K-Ci & JoJo

Released: March 16, 1999

Songwriter: R. Kelly

Producer: R. Kelly

[Intro]
Just like a birdie, I just want to fly free (so high, so high)
And own a piece of land, somewhere, somewhere off in a country Oh, oh, yeah, listen
Hey

[Verse 1]
Temperature's like a hundred degrees
Like I got chains on me
Black male in a family of three
Been robbed of my destiny
Reckon I'll fly away
'Cause it's too much for the man
Shouldn't have gone down this way
What happened to my master plan?
'Cause I can't figure out
I could have been a loved child (loved child)
Shouldn't have gone down this way

[Chorus]
Tell me, how did I get life?
Life, life, life, life, (Talk to me) life, life, life, life
(Oh, how did I get life?)
Life, life, (tell me) life, life, life, life, life, life

[Verse 2]
Oh somebody done done me wrong
Done me wrong (done me wrong)
Now eyes to the ceiling all night long, all night long
Time is slipping away from me (away from me)
And it ain't no telling when I'll get home
I gotta get home, yeah
Just about to see the dollar signs
That close to a piece of mine
Everything was about to be fine

[Chorus]
So tell me, so how did I get life?
Life, life, life, life, life, life, life, life
Tell me, I wanna know now how
Life, life, life, life, life, life, life, life
You know, you know, you know

[Bridge]
Everything (everything)
I hope for (that I hope for)
Is gone now (is gone now)
Buried in the ground (buried in the ground)
Hopes and dreams (my hopes and dreams)
All those things (all those things)
I'll never see (I will never never see)
Said I'll never see (somebody gave me life)

[Chorus]
Life, life, life, life, (yes, they did) life, life, life, life
Life, life, life, life, life, life, life, life (OOHH! Life)
Life, life, (somebody gave me life) life, life, life, life, life, life (say it again, say it again, yeah)
Life, life, life, life, life, life, life, life

Brothers Cedric Hailey and Joel Hailey from Monroe, North Carolina make up the duo K-Ci & JoJo, the lead singers and half of the multi-platinum R&B group Jodeci along with brothers Mr. Dalvin and DeVante Swing. After three platinum albums with Jodeci, K-Ci & JoJo branched off and sang hooks for 2Pac on his singles “How Do U Want It” and “Toss It Up” in 1996 before releasing their first album Love Always in 1997. The album featured the #1 hit “All My Life,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and was nominated for two Grammys. Their second album, It’s Real, was released in 1999 and hit platinum status in part due to the success of the single “Tell Me It’s Real,” which peaked at #2 on the Billboard chart. Their third album, X, was released in 2000 and featured the hit “Crazy,” which peaked at #3 on the Hot 100.

The duo released two more albums—2002’s Emotional and 2013’s My Brother’s Keeper—but they didn’t contain any top hits. In 2010, they starred in their own reality show on TVOne titled K-Ci & JoJo…Come Clean which dealt with their alcohol and relationship issues as they attempted a comeback. They reunited with Jodeci to release the album The Past, The Present, The Future in 2015.

more tracks from the album

LIFE - Music Inspired By the Motion Picture

From the albums

LIFE - Music Inspired By the Motion Picture (1999)
It’s Real (1999)

K-Ci & JoJo popular songs

LifeK-Ci & JoJo

K-Ci & JoJo

LIFE - Music Inspired By the Motion Picture