[Chorus: Stevie Wonder]
Been through the storm, through the cold and rain
Everything's still the same
Can't control how I feel
Sometimes it's hard to keep it real
You see the luxuries in life, with the fortune and fame
Like them Cadillacs with sunroofs, mane
So many ways to make a dollar
Huh, sometimes I think about my father
You see my papa was broke and my mama was young
Tryin' to blend in with them city folk
Every day, landlord knockin' down my door
Wonderin' where my next blessing is comin' from

[Verse 1: Busta Rhymes]
My mama and papa moved to the U.S. as Jamaicans
Struggled to get visas and green cards through immigration
Though my pop was po', stayed away from crime and malice
Hard living gave him hard hands and callous
As a youngin, peep how much they loved each other's spacе
His hard hands rubbin' against the pretty skin of my mother's facе
Dig for treasure 'til his hands looked like hands of a junkie
So coarse, slap a mule and take the life from a donkey
On the other hand, mommy was the type to work two jobs
Never enough money, that's why I got your whole crew robbed
Got older, developed ways of grippin' the steel
Barely home for me to see her or get a good cooked meal
Seek refuge in the alleged land of the free, lookin'
Blendin' in with city folk down in Flatbush, Brooklyn
Feel a little of my pain, follow and sing to it
Homie, I seen it all, if you ain't knowin', I been through it
In other words I
[Chorus: Stevie Wonder]
Been through the storm, through the cold and rain
Everything's still the same
Can't control how I feel
Sometimes it's hard to keep it real
You see the luxuries in life, with the fortune and fame
Like them Cadillacs with sunroofs, mane
So many ways to make a dollar
Huh, sometimes I think about my father
You see my papa was broke and my mama was young
Tryin' to blend in with them city folk
Every day, landlord knockin' down my door
Wonderin' where my next blessing is comin' from

[Verse 2: Busta Rhymes]
Got a little older, late teens, me and my crew would huddle
On the corner late nights, plottin' to escape struggle
Nights got cold and still would hustle in the same place
In front of Pancho Deli, now the freeze up on a n***a face
1987, Reaganomics era, curious
To visit other cities, out of town, kid was serious
Guayanese jeans bounce, put whatever slinger on
Whoever slingin' came back, quickly brought me right along
N***a ran away from home
Doin' different wild shit just to put a pair of Filas or Adidas on
Reckless all for the good, gettin' into shit
Like we innocent, actin' older than we should
Walk around broke in the hood, watchin' all the rich n***as
These younger thugs who try to choke and try to get n***as
Thinkin' 'bout my mom and pop while I'm monopolizin'
To hell with just gettin' by and economizin'
It's kinda hard bein' humble in the belly of struggle
Doin' things that probably get you in trouble
That's why we stay up on the block, gettin' money while we keepin' it safe
In front of churchgoers keepin' the faith
Mom and pop be worryin' for they son
Despite they struggle and their honest livin', look and see just what I become
A scavenger in brute pursuit to be happy
Another youngin that's wildin' across the line until somebody tryna cap me
Oh, shit
[Outro: Stevie Wonder]
I've been through the storm, through the cold and rain
Everything's still the same
Can't control how I feel
Sometimes it's hard to keep it real
Woo-ooh-ooh-ooh, woah
Yeah, oh, woah