be

[Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar]
You n***as know what it is, I need not tell you
My track record so long, it probably derail you
The historian, known for pullin' out Deloreans
So I can take you n***as back, hear screams from the audience
Drivin' reckless, Smith-N-Wesson, turnin' on West End
I got that Bruce Leeroy glow, you know, fluorescent
Lights, damn right, you better stay with a weapon and-
That's the way it's got to be
Especially in 2011
My preference be anything with a trigger
Make me kill me a n***a
I see inferior n***as, 'bout to blow at any minute
My hat low, the Coupe tinted
Now salute the lieutenant, loot
All in my pockets, stop it, n***a
I am the Forbes List
Now, where the morgue?
Let me kill 'em some more
This big pimpin', make your bitch open the door, see-
That's the way it's got to be
[Chorus: Kendrick]
It's my way or the highway (Ayo, ayo)
It's my way or the highway
Ain't shit you can tell me
It's my way or the highway (Ayo, ayo)
It's my way or the highway
Ain't shit you can tell me, n***a
I realized that the bottom line is "you respect my mind?"
Ain't shit you can tell me, n***a
It's my way or the highway, and by the way-
That's the way it's got to be

[Verse 2: Kendrick Lamar]
And that's the way that I like it
Set the tone before I was grown, before you could bite it
My blueprint was mapped out way before you could write it
I dropped the bomb before you could light it
Bitch, I'm the nicest
Which is ironic, because I smoke mean kush
And fuck George Bush, that's for the record
Still two-hundred for a record, where's your budget?
I ain't budgin', and-
That's the way it's got to be
And bitch, you'd better believe that
She ask me where my ego go, let me feed that
I said alright, just ask the valet where my keys at
You know that Murci-é-lago, hater, relax
I put my last blunt up in the air, then put my fingers in her hair
Then let her do what you dare her to do
And I ain't through until the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, player
That's the way it's got to be
You fuckin' right
[Chorus: Kendrick]
It's my way or the highway (Ayo, ayo)
It's my way or the highway
Ain't shit you can tell me
It's my way or the highway (Ayo, ayo)
It's my way or the highway
Ain't shit you can tell me, n***a
I realized that the bottom line is "you respect my mind?"
Ain't shit you can tell me, n***a
It's my way or the highway, and by the way-
That's the way it's got to be