2Pac

Featuring: Richie Rich

Songwriter: 2Pac Richie Rich Soulshock JayB (USA) Ezi Cut

Producer: Soulshock

[Intro: 2Pac]
Here we go; we gonna send this one out to the old school
All these motherfuckers in the Bronx, and Brooklyn, and Staten Island
Queens, and all the motherfuckers that laid it down, the foundation
Ya know what I'm saying? Nothing but love for the old school
That's who were going do this one for, ya feel me?

[Chorus: Grand Puba]
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"

[Verse 1: 2Pac]
I remember Mr. Magic, Flash, Grandmaster Caz
LL, Raising Hell, but, that didn't last
Eric B. & Rakim was, the shit to me
I flip to see a Doug E. Fresh show, with Ricky D
And Red Alert was puttin' in work, with Chuck Chill
Had my homies on the hill getting ill, when shit was real
When I could still remember Raw, with Daddy Kane
When De La Soul was puttin' Potholes in the game
I can't explain how it was
Whodini had me puffin' on that buddha gettin' buzzed
'Cause there I was
Them block parties in the projects and on my block
It diggy don't stop, sippin' on that Private Stock
And through my speaker Queen Latifah, and MC Lyte
Listen to Treach, KRS to get me through the night
With T La Rock and Mantronix, to Stetsasonic
Remember "Push It" was the bomb shit, nuttin' like the old school

[Chorus: Grand Puba & (2Pac)]
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
(Nothin' like the old school)
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
(Nothin' like the old school)
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
(It ain't nothin' like the old school)
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
(Nothin' like the old school)
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
(Nothin' like the old school)
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"

[Verse 2: 2Pac]
I had, Shell Toes, and BVD's
A killer crease inside my Lee's when I hit the streets
I'm playing skelly, Ringolevio, or catch a kiss
Before the homies in my hood learned to smack a bitch
I remember. way back, the weak weed they had
Too many seeds in the trey bag
I'm on the train headin uptown, freestyling
With some wild kids from Bucktown, profiling
'Cause the hoochies was starin'
Checking what a nigga's wearin'
I'm wondering if that's her hair, I remember
Stickball, humpin' hoochies on the wall
Or taking leaks on the steps, stinking up the hall
Through my childhood, wild as a juvenile
A young nigga tryin to stay away from Rikers Isle
Me and my homies breakin nights, tryin to keep it true
Out on the roof sipping 90 proof, ain't nuttin like the old school

[Chorus: Grand Puba]
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
(Nothin' like the old school)
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
(Ain't nothin' like the old school)
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
(Nothin' like the old school)
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"

[Collision: 2Pac]
Ay, Rich ain't nothin' like the muh'fuckin' old school, nigga
And I know you kinda like reminiscin' when I just freak it to you like that
So why don't you flip that shit for these muh'fuckas to like, you know
Really just let them see how you pick to the old school
'Cause it ain't the same for every muh'fucka, you feel me?
So, uh, take us back, nigga

[Verse 3: Richie Rich]
Polyurethane busta, cracked in half
You claim you foldin' bank, but I know your bank stank
I lived around the corner, I've seen you fully smoked
Must I say some mo'? You weighed a buck-O-fo'
And sold your TV for a bump 'cause it was way too late
Now they sent you upstate and you done gained some weight
You's a baller, lying to them youngstas quick
Got them thinkin' you sick and representin' your clique

[Verse 4: 2Pac]
Remember popping and locking to Kurtis Blow, the name belts
And Scott LaRock the Super Ho back in Latin Quarters
When Slick Rick was spittin La Di Da Di
Gaming the hoochies at the neighborhood block parties
I remember, breakdancing to Melle Mel
Jekyll and Hyde, LL when he Rocks the Bells
Forget the TV, I'd rather hit the streets and do graffiti
Be careful, don't let the transit cops see me
Ain't nothing like the old school

[Chorus: Grand Puba]
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
(It ain't nothin' like the old school)
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
(It ain't nothin' like the old school)
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"
(Hey, on the real though, ain't nothin' like the old school)
"What more could I say? I wouldn't be here today
If the old school didn't pave the way"

[Outro: 2Pac]
Ay, I was at Latin Quarters, nigga
When Eric B. & Rakim did "I Ain't No Joke" for the first time
Ay, 'member muh'fuckas used to get their gold chain snatched?
Remember that shit?
Remember seeing Brooklyn go crazy up in the motherfucking party?
Remember motherfuckers used to go, "Is Brooklyn in the house?"
And motherfuckers would lose they goddamn mind!
That's the old school to me; that's what I'm sayin'
I remember goin' places that motherfuckers was scared to say
They was from anywhere but Brooklyn; that shit was the bomb
Back in the motherfucking old school, nigga
Remember skelly, nigga? Knocking niggas out the box, popping boxes?
Remember stickball? Member niggas to run that shit like that?
Remember the block-- 'Member screaming up at your moms from the window?
The ice cream truck, remember all the mother--
'Member the Italian Ices, yo? Yo, remember the Italian Ices?!
The Spanish niggas comin' down with the coconut ices and shit?

Tupac Amaru Shakur (June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an actor and a highly influential rapper who is considered by many to be the greatest of all-time due to the revolutionary spirit and thug passion he mixed into his music. During his music career, he made appearances in movies such as his acclaimed debut in Juice (1992), Poetic Justice (1993), and Above the Rim (1994).

Born in Harlem, New York City to Black Panther Party members Billy Garland and Afeni Shakur, Tupac would later move to Baltimore before settling in the Bay Area cities of Oakland and Marin City in the late 1980s. There, he joined his first rap group Strictly Dope with Ray Luv before connecting with Shock G and Digital Underground. He was a roadie and backup dancer for the group before his breakthrough performance on their 1991 song “Same Song.”

2Pac released his debut album 2Pacalypse Now in 1991, which featured intense storytelling on singles such as “Trapped” and “Brenda’s Got a Baby.” His sophomore album Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z featured one of his signature songs, the Digital Underground-assisted “I Get Around.” After working on the Thug Life group album in 1994, 2Pac released Me Against the World the following year, which is considered by many to be his best album, peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200 and receiving a Grammy nomination—all while he sat in prison.

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