[R. Kelly] Still somehow I believe We always survive Oh why... [Nas] To my doggs Wherever you are Whattup Big? You know shit is rough after you slid You in Gods hands now Keep a place for me kid Ain't nothing changed Still partyin' bullshit We used to fuck r & b bitches and see who rhymes sickest For every hit you made More rappers afraid to come out Machine gun funk From Queens I came through to smoke blunts You came to my hood We was broke I wonder if we stayed that way, would there have been gunsmoke? Still on the block around fiends Numb from coke, I guess so Cause now with paper, shit is still ghetto But fuck it black You livin' your life though your loved ones Peace to your daughter and your newborn son It used to be fun Making records to see your response But now competition is none now that you're gone And these niggaz is wrong using your name in vain And they claim to be New York's king It ain't about that Its more serious I plan to toast it up with you Joke with you Happy we on top, the most Official Ain't to many real ones out there I feel some but doubt they're Capable to take it where you took it to I missed you're weight Not cause I'm fake Cause I hate to see somebody so great in that wake I woulda stayed so long with so much to say I had to put it in writin' To keep me and Brooklyn from fightin' Tellin' me to pay my respects and move to the side But I probably wouldn't have got off my knees to let people by You can't kill nothin' thats ready to die You was like God to us In the form of Allah [Chorus- Nas & R. Kelly] Still somehow I believe We always survive, Oh why... Still we will survive No matter what My people just stay alive Still we will survive No matter what (Thug Life baby) My people just stay alive [Nas] Dear Pac Every thug sheds a teardrop And use to teeth to bite off beer tops And pour out a lil' liquor You was more than the wildest nigga 2Pacalypse, I understand your style nigga Its goin' on the 3rd year Since you've been gone On the East and West Coast the same shit is goin' on The industry be talkin' Offendin' me often They don't beleive you dead Wanna see you in your coffin I pray late Shootouts and court dates All eyes on you Niggaz in your face Invadin' your space You asked if I could trade in your place How would I hold up? How long would I ride, before I fold up? How did you know through your rhymes it was your time to go? You predicted it in every line All in your flow There could never be peace I have to quote Can't believe I heard my name on the relaest shit you ever wrote We had words Cause the best supposed to clash at the top But kept it brotherly When we seen each other and stopped In NYC, at MTV People watched We was both deep After you left, I got no sleep Think about how us real niggaz would be If we united, a nation of thugs who could fight it You was caught in a wild homicide Or were you crucified like the son of God? Or Lucifer lied? Make the world think young blacks should be extinct But Thug Life'll never die We stay high and just link Will there ever be another MC as nice? Will you return to us like the resurrection of Christ? Chorus [Nas] I wonder what the Commodores went through on tour? Did Smokey Robinson have to shoot his way outta war? What has Al Green seen that made him religious? Was it the drugs? Put a end to the music business of soul Should I put out the indo right now and write down a plan And pursue my dream Turn my life around Cause I'm bound for the movie screen Cuties'll scream I'll need a exit Uzi riding through my own hood of Queens It be the ones you always knew That want it on Tellin' everybody it was him you fronted on Though we walked a million miles and was just 20 Not used to walking in the path of legit money I thought I made it but we only took baby steps Up the success ladder where they pay me checks To my clicks when I got it I said "Baby bless" That was the 80's, but now look at this crazy mess We in the 90's and finally its lookin good Hip-hop took it to billions, I knew we would Alot of ups and downs in the game Could lose or gain a couple pounds tryin' to maintain One day you here, the next you not When you around niggaz check 'em out Some is 'bout out Most individuals plots'll run the spots Some choose to stay to theyselves While others have no cares and stay in jail More than 50% of us Ending up with holes through the chest, through the head, through the gut it Shows The future for us young shooters and old killas Who become rich as dope dealers Nothing left for us but hoop dreams and hood tournaments Thug coaches with subs sitting on the bench Either that or rap We want the fast way outta this trap Whether it be 9 to 5 or slangin' crack To my deceased Gods wishin' I could bring ya back But life is a dream and you taught me that Chorus