Released: November 17, 1998

Featuring: Mack 10

Songwriter: Ice Cube Mack 10

Producer: Jo-Jo Hearne N.O. Joe

[Intro - Sleep]
Hey wassup Cube?
Man I'm glad I caught you at your momma' house homey
Wassup man? You still got your pager right or you lost it?
(It's the curse, the curse....the curse, the curse)
Y'know my code right? I been pagin you for about a week man
(The curse, the curse) I heard about the deal ya got
Greed, Khop (The curse, the curse)
Check this out, you owe a nigga somethin man

[Ice Cube]
Do the math baby, do the math (Ch-ching)
Do the math baby, do the math (Ch-ching)
Do the math baby (The curse, the curse)
Do the math baby (The curse, the curse)

It's the curse of money, once you get it, fool you got it
Buy a new pair of drawers and motherfuckers spot it
Niggas plotted, to have me knotted up in basements
Till these cocksuckers see what they're faced with
Their fantasies of a life stress-free
Full of orgies, in the Florida Keys
But this bullshit is so thick, it's like mountains
Sick of threatenin all my lawyers and accountants
The decibals, gold diggers goin for the testicles
Soon they realise, I don't invest in hoes
Sometimes it's like hell on earth
When everybody tryin to get your ass for all your worth
It's the curse

(The curse, the curse) Do the math baby
(The curse, the curse) Do the math baby
(The curse, the curse) Do the math baby
(The curse, the curse) Do the math

When you hot, they think you got more than you got
When you not, motherfuckers callin you a flop
I just laugh, the curse everybody wanna have
Before you sell your soul better do the math

I start to scream shit like "May day, may day"
Cos motherfuckers think it's all grav-ay wit my pay day
And like I said, it's the curse of money
They start laughin at your jokes when they ain't that funny (Ha ha ha)
See this ass kissin yes man
Shakin hands with the left hand, get my weap-on, get to stepp-in
Fuck every phony ass nigga 'round me
Stick a shaft up your ass like Richie Roundtree (Yea yea!)
Got to have some gas money if you goin
If not who you fuckin? Who you flowin? Who you owin?
In '98 don't shit come free
Not even hard rhymes that's describin these hard times

(The curse, the curse) Do the math baby, do it
(The curse, the curse) Do the math baby, aha
(The curse, the curse) Do the math baby
(The curse, the curse) Do the math, ooh wee

When you hot, they think you got more than you got
When you not, motherfuckers callin you a flop
I just laugh (haha), the curse everybody wanna have
Before you sell your soul better do the math

[Mack 10]
To relax I smoke a stick, the shit make me sick
Gotta gang of new homies, and relatives on my dick
No time for drama, busters get sprayed
Bitches wanna get laid, and everybody need their bills paid (Everybody)
Motherfuckers, sweat me like a spy
They wanna kick it cos I, got the curse of mulah
Make me wanna start scrappin and look at me to make it happen
What the fuck was they doin before Mack 10 was rappin'? Tell me
(What the fuck?) how can I remain a man of seven figures
When I'm rushed by gold diggers everytime I get bigger? (Ch-ching)
Like David Banner, when I tweak I turn green
And everytime I'm seen it's like people start to fiend
It's the curse

[Ice Cube]
(The curse, the curse) Do the math baby [aha]
(The curse, the curse) Do the math baby [1 million, 2 million]
(The curse, the curse) Do the math baby [3 million]
(The curse, the curse) Do the math

When you hot, they think you got more than you got
[Yeah they do]
When you not, motherfuckers callin you a flop [Motherfuckers]
I just laugh, the curse everybody wanna have
Before you sell your soul better do the math [Better do it]

(The curse, the curse) Do the math baby
[Get the fuck outta here]
(The curse, the curse) Do the math baby
[With dollar signs in your eyes]
(The curse, the curse) Do the math baby [Ha ha, sheeit]
(The curse, the curse) Do the math

[Outro - Ice Cube]
Leave your ass broke
Rabbit ears, nigga for pockets, haha he
I'm cursed! Hahaha, but I love it

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.