[Intro: Inspectah Deck]
It's been twenty-two long, hard years
It's been twenty-two long, hard years
It's been twenty-two long, hard years
It's been twenty-two long, hard years
It's been twenty-two long, hard years
It's been twenty-two long, hard years
[Verse 1: Kleph Dollaz]
A-yo mom's always sayin' do we daze like this?
Nowhere to turn, every, which way I got burned
Times was tough when I was growin' up
Seems that I ran outta luck, try my best to blow up
I can't stoop that low so me and G formed a crew
It's '87 rhymin' over off beat loops
I'm sweatin' in the Romper Room rappin' on a 4-track
Schemin' for a deal, on the real I need a contract
But tapes after tapes that we made
Black and Whites with the bio nеver got a demo play
A&R's say they dig us but I think thеy tricked us
We felt victim to the ways of the industry
Believe you me. we've been to hell and back
'Cause we was fat in Virginia but New York said we're wack
I knew I had skills, just give me a chance to prove
And show after show, kid, I made the crowd move
But still, no deal in our future
Couldn't bag them skins, they said that we were losers
And how about the knuckleheads who fed us for the neck
They dealt of our props but soon we'll be plantin' crops
I persist to keep it real kid, that's true blue
All that in hip-hop, I'm lookin' up to Zulu
Ain't nothin' but love, love baby for my squad
Word to God kid, times is hard
[Chorus: Ill Biskits]
(Yo, times was hard) We can't pay your bills
Offer your skills but still we kept it real
(Times was hard) We couldn't bag up tits
They all popped the lips, now ain't that sum'?
(Times was hard) So swift from outta town
Brothers wanna clown but now they wanna be down
(Times was hard) A-yo, word to God, baby pal
(Times was hard) A-yo, word to God
[Interlude: Inspectah Deck]
Twenty-two long, hard years
Twenty-two long, hard years
Twenty-two long, hard years
Twenty-two long, hard years
Twenty-two long, hard years
[Verse 2: Kleph Dollaz]
We then strived by Scholastics, I kept on strivin'
Workin' half-ass jobs for 4.25
I'm slavin' in a sweat box, packin' up the stovies
Lord have mercy, can my life get any worse?
And went through episodes and episodes within a year
And built with my skills, so now I am prepared
But within this time, the return to the cipher
No cash flow, I mean no dough to pay the Piper
'Cause life was stressin', anger on my mind
I wrote lines on the dailies while my peeps committed crime
All I wanna do is rhyme to a record rap
So I got my act together, spit the wiz and represented
But little did I know, who was at the show?
It was so and so, checkin' out the flow so
Clap your hands for the zeros, once was nobody
But somebody in your borough but now we're thorough
Bustin' styles out the scenes of reality (Uh-huh)
Now I know that, it's all about originality (Word up)
So my man 'Nesse put my skills to the test for the world to hear
It's been greatness for twenty-two years
[Chorus: Ill Biskits]
(Yo, times was hard) We can't pay your bills
Offer your skills but still we kept it real
(Times was hard) We couldn't bag up tits
They all popped the lips, now ain't that someth'?
(Times was hard) So swift from outta town
Brothers wanna clown but now they wanna be down
(Times was hard) A-yo, word to God, baby pal
(Times was hard) A-yo, word to God, times was hard
[Outro: Ill Biskits, Inspectah Deck]
(Twenty-two long—) Uh-huh, yeah
(Twenty-two long—) Yo, word to God
(Twenty-two long—) Word to God, yo, word to God
(Twenty-two long, hard years) The times was hard, uh
(Twenty-two long, hard years/i>)
(Two long, hard—)
(Twenty-two long, hard—)
(Twenty-two long, hard— strugglin')
