[Intro]
Em C
Cash rules everything around me, C.R.E.A.M.
D G D
Get the money, dollar dollar bill, y'all
[Verse 1: Raekwon]
Em C D
I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side
G D
Stayin' alive was no jive
Em C
Had secondhands, Mom's bounced on old man
D G D
So then we moved to Shaolin land
Em C
A young youth, yo, rockin' the gold tooth, 'Lo goose
D G D
Only way I be gettin' the G off was drug loot
Em C
And let's start it like this, son
D
Rollin' with this one and that one
G D
Pullin' out gats for fun
Em C D
But it was just a dream for the teen who was a fiend
G D
Started smokin' woolas at 16
Em C D
And runnin' up in gates, doin' hits for high stakes
G D
Makin' my way on fire escapes
Em C
No question I would speed for cracks and weed
D G D
The combination made my eyes bleed
Em C D
No question I would flow off and try to get the dough all
G D
Stickin' up white boys in ball courts
Em C D
My life got no better, same damn 'Lo sweater
G D
Times is rough and tough like leather
Em C
Figured out I went the wrong route
D G D
So I got with a sick-ass clique and went all out
Em C
Catchin' keys from 'cross seas
D G D
Rollin' in MPV's, every week we made forty G's
Em C D
Yo, people, respect mine, or here go the TEC-9
G D
Ch-chick-POW! Move from the gate now!
[Hook: Method Man]
Em C
Cash rules everything around me
D
C.R.E.A.M., get the money
G D
Dollar dollar bill, y'all
Em C
Cash rules everything around me
D
C.R.E.A.M., get the money
G D
Dollar dollar bill, y'all
[Verse 2: Inspectah Deck]
Em C
It's been twenty-two long hard years, I'm still strugglin'
D G D Em
Survival got me buggin', but I'm alive on arrival
C
I peep at the shape of the streets
D G D
And stay awake to the ways of the world 'cause shit is deep
Em C
A man with a dream with plans to make cream
D G D Em
Which failed; I went to jail at the age of fifteen
Em C D
A young buck sellin' drugs and such, who never had much
G D
Tryin' to get a clutch at what I could not
Em C
The court played me short, now I face incarceration
D G D
Pacin', goin' upstate's my destination
Em C
Handcuffed in the back of a bus, forty of us
D G D
Life as a shorty shouldn't be so rough
Em C
But as the world turned I learned life is hell
D G D
Livin' in the world no different from a cell
Em C
Every day I escape from Jakes givin' chase
D G D
Sellin' base, smokin' bones in the staircase
Em C
Though I don't know why I chose to smoke sess
D G D
I guess that's the time when I'm not depressed
Em C
But I'm still depressed, and I ask: what's it worth?
D G D
Ready to give up so I seek the old Earth
Em C
Who explained workin' hard may help you maintain
D G D
To learn to overcome the heartaches and pain
Em C
We got stick-up kids, corrupt cops, and crack rocks
D G D
And stray shots, all on the block that stays hot
Em C
Leave it up to me while I be livin' proof
D G D
To kick the truth to the young black youth
Em C
But shorty's runnin' wild, smokin' sess, drinkin' beer
D G D
And ain't tryin' to hear what I'm kickin' in his ear
Em C D
Neglected for now, but yo, it gots to be accepted
G D
That what? That life is hectic
[Hook: Method Man]
Em C
Cash rules everything around me
D
C.R.E.A.M., get the money
G D
Dollar dollar bill, y'all
Em C
Cash rules everything around me
D
C.R.E.A.M., get the money
G D
Dollar dollar bill, y'all
[Outro]
G