(I used to be a stick-up kid) --] Rakim

[Verse q]
Everybody in the ghetto tell me...
Is it a lie that I must be a roughneck
And wear a frown just to be down?
I kinda don't agree with being (tough)
But you gotta be (rough)
It's either you claiming your hood, or you're not a gee
Forget about respect, I refuse to be the next guy
Fitted for a casket, either with it, or get blasted
I choose to gang-bang, they give me a chrome-plated trigger
Say, "If you got any heart, go rob that Mini-Mart, n***a"
Now look what I done did, damn, I had to be the big man
They're looking at me shifty, better shut up 'fore I get slammed
Man, I'm not a thief, good grief, and I don't wanna act hard
But then they said if I didn't do it, they was gonna gat, far
As I could see (I was gonna be)
The next new member of the crew, cause it's 8 of them and 1 of me
I don't wanna do it, but I will
Cause I still want folks to think that I'm hard and tough
Cause you gotta be (rough)
Cause you gotta be (tough)
Cause you gotta be (rough)
(I used to be a stick-up kid)
[Verse 2]
Well, it's the niggeroe, again, right back in where I left off
Still trying to make a decision, I might go to prison if I don't step off
But if I don't rob this store, then I'm not sure
If I'm gonna be considered as a gee
And you gotta be (rough)
Cuffs are temporary, homies are for life
So I grab the deuce-deuce and go inside
I decide to prove in the Mini-Mart, "Don't nobody move
Start filling up the paper sack with loot, or I might shoot"
But things didn't go as planned, cause this man had his own gun
We're standing toe to toe, eye to eye, so I figured why not
Pull the trigger? Put this n***a on the ground
It'll show that I had poise, then my boy'll know I'm down
But I didn't do it quick enough, or he thought of it first
Cause he blasted to the chest, and now I'm resting, yelling, "Nurse!"
And holding on to life, or at least trying to hold on
In a jail-ward wearing cuffs
Cause I had to be (rough)
Cause you gotta be (tough)
Cause you gotta be (rough)
(I used to be a stick-up kid)

And everybody, everybody gotta be rough, y'all
(I used to be a stick-up kid)
And everybody, everybody gotta be tough, y'all
(I used to be a stick-up kid)
[Verse 3]
Well, that's the end of my tale, but before we know
Fools'll just forget what I said, and the story go
On and on, until you're up to no good
And back throwing up your hood
And still doing what you shouldn't
Niggeroes, come together, cause divided we fall
So stall that gang shit, stand up
Quit standing in handcuffs
Really hard's when you got loot
And you ain't gotta shoot
Damn man, enough is enough
So why you gotta be (rough)
Cause you gotta be (tough)
Cause you gotta be (rough)
(I used to be a stick-up kid)