I Must Stand
Ice-T Lyrics

Nobody ever said life was gon' be easy
Life is challenging

Just a kid, moms died when I was seven
The singer's mom died when he was seven

Pops died, eleven, what's up with heaven?
The singer's dad died when he was eleven, and he's questioning heaven

It's hell when you're an orphan at a early age
Being an orphan at a young age is a really difficult experience

This impressionable stage, no love breeds rage
Lack of love during his childhood stage led to anger

In the heart of a child who never knew his roots
The singer never knew his roots, leading to confusion and anger in his heart

Looked up to pimps and to hustlers in the eel-skin boots
The singer looked up to pimps and hustlers

Parkin Caddies on the sidewalk, gangsta talk
Describes their gangster behavior

Truckin diamonds and gold
They were involved in the diamond and gold-trafficking business

Rubberbands around the bankrolls
Rubber bands were used to wrap their bankrolls

Fly girls to make your head spin
Describes the presence of attractive women

Seemed they partied all night long
They had endless parties all night long

I was like, "Put me on"
The singer wanted to belong to their group

But they said, "Little fellow, run and go play
The group discouraged the singer from joining them

Take your butt to school or else you'll have to be like us one day"
They advised the singer to go to school or risk ending up like them

I didn't understand, but I tried to get a job
The artist tried to get a job.

While all the players got the girls cause they'd hustle and rob
Others got girls by stealing and cheating

I was like makin 'bout 1-50 a week
The singer earned around $1.50 per week

And after taxes, you know what that is - lunch meat
After taxes, what he ended up having was just enough to buy lunch

I know I can do it out there, man
The artist believes he can succeed out there

I'm finna go for it, man
The artist is determined to pursue his dreams

I gotta get some money
The artist needs to make money

Streets of anger, trouble and crime
The streets were full of anger, troubles and crimes

I had it hard, had to sleep in my car sometime
The artist had a hard time and even had to sleep in his car sometimes

But I never let another player see me down
He never let anyone see him down, he always kept his head high

I kept my front up, my gear clean
He kept his front up and always looked sharp

Even when checkin minor green
This refers to even when earning small amounts of money

Brothers knew my game was true
His brothers trusted him and his hustle

So I hooked up with the real crew
He found a better group of people to work with after some time

That knew exactly what to do
They were expert in their line of work

Bank jobs and jewels, quick to flex with tools
They were involved in bank robberies and jewelry thefts and were quick to use guns

Pimpin hoes on the block
They were involved in pimping women on the streets

Checkin cash non-stop
They were constantly checking how much money they had made

Crack spots, armor with interior bars
Refers to cocaine dealing and how the cars were fitted with protective bars

No lie, I used to own 'bout 15 cars
He used to own about fifteen cars

Every piece Fila made
He dressed himself and his women in Fila clothes

Drape my women in suede
He would dress his women in suede clothes

Pavet Piaget, Cesar's Palace holidays
He would indulge in luxurious things like watches and holidays in Cesar's Palace

We made up the word 'ballin', that was how we rolled
They made up the word 'ballin' to describe the way they lived

But the FBI had a-whole-nother idea
The FBI had a completely different notion

It's called multiple indictments for hundreds of years
They were charged with numerous criminal charges and faced long sentences

The game is vicious, no retirement, you die young
Life in this business is cruel, there's no retirement plan, and you tend to die young

I get phone calls from condemned row
He receives calls from friends on death row

Brothers I ran with, brothers I really know
Friends he used to run with and really knows

They tell me, "Ice you got much love in the pen
Friends express their love for him while in jail

They tell me, "Tell the little homies the deal
His friends advise him to tell young men the truth

Don't let em come up in this hellish habitat of shanks and steel"
Don't allow them to get involved in a violent environment

I marched two million strong in D.C.
He participated in the Million Man March in Washington DC.

Lookin eye to eye with brothers that I used to think below me
He looks at fellow black men in a new perspective after the march

But God spared me, I got a baby son to raise
He was grateful to God for sparing his life so he can raise a young son

And bein black ain't easy, prejudice is real
Being black is difficult and there is actual prejudice that exists

But health and liberty is all we need for us to build
We just need to be healthy and have freedom to build

We gotta come together, unseparated
We need to unite and stay together

Check yourself like I did, blackman, because we're all related
We need to examine ourselves and our actions because we are all brothers