Ay it's like, me and this ***** Eclipse
Been workin' on this **** hella hard for hella days
Y' know, Knahm sayin'? Been since like
'95, both graduated and ****
**** changed a grip for me this year
'95 was some ****, check it out

It was '95, the year of my graduation
I was in, great anticipation of my date of release
From this educational prison, moms made the decision
To throw me from the residence

It seems weed and hip hop had taken precedence
Over my responsibilities, but it was alright
Because that day to day ******** was killin' me
So willingly I left the home
And set out on my own

Shacked up with some crew Saga and Rhythm
Didn't have to give 'em any rent
So hella time was spent up late night, freestylin' gettin' high
Not knowin' how I would make it to school the next day

From the West side of L.A., I had to hit the 33
And now I hear them fools from Red Dots is out to murder me
So certainly stress built
Takin' bus to night school every day, coulda got my *** kilt

But I had to get my credits straight
Plus the bus ride gave me time to meditate
On how to set this **** straight
So late one night, I called up moms then we reached an agreement

Which only delayed, it didn't prevent what was bound to happen
She said she wasn't trippin' just as long as I got a gown and cap
Then came graduation day, the only ***** to walk the stage
With a zero point five four five GPA

I hand her the diploma, and she still have **** to say
And it's ***kin' off my vibe, and the album's on it's way
I couldn't prolong the day when Murs and the real world would collide
The year was nine five

The year was nine five, I thought I wouldn't survive
Livin' in the city where it's a day to day struggle to survive
The year was nine-five
Daily survival tactics in L.A.
Daily survival tactics in L.A.
Daily survival tactics in L.A.
Daily survival tactics in L.A.
Daily survival tactics in L.A.

I struggled my way in the summer and now the album's almost done
But now is when the crew starts to fall apart
One by one, we dis***embled, which sorta resembles my life
Fallin' apart, right before my eyes

So I fantasized about havin' a video, and bein' on tour
To keep my mind off my empty stomach, and sleepin' on the floor
Bein' that I'm broke, I'm stealin' groceries from the store
And now it seems every battle I have turns to beef

And me, broke with no heat
I'm lookin' over both shoulders whenever I hit the streets
And just when I thought I escaped defeat
I'm sittin' with my homey and we smokin' a beadie

When this cop see me, and he decides to proceed
A young black male with dreads, it gotta be weed
So he comes over with the usual, disrespect
But that's all I've come to expect

From a mother***ker with a badge and a God Complex
Next he's askin' questions, testin' my patience
Finds out I'm underage, now he's writin' a citation
Askin' me to stand up to be frisked
I'm like 'Man ***k this'

Then this ***** cop snatched me up from the back
I turned around, to counter the attack
But I'm surrounded by five cops who don't appreciate the reply
So it's me they hogtie, and throw on the asphalt

Steady talkin' ****, standin' over me like it's all my fault
And now I got a court case to face
And in the first place, I barely got enoughs to survive
So when the court date arrived

I damn sure don't got enough for a ***kin' bus ride
So they give me a warrant, failure to appear
The next week I'm at the pier with my crew
I seen this fool I battled a couple days back

Hadn't seen him in a few, I stepped to him
He's like, 'Dude we need a rematch
You see my ego's been scratched'
And when I tell him that **** ain't gon' happen

His ease partner went and opened up his trap
And tell me that the odds was uneven instead of leavin'
I turned around and put this mother***ker in his place
And at the same time, his homey all up in my ***** T.S. Face

So I'm think we 'bout to squab but then the cops mob
And break it up, now they feelin' like, they did they job
But here they come, back up the street hella deep
Talkin' **** like we wasn't gon' trip do I took the first hit

And now we squabbin' in the middle of the streets
The odds was 3-on-6, and we still held it down
Except for the one so called homey
Who stood there, held the radio and looked around

And it seems like forever that we fought
But it eventually, came to a halt
So then we hit the park, to discuss what happened
I wake up the next day, these fools is talkin' 'bout cappin' me?

Takin' my life, over a fight, nah that couldn't be right
Lost sight of where I'm livin', Los Angeles
Where fools ain't givin' a ***k, stuck in the same place
With decisions to make

Either I kill them, they kill me, or I make an escape
So I took the money that my step pops left me when he p***ed away
And moved up to the Bay, only to find out
*****z gon' have problems, wherever you stay

And it's been a couple of years
And some of these fools is still trippin' to this day
So I feel I can safely say that on this planet
There ain't no place like L.A.
(There ain't no place like L.A.)
Mid-City fool, *****

Heated, defeated, day after day
Daily survival tactics in L.A.