[Ras Kass]
I been around the world once, had your fiancee twice
I ain't nothin' nice, but every lifestyle got a price
Kiss my momma on the cheek cause her love was deep
Like Keith Sweat, but the deeper the streets get

The deeper the beef get
Enough Fatal Attraction to boil your pet
Cause everybody wanna have it lavish
Now, courvoisier is my dossier overnight, inside
I write like six hundred thousand kilobytes
Yes I'm on one, European cars, Cuban cigars, rap stars
Glass ceilings to the inevitable cap peeling for sexual healing
I lack feeling, wrote it for black women like Terry Macmillan
Save a prayer for me, I was told no guts no glory
I shed a tear once in a while, too
But a soldier gots to do what he gots to do
I want stock in Fox, coughing with Rupert Murdoch, I thought you knew
It is what it is

Hook:
[Jazze Pha] Nowadays, that's the way it is
[Ras Kass] Why do we do what we do when we do what we must, that's
how it is, and how it is is kinda fucked up
[Jazze Pha] It's sad to say, but things just ain't the same no more
[Ras Kass] Why do we do what we do when we do what we lust, it is
what it is, and how it is is kinda fucked up

[Ras Kass]
If the pussy is free, then talk is cheap
Then again, it's probably cheaper to keep her
Back in the days, all a nigga needed was suede pumas and a beeper
Now they all expecting condos, briquettes and pet cheetahs
See ya when I see ya
And by then I know the motives, she bogus
I noticed her jocking the rims on the Lotus
I learned early to trust God when moms was like
[you wear all that Nike shit]
You need to swoosh your ass and get a job
My occupation be operation, more horsepower than Daytona
Cause I'm a Rider, like Winona
Being nice is a vice, the gift is naturally mine
That's like +Grand Verbalizer+ not knowing the time
See, my partners commit crimes serving federal bids
Confined to a six by nine regrettin the wrong shit he did
I swear, wishing we was still little kids
But we grown men now homey, it is what it is

Hook

[Ras Kass]
Hip hop ain't even fun
In these strange days, rappers is getting done
Like Jericho won
Within two months, two major artists got slumped
I whispered God rest the dead and let the Blaupunkt pump
Kept a part and a fade since about eleventh grade
Rock the Donna Karan shades
Cause I don't like to dream about getting paid
But I'm afraid I do
Trying to organize a team, willing to empty magazines
This supreme fiends for cream
We need Jesus like Mary Magdalene and Born Again Christians
Ain't a politician cause I already got your vote
True, I want your money but I ain't a preacher no
I don't even love the dough
But if you don't work you don't eat,
so I want all I can get before I go
I love what money can get
It's elementary evidently, the custom convertible Bentley tempt me
It is what it is

Hook x2

[Jazze Pha]
There are things that we can change
Some things remain the same
That's just the way it is
Way it goes, yeah
There are things that we can change
But most things gon' stay the same
It's the way it is
You better believe it, ooh yeah