Released: June 23, 1992
Songwriter: Rakim
Producer: Eric B.
[Hook]
What's going on?
[Verse 1]
What's happening, it's been so long, what's going on
And what's going wrong? The good old days are gone
You forgot your plot and your plans as a young man
You invented a scam even you don't understand
You rig the enigma, can't figure it out
You change the route, now you're in doubt
You use to cut class, smoked grass, still passed
Figured you was all that but that ain't last
The times is harder, the drugs is heavier
You say whatever, the more, the merrier
Smoke chokes your dreams and blurs your scenes
Now a young man fiend change his plan to schemes
No more good times, no more time
Too far to find, you're almost blind
You can't see what spot that the trap is in
(Hey bruh!) What's happening!
You had it mapped out, your plans get torn
You stayed up for days and now your dreams are gone
You said you quit, stated your word is bond
(Hey bro) what's going on?
[Hook]
[Verse 2]
My neighborhood don't look so good
I'll find a way out, yeah, I would if I could
But the government is doing a project
So I live in the projects
Where we fight for elbow room to the doom
Try to live long but you die too soon
I might not be alive to see 25
Taught at ten to make money and strive
I sold tapes at school and made some ends
Met alot of skins and even made some friends
Cool, 'cause now I got a crew to run with
Break a couple of rules, have crazy fun with
But every now and then, they give my knuckle game a test
But I won't fess, I just get rid of the stress
And then shake hands like a man
'Cause it's a family thing, only the crew would understand
But you had a one on one fight with drugs
When we ain't cool no more, we bust slugs
Clip after clip, until one of us is gone
(Hey bruh) what's going on?
[Hook]
[Verse 3]
The crime rate in New York State elevate
A city filled with hate, more deaths accumulate
Drug wars daily, a lot of blood spilled
Kids on the playground shot down and killed
Nobody wants to live on the first floor no more
'Cause stray bullets explore
We're killing ourselves off slowly but surely
And at the end of the year, I'm sure many more'll be
Rubbed out in a quest for clout
The rest'll be drugged out, this is bugged out
Half of the projects is dead or locked up
Kids getting kidnapped and then found chopped up
Human abortion create distortions
And that's just a portion, you know that we're lost when
Babies are addicted to drugs when they are born
(Hey bruh) What's going on?
[Hook]
What's going on?
[Verse 1]
What's happening, it's been so long, what's going on
And what's going wrong? The good old days are gone
You forgot your plot and your plans as a young man
You invented a scam even you don't understand
You rig the enigma, can't figure it out
You change the route, now you're in doubt
You use to cut class, smoked grass, still passed
Figured you was all that but that ain't last
The times is harder, the drugs is heavier
You say whatever, the more, the merrier
Smoke chokes your dreams and blurs your scenes
Now a young man fiend change his plan to schemes
No more good times, no more time
Too far to find, you're almost blind
You can't see what spot that the trap is in
(Hey bruh!) What's happening!
You had it mapped out, your plans get torn
You stayed up for days and now your dreams are gone
You said you quit, stated your word is bond
(Hey bro) what's going on?
[Hook]
[Verse 2]
My neighborhood don't look so good
I'll find a way out, yeah, I would if I could
But the government is doing a project
So I live in the projects
Where we fight for elbow room to the doom
Try to live long but you die too soon
I might not be alive to see 25
Taught at ten to make money and strive
I sold tapes at school and made some ends
Met alot of skins and even made some friends
Cool, 'cause now I got a crew to run with
Break a couple of rules, have crazy fun with
But every now and then, they give my knuckle game a test
But I won't fess, I just get rid of the stress
And then shake hands like a man
'Cause it's a family thing, only the crew would understand
But you had a one on one fight with drugs
When we ain't cool no more, we bust slugs
Clip after clip, until one of us is gone
(Hey bruh) what's going on?
[Hook]
[Verse 3]
The crime rate in New York State elevate
A city filled with hate, more deaths accumulate
Drug wars daily, a lot of blood spilled
Kids on the playground shot down and killed
Nobody wants to live on the first floor no more
'Cause stray bullets explore
We're killing ourselves off slowly but surely
And at the end of the year, I'm sure many more'll be
Rubbed out in a quest for clout
The rest'll be drugged out, this is bugged out
Half of the projects is dead or locked up
Kids getting kidnapped and then found chopped up
Human abortion create distortions
And that's just a portion, you know that we're lost when
Babies are addicted to drugs when they are born
(Hey bruh) What's going on?
[Hook]
more tracks from the album
From the album
- Don’t Sweat the Technique (1992)
Eric B. & Rakim popular songs
- Paid in Full
- I Ain’t No Joke
- My Melody
- Follow the Leader
- I Know You Got Soul
- Microphone Fiend
- Eric B. Is President
- Juice (Know the Ledge)
- Don’t Sweat the Technique
- As the Rhyme Goes On
- Lyrics of Fury
- In The Ghetto
- Mahogany
- Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em
- Move the Crowd
- What’s On Your Mind
- No Competition
- Paid in Full (Seven Minutes of Madness – The Coldcut Remix)
- Casualties of War
- The Punisher
- No Omega
- Eric B. Is on the Cut
- Musical Massacre
- My Melody (Original Mix)