[Intro] - w/ ad libs
(I love it)
(I love it)
(I love it)
(Yeah, yeah)

[Maestro Fresh Wes]
Yo Class, how you doin Dunn? I'm back in the 'fax (yeah)
I'm takin time off from the act and I got to relax
I need a new beat

[Classified]
Yo, Fresh 'tro I got a few treats (uh)
You been up in this city long?

[Maestro Fresh Wes]
Nah, only two weeks

[Classified]
Cool, well, I'm sorry about the weather (uh)
It's been raining all week, I hope it gets a little better

[Maestro Fresh Wes]
Either way Class listen (what?), I got a ill vision
About a song I'm workin on, you think you got the right rhythm?
[Classified]
Man come on, you know I got some shit that'll break your neck
I used up what I want but you can take what's left

[Maestro Fresh Wes]
Oh, don't give me bullshit dog, you know I blaze the set
You know you got somethin saved for Wes
I got a ill concept, (hip hop)
How I paid the real line debt since (what?)
1987, I've been reppin on the cyphers and the sessions
And I'll still be gettin stress on the block (yeah)
You know it's hard to be hip-hop

[Classified]
And ain't nobody stayin real (uh)
It don't pay bills when you showcase skill (uh)
Ain't nobody living off of doin windmills
Or painting train rails, that's real (that's real)

[Hook - Classified] - w/ ad libs
It's hard to be hip hop

(I love it)
(I love it)

You know it's hard to be hip hop
It's hard to be hip hop (I love it)
You know it's hard to be hip hop
But we got to be hip hop (I love it)
[Maestro Fresh Wes]
I got no gas and grill, so my raps ain't real (yeah)
Cause I don't pack steal, do my tracks appeal?

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

[Maestro Fresh Wes]
One minute your whack and then your jam's official

[Classified]
Yeah, and then they switch again

[Maestro Fresh Wes]
So bottles or cans'll hit you

[Classified]
First they loved LL

[Maestro Fresh Wes]
And then they hated him

[Classified]
And then they loved him again
[Maestro Fresh Wes]
Then they degraded him

[Maestro Fresh Wes]
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

[Classified]
Yo 'stro, when I was younger like nineteen (uh)
I could spend all day writin rhyme schemes (uh)
Spittin freestyle or cypher in the streets
But now I got responsibilities

[Hook - Classified] - w/ ad libs
Yo, it's hard to be hip hop

(I love it)
(I love it)

You know it's hard to be hip hop
It's hard to be hip hop (I love it)
You know it's hard to be hip hop
But we got to be hip hop (I love it)

[Break] - w/ scratches
"No, this is not an illusion"
"Y'all can't carry on"
"Real hip hop!"
"No, this is not an illusion"
"No rest for nothin, nothin less"
"No, this is not an illusion"
"Y'all can't carry"
"Real hip hop!"
"No, this is not an illusion"
"No rest for nothin, nothin less" (nothin less, nothin less)

[Maestro Fresh Wes]
Cats are killin me Luke
Thinkin life's like a video shoot
They ain't spittin the truth

[Classified]
True, I got a similar view (uh huh)
But I guess that's the damage the industry do
I'm twenty-eight, unemployed (uh), a grown ass man (uh)
Still tryin to rap with no fall back plan

[Maestro Fresh Wes]
Go all out fam, you got nothin to lose (uh huh, yeah)
Cause only to yourself, you got somethin to prove

[Classified]
Yeah, we got to be hip-hop, it's all that we know
Lace up the Shell Toe 'stro?

[Maestro Fresh Wes]
Yo, on with the show (on with the show)
Get the drum track goin dirty?

[Classified]
Yeah, enough small talk
But whatever you drop, keep it hard

[Hook - Classified] - w/ ad libs
And it's got to be hip hop

It's got to be hip hop (I love it)
Got to be hip hop (I love it)
You know it's hard to be hip hop
It's hard to be hip hop (I love it)
You know it's hard to be hip hop
But we got to be hip hop (I love it)

Got to be hip hop

(I love it) - 4X