[Ma$e talking]
I dont regret nothin that ive ever done
at this point i dont owe nobody an explanation

[Ma$e]
Man they love you when you up
kick you when you down
look around vh1 man where are they now
life is amusin nobody like to see you cruisin
but everybody like to see you losin
so i stop despisin on top a lies
im livin prophet side i'll be ostracized
one day i lost my Rhodium the day i hit the podium
now im back on top
salty like sodium
a gift to this world man
rappin with a ribbon
whyy do you look for a dead among the livin
some thought i was crazy
some thought i was missin
some said i was lazy
some said i was different
i was so loaded
that everybody flowed it but once i got the notice
then i got focused
and then i saw they motive so everybody voted
so i did the way i wrote it and lived it the way i quote it
c'mon

[Chorus]
Gotta Survive in this life thats been given to me
when it seems like the world keeps scratchin' on me
when im down i get by just keep it real,
Gotta survive, Gotta survive,
Gotta survive in this life thas been given to me
so i try and i try to be all i can be
when it seems like the world keeps scratchin' on me,
Gotta survive, Gotta survive

[Ma$e]
Now people on the block try to tell me what im not
pull up in a bot now im all a sudden hot
now they wanna stop just to look at what i got
thought they was my homie left me out to rot
so i had to make it on my own
take it on my own
i wanted out the hood i had to 'scape it on my own
believe me now its easy now cuz everybody seen me now
and im on tv now
but it startd out with no budget
then i took it round the world and the folks love it
in the beginnin mangs my life was so rugged
but now i shine like a gold nugget cuz i made the most of it
i know how you feelin man i was weary
some days I used to sit there my eyes all teary
thinkin to myself do anybody hear me now i know,
u makin a dolla's not a theory
c'mon

[Chorus]
Gotta Survive in this life thats been given to me
when it seems like the world keeps scratchin' on me
when I'm down I get by just keep it real,
Gotta survive, Gotta survive,
Gotta survive in this life thas been given to me
so I try and I try to be all I can be
when it seems like the world keeps scratchin on me,
Gotta survive, Gotta survive

[Ma$e]
I've been laughed at
talked about
ridiculed
but M Dot Betha is still not a bitter dude
and you know its no coincident
that me and you is not so intimate
I cant fake
I dont shake
I dont break
I dont lose i dont use i dont bruise
I never lack and im never goin back
I'm nuthin you ever saw tho
I'm tellin you im immortal

[Chorus]
Gotta Survive in this life thats been given to me
when it seems like the world keeps scratchin on me
when im down i get by just keep it real,
Gotta survive, Gotta survive,
Gotta survive in this life thas been givn to me
so i try and i try to be all i can be
when it seems like the world keeps scratchin on me,
Gotta survive, Gotta survive

Gotta, Gotta survive,
keep your head held high
Gotta, Gotta survive,
keep your head to the sky,
Gotta, Gottasurvive,
we can make it if we try,
Gotta, Gotta survive,
gotta survive
gotta survive

[Ma$e talking w/ chorus in background repeatin twice]
Yeah...
you know theres nothin this world
that could seperate me
from what I believe
from what I achieve
all of this is because of him
and im tellin you now, as much as ya'll dont wanna hear this
I could do nothin by myself
it's all through him. it's all through him
so all around the world
you dont even know success
until you know him
and him is Jesus