Released: November 17, 1998

Featuring: Mack 10 Mr. Short Khop

Songwriter: Ice Cube Bud’da

Producer: Bud’da

[Intro]
(Hey)
Hey Chop
(Hey)
These haters tried to blow me up, man
(Who is this)
The Don Mega, nigga, who you think
(Ey, homie, what happened)
My whole life flashed before my eyes, man

[Verse 1]
Life...
Niggas used to come and get me
When it was time to disagree with an enemy
Pass the Hennessy it gives me energy
Packed the gat in the small of my back
Where these niggas at, I'll clear the whole pack
Talking shit cause I'm down for my set
I'm a vet, smoking on a wet cigarette
Who these niggas think they are
Wishing on a ghetto star, I represent my tar
I start busting and they scatter like water bugs
Cause these Westside niggas is harder thugs
Enslave us but nothing can save us from sporting Ben Davis
Shootin' at your neighbors
Cause sometimes I feel like a nut
Don’t give a fuck when I open you up
Hot rocks
Fly from the back seat
And busta-ass niggas run like a track meet
And if you caught in the middle
Bleed more than a little (what)
Killer King is the hospital
Feeling numb from the bullets I hum
And when they hit
Black mothers have fits
I don’t give a shit

[Chorus]
Fool I'm a vet you can bet
That I could dance underwater and not get wet
Check it
It's raining bullets and I'm still there
I'm still there

[Verse 2]
My house shoes get wet from the dew on the grass
Up early in the morning taking out the trash
Feeling like a loser, alcohol abuser
Two youngsters roll up on a beach cruiser
One on the peddles, the other on the handle bars
Tryna be ghetto stars
They said, "are you from the Westside is it so?"
I said, "hell yeah and who want to know?"
Me
In slow mo’, .44 slugs, face down in the mud
Puddle full of blood
Left for dead, the pain starts to spread
Now I can’t feel my legs
I meet Doctor Who at King Drew medical center
As I enter I.C.U
He said the bullet hit a nerve that was vital
I said I can’t move my legs, he said don’t try to
Now this ain’t the end my friend but you'll probably never walk again
I sit there motionless holding this pain inside contemplating suicide
At night I jerk and jerk
But my dick don’t work it don’t even hurt
Now who'd ever thought a nigga rude as Ice Cube
A'be pissing through a tube
Fool I'm a vet

[Chorus]
Fool, I'm a vet you can bet
I can dance underwater and not get wet (check it)
It’s raining bullets and I'm still there
Young ghetto nigga in a wheelchair

[Verse 3]
Fuck a V-A they need G-A
Gang Hospital for a cripple
Now I'm drinking Ripple
Same corner, same hood I'm still there
With bandanas tied to my wheel chair
To all the hood rat hoes I'm fired
They mad cause my tongue get tired
Now everybody want to put they dope on me
Sayin I won't get searched by the LAPD
I'm sittin' in a doorway deuce-five
Depending on that to keep my ass alive
I don’t got bows but my arm's about a one-six
With fucking legs looking like tooth picks
Some times I can’t deal
Got to beg the BG's to roll me up the hill
Put me on the porch
Now I'm on the torch
Smoking cocaine
Just to maintain
Nothing to gain nothing to lose
And last night I couldn’t make it to the bathroom
Feeling like a 2-year-old
You can’t get a sip from the brew I hold
It’s the only friend to a stranger
AKA: handicapped gangbanger
There's a lot in my life I regret becoming a ghetto vet
Fool I'm a Vet

[Chorus]
Fool I'm a vet you can bet
That I could dance underwater and not get wet
Check it
It's raining bullets and I'm still there
I'm still there

Dedicated to all the ghetto vets
For every nigga that done took one for the hood

Ice Cube

Straight outta South Central Los Angeles, Ice Cube became one of the most respected rappers in hip-hop, helping to usher in the era of gangsta rap with N.W.A and as a solo artist. He has gone on to become a mogul in Hollywood but still remains true to the game that brought him his success.

Born O'Shea Jackson on June 15, 1969, Ice Cube got his name from his older brother, who threatened to put him in a freezer and pull him out when he was an ice cube. He began rapping in high school and started his rap career as a member of Stereo Crew, which released the single “She’s a Skag” through Epic Records in 1986, and C.I.A. with the 1987 track “My Posse.” Both groups featured producer Sir Jinx, the cousin of DJ/producer Dr. Dre.

Ice Cube’s big break came when he wrote the song “Boyz n the Hood” for Eazy-E, which led to the formation of N.W.A. as a group. After the release of the 1987 compilation N.W.A. and the Posse, the group released their classic debut Straight Outta Compton in 1988. A financial dispute caused Cube to leave the group in 1989 and start his successful solo career, starting with his 1990 platinum debut Amerikkka’s Most Wanted.