Verse one: masta ase      I'm surrounded, by psychopathic, little fellas   Ghetto dwellas   With ammunition in their cellas   And no remorse in their hearts   When the shit starts it don't end   Until somebody's gone with the wind   And I'm tryin' to keep a level head so instead   Of goin' out to die, I write rhymes on my bed   And little kids at the playground   Better stay down   Keep duckin'   Cause somebody else is buckin'   Don't seem to be no relief from the beef   Only nigga round my way without the gold teeth   And the gold chain, with the whole name on my neck   Jewelries your worse enemy without a tech   I'm tryin' to maintain, but it ain't workin'   Niggas keep lurkin'   Through the darkness I see the grim reaper smirkin'   Could it be that he's smilin' at me   Not tryin' to see fatal injury, injury   What must I do to avoid the pain   It seems insane, but I gotta maintain   I can feel the pressure on my brain   Feel the strain   But I gotta maintain      Chorus:   Workin' hard may help ya maintain   Be able to maintain   Be able to maintain   Workin' hard may help ya maintain   Be able to, be able to   Be able to maintain   Workin' hard may help ya maintain   Be able to maintain   Be able to maintain   Workin' hard may help ya maintain   Be able to, be able to   Be able to maintain      Verse two: lord digga      Back in the days I use to do a little dirt   Now that's comin' back around, and man it hurts   To see everbody gettin' on   But I got to wait cause of the things I done wrong   In my life, I regret it   But the man upstairs won't let me forget it   Everytime I think of doin' somethin' right   Here comes a dark tunnel with no signs of a light   I got to fight to keep my head above water   Dollars are real tight, I be askin' bums for quarters   I had enough of the quick cash   So I got to find a way to make the shit last   In the past I woulda just gave up   But there's more days to come, I know they bring ya good luck   So I'm a keep doin' what I'm doin'   Sippin' on the brew and catchin' wreck wit my crewin'   I feel stuck with a lot of aches and pains   And it's stressin' me, but I gotta maintain   (maintain, maintain)/ I gotta maintain   (maintain, maintain)/ I gotta maintain      Chorus      Verse three:      There's too much pressure and stress on my chest   Life's a mess   And I feel depressed   Seems so hard to survive and stay alive   Jump in my ride and I drive, doin' 95   With my system blastin'   I'm passin' cars in the right lane, light change I'm gasin'   No, destination   But I'm racin'   With my lights on, I got my brights on   Play the right song   And the sweat beeds my five   Drive past five-o and now they givin' chase   They'll probably want to know where the fire's at   Or where the drug buyers at   Fuck, my tire's flat   I guess I'm pullin' over, to take a loss   But it won't be the loss of my life from drivin' off course   God knows I need to be here to shap me son's brain   So I gotta maintain      Chorus      Chorus (fades out)