(I love it)
(I love it)
(I love it)
(Yeah, yeah)

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

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

Nah, only two weeks

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

Either way Class listen (what?), I got a ill vision
About a song I'm workin' on, you think you got the right rhythm?

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

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

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)

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)

I got no gas and grill, so my raps ain't real (yeah)
Cause I don't pack steal, do my tracks appeal?

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

One minute your whack and then your jam's official

Yeah, and then they switch again

So bottles or cans'll hit you

First they loved LL

And then they hated him

And then they loved him again

Then they degraded him

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

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

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)

"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)

Cats are killin' me Luke
Thinkin' life's like a video shoot
They ain't spittin' the truth

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

Go all out fam, you got nothin' to lose (uh huh, yeah)
Cause only to yourself, you got somethin' to prove

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

Yo, on with the show (on with the show)
Get the drum track goin' dirty?

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

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)
(I love it)
(I love it)
(I love it)