When I was a kid I rolled crates on a skate
and I ate everything mama put on my plate
Niggas walked around packin' BB guns
Knock on your door and run, just for fun
We went to the store and sold bottles for a nickel
? bag of Cheetohs and a pickle
You could get a soda for less than a quarter
And people used to speak even if they didn't know ya
We fought in the streets like little black soldiers
Shake hands and still be friends when it was over
We used to play tag or hide and go seek
Or hide and go get 'em if we had a few freaks
But now things change, kids ain't the same
The beg and sleg and try to blow our brains
I wish I could go back but wishin' is fo' suckas
Life was so simple then
(Refrain)
I remember (I remember)
Oh, when we used to hang, on the porch
Drinkin' brew and then the drive by (baby)
I remember (I remember)
When we used to play shoot 'em ups,
Up and down and the gang bang (baby)
Well I remember yester year like it was yesterday
Runnin' through the streets of Vanessa, PA
I'll take you through me childhood step by step
Daddy always told me to retain my rep, though
Daddy was a dog and he don't raise no punks
In the midst of the trees we learned how to pump
At the tender age of nine mama put us on a plane
Next stop (the land of the insane)
Compton, California where the killas grow
Forced to live a life that I didn't know.
Wore the wrong colors cause I didn't know the facts
Caught a, caught a case, caught a slug in my back
But I had time to quickly, suckas try and get me
But now the fools be a runnin' 'cause this is Drive-By Billy
Little black boy from the east, forced to be a killer
But I can still remember
I remember (I remember)
Oh, when we used to play dominos (dominos)
On the porch and then the drive by (baby)
I remember (I remember)
When we used to have army fights
In the smoke and then the gang bang (baby)
(Bridge)
Back when I was a kid
We used to have this game called paper ball
(Paper ball? What the fuck is that?)
Get a piece of paper, ball that mother fucker up,
Play with it
I got the alcoholic juice-ah to wake you up like a rooster
Back when I was young, I used to be a booster
Stealin' candy from the store
Go to school, I had the whole playground
Chewin on my gumma
You know what I'm sayin'? Playin' steel to the chest
And I was the best playin' kickball at recess
I used to play pop-gun, go the Bears and make fun of losers
We used to hop corners on the fresh beef cruisers
Playin' Galaga, Space Invaders, eatin' Reese's
I had all the women cause my tough skin has creases.
And its been that way since day one
Girls of the world ain't nothin' but fun
I used to watch Dr. J, come through with a touch
Remember New Zoo Review and Starsky and Hutch
I remember lunch time we used to rhyme out loud
Peace to the whop in the hip-hop crowd
I remember
I remember (I remember)
Oh, when we used to hang, on the porch
Drinkin' brew and then the drive by (baby)
I remember (I remember)
When we used to play shoot 'em ups,
Up and down and the gang bang (baby)
Oh now, now now
I know you do
I remember yesterday (oh I remember when we play)
I remember yesterday, ohhhh
I remember how, when we used to play (I remember)
I remember when we, I remember
(used to play dominos, all night long, dominos, all night long.)
I remember yesterday
Do you remember yesterday? (I remember yesterday)
