Hold on... [lighter flicks up] Yeah it's gonna be alright, don't trip baby [inhales] It'll get better... [coughing] Ay do this Thug style main, Thug style When this whole beat drop we just gon' run it to em bet It's all good, uhh I never had much, ran with a bad bunch Little skinny kid sneakin weed in my bag lunch And all through Junior High, we was just gettin by And drivebys robbed my homies of their young lives I never did cry, and even though I had pain in my heart, I was hopeless from the start They couldn't tell me nothin, they all tried to help to help me The marijuana had my mind gone it wasn't healthy I travelled places, caught cases, what a ill year I felt the pain and the rain but I'm still here Never did like the police, let the whole world know Now I gets no peace, cause they chasin me down And facin me now, what do I do? These thangs that a Thug goes through And still I rise so keep ya head up, and make ya mind strong It's a struggle every day but you gotta hold on [Chorus: repeat 4X] Hold on, be strong, hold on Be strong, hold on When it's on it's on There's, never a good day, cause in my hood they let they AK's pump strays where the kids play And every Halloween, check out the murder scene Can't help but duplicate the violence seen on the screen My homies dyin 'fore they get to see they birthdays These is the worst days, sometimes it hurts to pray And even God turned his back on the ghetto youth I know that ain't the truth, sometimes I look for proof I wonder if heaven got a ghetto, and if it does Does it matter if you blood or you cuz Remember how it was, the picnics and the parties in the projects Small time drinkin gettin high with them armies Just another knucklehead kid from the gutter I'm dealin with the madness, raised by a single mother I'm tryin to tell you when it's on You gotta keep your head to the sky and be strong, most of all hold on [Chorus] [Interlude:] Hold on, be strong I know them ain't tears comin down your face When it's on it's on but Wipe your eyes Hold on, be strong In this world When it's on it's on but Only the strong survive y'know Hold on, be strong Hmm, I know it's hard out there When it's on it's on but Welfare Hold on, be strong AIDS, earthquakes Cause when it's on it's on but Muggings, carjackings Hold on, and be strong Yeah we got problems Cause when it's on it's on but But believe me when I tell you Hold on, and be strong Things always get better Cause when it's on it's on but God don't like ugly Hold on, and be strong And God don't like no quitters Cause when it's on it's on but You know what Billie Holiday said bay-bee Hold on, and be strong God bless the child that can hold his own Cause when it's on it's on but Y'know? Hold on, and be strong You got to stand strong Cause when it's on it's on but And when these bustas try to knock you out your place Hold on, and be strong You stand there to they face Cause when it's on it's on but Tell em hold on, and be strong Hold on, and be strong The game don't stop Cause when it's on it's on but Hmmm Hold on, and be strong This here is black main Cause when it's on it's on but If you don't never leave nothin, learn one thing Hold on, and be strong It don't stop, til the casket drop Hold on Thug, for Life... feel me? All my homeboys and my homegirls, stay strong When things get bad, especially come the first and the fifteenth Stay strong, and stay ballin, hold on I'll catch y'all at the next life, we in traffic