You wanna know what it's like to be me now
I've been grindin and hustlin up in the U Town
People think they know me, but ain't down
Callin me a fake a phony like I should stop now
I'm a take ya back to '83
Before you ever knew the C-I-D-E or knew me
Before my dad left, before we moved to my Nonna's
Before my brother was born and then my family was goners
I'm a let you in, a bit of family history
My grandparents came over getting called WOP's and guineas
They call us daygo's, cause they always just hate those
People lookin different than the ones in plain clothes
Immigrants in this they found themselves on Ellis island
To start a new life and you could see it inside em
Just like everyone does when they come to America
But you see the American dream is all that they sellin ya
Make the best of it and I know that they did
Because I'm really proud to know of my Italian heritage
And rappers capitalize on the mafia trend
But if you knew the mafia men you'd never rap again
You wanna know what it's like to be me now
I've been grindin and hustlin up in the U Town
People think they know me, but ain't down
Callin me a fake a phony like I should stop now
We're a product of the 80's drivin my mother crazy
Me and my brother Nicholas Alexander, baby!
I hadda dream when I was young to be a frontman in the limelight
Always performnin at family functions, the time's right
I didn't care of I was good or I sucked
Because the thing that really matters is that I would grow up
But then in high school, where fat kids are not cool
I met a bunch of dudes and I joined they group
I guess the tru inspiration is all these bands that I'm playin
I love it all but Green Day's always been in heavy rotation
I'm bumpin, Kid Rock, ICP, Twiztid, and Blaze
Tech N9ne, C-Murder, Master P, No Limit for days
I got the ground work, then I started talkin to people
I'm gonna make this thing happen or I'll die tryin we'll
Be the first to break out, I'm lovin it no doubt
And it's time something happened cuz it's been 10 years now
You wanna know what it's like to be me now
I've been grindin and hustlin up in the U Town
People think they know me, but ain't down
Callin me a fake a phony like I should stop now
I do this for a greater power, not just myself
Look at the underlying message of the song that you felt
I speak of free speech, while you other rappers on these streets
I love America the beautiful in poverty
You say I can't make a change because I swear to much
But I gotta be explicit now to get my point across
If you don't understand, then this just isn't for you
You shoulda never bought the CD in the first place dude
This is every emotion, this is all of my thoughts
This is how magic happens and I will show you it all
From the pen to the pad, from the pad to your head
From your head to the microphone and something is said
It ain't gotta be much like what just ruined your day
You could put it in a rhyme and everything'll be great
I hate the fact that people tell you what you can and can't do
But they hate you even more when you speakin the truth
You wanna know what it's like to be me now
I've been grindin and hustlin up in the U Town
People think they know me, but ain't down
Callin me a fake a phony like I should stop now
