(In the ghetto)
Didn't know what my life would be
(In the ghetto)
I was dumb and o, so lazy
(In the ghetto)
Something had a spell on me
(In the ghetto)

You all know what I'm talkin' 'bout
(Talkin' 'bout ghetto life, talkin' 'bout ghetto life)
You all know what I'm singin' 'bout
(Talkin' 'bout ghetto life)
Ghetto life
(Talkin' 'bout ghetto life)

(In the ghetto)
Sure we be takin' them chances while we search for the answers
We be smokin' them cancer sticks, police provokin' muhthafuckers
We dancin' and we be dodgin' them bullets they be poppin' off at us, shit
But yet we always romance the street and fall in love with the hood

'Til somebody come blast the heat, always up to no good
So all of my fam could eat, see in the hood we hungry
Hey, nigga, we playin' for keeps, my soldiers on the block get on it
It be good if you flaunt it, we will take if we want it
See, niggaz, from the ghetto got a different state of mind

With a different kind of hustle and we iller with the grind
And develop our muscle 'til we sicker with the shine in the struggle
Thus our money come quicker doin' crime
I see the way we rep the hood, gotta love me, you can take me out
The ghetto, but you can't take it from me, gotta love it

(Talkin 'bout ghetto life)
Ghetto life
(Talkin' 'bout ghetto life)
You all know what I'm singin' 'bout
(Talkin' 'bout ghetto life)
Ghetto life
(Talkin' 'bout ghetto life)

(In the ghetto)
That's where we get into that street, shit
Hustle hard, try to get money quick
(In the ghetto)
That's where I got my name from
I learned to get money and I got all my game from
(In the ghetto)

That's where you eat with a bunch of the wolves
And get to hustlin' as hard as you could
(In the ghetto)
Until your cake stackin' shit'll get good
Throw a block party for the whole hood
(In the ghetto)

With them burn out cellys, talk crazy, sell drugs in front of Pancho Deli
Crack head chicks still smuggle babies in they belly
And them piss in elevators 'til the lobby all smelly
(In the ghetto)

That's where I keep my ratchets
Get my instincts and survival tactics
Ain't nuttin' like the hood nigga, I don't care
You survivin' in the ghetto, you can make it anywhere
Gotta love it

(Talkin 'bout ghetto life)
Ghetto life
(Talkin' 'bout ghetto life)
You all know what I'm singin' 'bout
(Talkin' 'bout ghetto life)
Ghetto life
(Talkin' 'bout ghetto life)

To my east coast niggaz, rep your ghetto
West coast niggaz, rep your ghetto
Midwest niggaz, rep your ghetto
Down south niggaz, rep your ghetto

To my east coast niggaz, rep your ghetto
West coast niggaz, rep your ghetto
Midwest niggaz, rep your ghetto
To my dirty south niggaz, rep your ghetto

(In the ghetto)
Even though they act rude, you'll always find a good chick
To hold a brick for they dude, behind the bullshit
Me and my clique on the move, we honor the code of the street
And live by the rules Is where, all of the hood's at
(In the ghetto)

Find the most crooks and they sell the most drugs at
Where you find beautiful women and rugrats
And some of the most powerful people, I love that, come on

(Talkin' 'bout ghetto life)
You all know, what I'm talkin' 'bout
(Talkin 'bout ghetto life, talkin' 'bout ghetto life)
You all know what I'm singin' 'bout
(Talkin' 'bout ghetto life)
Ghetto life
(Talkin' 'bout ghetto life, in the ghetto)

Never mind who you thought I was
I'm Rick James, bitch
Cocaine is a hell of a drug