eighty seven west coast raised in the days when side street cyphers elicited amazement and battle raps meant just some friends in a basement and it was all love and no dreams to be famous see murder was the case we had it on tape side a sing along every time it go played and i used to want to be will smith shit i still want to be will smith and it goes like this i was 8 in the back room listening to dre straight rap about sassoon everybody had a boom box blasting bap boom looking for a phat tune something we could dance to had montell singing out this is how we do it tryna get the new jordan s when they was really new give a damn about money but we still rocked gold raise a toast to the days of old i said cheers mate how the beer taste bottle in the sky raise um high show that we re great oj and some seagram s gin and we gone take it back to where it begins raise um up yes yes y all and it don t stop i m from the time before music needed steep drops spitting heat rocks over a g funk beat i ve been cultivating music that be cultivating he he who must not be named snake tattoos like i rep that gang man your boys insane with a dumbass name cause the kid been frank cause he just wants change last name chang cause i m all about community this do it for the love style really ain t new to me in high school i rocked white shirts and chuck t s and khakis with only one crease that s how we got down way back when everything from mac 10 got play back then back before pac was a name in lore so raise a cup to the days of yore i said cheers mate how the beer taste bottle in the sky raise um high show that we re great oj and some seagram s gin and we gone take it back to where it begins raise um up  softmore year at the dance like shorty what s your name acting like i understand forty watters slang like peep my scraper it s all about the paper man cut the shit like i m swinging light sabers i used to write gang rap ain t that some shit i can t believe that i m even saying that instead of having rights read i read books cause there ain t no such thing as halfway crooks we used to act so cool after school bumping old kanye in an above ground pool i could live here forever feel me grouch singing i m just a simple man really and that was just another day perfect in every way not much to say who would ve thought that these days won t last raise a toast to the days long past i said cheers mate how the beer taste bottle in the sky raise um high show that we re great oj and some seagram s gin and we gone take it back to where it begins raise um up 1