[Intro: Alicia Keys & John Legend]
Here's my ghetto story (Ooh, c'mon, c'mon, I remember this)
Been in Hell, through the fire
Gonna take it higher
Here's my survival story (Big up to Baby Cham)
So many reasons to sing this
Now we got the keys to the kingdom
[Verse 1: Cham]
I remember those days when Hell was my home
When me and mama bed was a big piece of foam
An mi never like bathe and mi hair never comb
When mama gone a work, me go street, go roam
I remember whеn Danny dem get me snow conе
And make him likkle bredda dem, kick up Jerome
I remember when we visit them wid pure big stone
An the boy Danny pop out something weh full chrome
I remember when we run, Fatta get him knee blown
And mi best friend Richie get two inna him dome
I remember saw the avenue turn inna war zone
And Mikey mother fly him out 'cause she get a loan
But Mikey go too far and him go turn Al Capone
Make whole heap a money and say mi, "Now I want"
Now a we can lock the city and that is well known
Yesterday, Mikey call me pon mi phone, mi say, Mikey
We got da ting dem, dem outta luck now
Mi squeeze seven and the whole a dem a duck now
Mi have whole heap of extra **** 'cause we no bruk now
Rah, rah, rah, rah
[Outro: Alicia Keys & John Legend]
We got the kingdom so you got to make way
We take it from the bottom to the top, baby
And now the whole community can live greatly
Rah, rah, rah, rah
I remember those days when we was dead broke (Uh)
And I could barely find a dollar for a token (Uh, uh)
[Interlude: John Legend & Alicia Keys]
Haha (Ayy)
"Ghetto Story", that's my first vibe
So, let's talk about records that
We were so proud to be a part of that people might not even know we were even on
Ooh, that's a good one
And I gotta take you back to 1998 (Word)
I was a student in college
And I had a friend who was
Who went to high school with Lauryn Hill
And she said, um
"I'm goin' to the studio, Lauryn's workin' on her first solo album
And I just want you to come meet her" (Seriously?)
And, uh (That was crazy)
I, I'm still a student, I'm still goin' to college like a regular kid
And then I go to the studio, and, um, my friend's like
"You know, why don't you play a couple songs for Lauryn?"
I played one of my original songs
Then I played a Stevie Wonder song, uh, "Love's In Need"
You know that song, I'm sure (Yeah, that's the joint)
And Lauryn was workin' on this song with, uh
Vada Nobles and some other folks in there
And, uh, they asked me to play piano on it
So when you're listening to track thirteen on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (That's him)
Here's John Legend (That's him right)