[Intro ] 808 knock, lights low, bass breathe slow Nick T in the cut, yeah the story gon' show [Verse 1] life what is life life is a game I came in this sick sadistic world in 1991 and nick t is the name little did I know what I had plan for me at 4 years on my crack head mom and dad didn't want me so foster care is where I was placed and that's when it all began riverside California is where I'm from in and out of group homes fighting slanging iron 8 years old in elementary I found myself choking out a punk kid for looking at me sideways I was taught only the strong survive so I did what I had to do living the good life and at first 15 I went to prison gone for 5 long years thats when I changed and never was the same the first time I had permanently put someone to sleep you know what that feels like having to take someone's last breathe away from them as they lay there in there own puddle of blood lifeless but he got what was comming to him thats when my life had changed forever 5 years later I was out moved to Alabama to meet my Crack head father who died 1 week later then next thing I knew I found myself in Alabama prison [Pre-Chorus ] Cell cinder taste, iron singing in my jaw Riverside heat, county porch light saw [Chorus ] 808 knock, Nick T don't fold Life ain't a game, I take what's owed 808 knock, Nick T don't fold Life ain't a game, I take what's owed [Verse 2] Cold cement, three AM, breath fog on the glass Street lessons carved in scars, futures cut fast Foster floors, cold doors, no chores — closed doors that last Crack-scented memories, daddy ghost in the past Fifteen and a number, iron clink, eyes go numb Five years of midnight sermons where the lost boys come I learned the weight of silence, learned to carry a gun But I also learned the cost when a life is gone Alabama move, one-week goodbye, coffin close Returned to county lines where the same cold wind blows I survived by muscle, by hustle, by frost-bite throes Now I stand on bass and grit, watch the 808 glow [Pre-Chorus ] Iron taste, cell cinder, mouth full of dust Riverside nights, cracked light, learn to trust or bust [Chorus ] 808 knock, Nick T don't fold Life ain't a game, I take what's owed 808 knock, Nick T don't fold Life ain't a game, I take what's owed [Bridge - sparse 808 breakdown] (Spoken, half-time over sub) They taught me strong or die — I chose survive I seen blood, I seen loss, I swallowed the night Ad-libs: uh, yeah, cold, ride — [Bridge - production cue] Sparse 808, sub wobble, let the hi-hats breathe Distorted riser, then shut it down: empty, seethe [Verse 3 - sharpened imagery] County porch light flickers like a warning sign Concrete remembers the weight of every line Blood dried on pavement, iron tasted like brine Riverside heat, summer smoke, the sirens rhyme I keep receipts of the nights that built this spine Every scar a ledger, every loss a sign I ain't asking for mercy — I carved my design Now the 808 talks, and the streets learn to align [Chorus