Jay-Z:. Take the baseline out uh huh. Jigga uh huh uh huh uh huh. Annie Sample:. It's the hard knock life for us (uh-huh). It's the hard knock life for us. Steada treated we get tricked. Steada kisses we get kicked. It's the hard knock life!!. Verse 1:. From standing on the corner poppin. To driving some of the hottest cars New York has ever seen. To dropping some of the hottest verses rap has ever heard. From the dope spot where the smoke lock. Fleeing the murder scene you know me well. From nightmares of a lonely cell my only hell. But since when ya'll niggas know me to bail? Fuck Naw. Where all my niggas with the rubber grips off shots. And if you with me ma I rubbing your tits and what not. I'm from the school of the hard knocks we must not. Let outsiders violate our blocks and my plot. Let's stick up the world and split it 50-50 uh huh. Let's take the dough and stay real jiggy uh huh. Let's sip the Cris and get pissy pissy. Flow imminently like the memory of my nigga Biggie baby!. You know it's hell when I come through. The life and times of Shawn Carter nigga Volume 2 ya'll niggas get ready. Annie Sample:. It's the hard knock life for us. It's the hard knock life for us. Steada treated we get tricked. Steada kisses we get kicked. It's the hard knock life!!. Verse 2:. I flow for those droned out. All my niggas locked in the 10 by 4 controlling the house. We live in hard knocks we don't take over we bomb blocks. Burn 'em down and you can have 'em back daddy I'd rather that. I flow for chicks wishing they ain't have to strip to pay tuition. I see you vision mama I put my money on the longshots. All my ballers that born to glock. Now I'ma be on top whether I perform or not. I went from lukewarm to hot. Sleeping on guitars and cots the king size dream machine to grief. I've seen pies let the thing between my eyes analyze life's ills. Then I put it down tight grill. I'm tight grill with the phony rappers you might feel we homeys. I'm like still you don't know me shit. I'm tight grill when my situation ain't improving. I'm trying to murder everything moving Feel Me!!. Annie Sample:. It's the hard knock life for us. It's the hard knock life for us. Steada treated we get tricked. Steada kisses we get kicked. It's the hard knock life for us. It's the hard knock life for us. Steada treated we get tricked. Steada kisses we get kicked. It's the hard knock life!!. Verse 3:. I don't know how to sleep I gotta eat stay on my toes. Gotta a lot of beef so logically I prey on my foes. Hustlin still inside of me and as far as progress. You be hardpressed to find another rapper hot as me. I gave you prophecy on my first joint and ya'll lamed out. Didn't really appreciate it till the second one came out. So I stretched the game out X'ed your name out. Put Jigga on top and drop albums non-stop for ya nigga. Annie Sample:. It's the hard knock life for us. It's the hard knock life for us. Steada treated we get tricked. Steada kisses we get kicked. It's the hard knock life for us. It's the hard knock life for us. Steada treated we get tricked. Steada kisses we get kicked. It's the hard knock life!!. It's the hard knock life!!. It's the hard knock life!!