The Roots — Tip the Scale

[Hook: Dice Raw] Homicide or suicide, heads or tails Some think life is a living hell Some live life just living well I live life tryna tip the scale my way My way My way My way [Verse 1: Black Thought] Yo, I’m always early, I never take off 'Cause I've got a job: rob Peter to pay Paul Now, I realize it’s the winner that takes all Do what I gotta do because I can’t take loss Picture me, living life as if I’m some animal That consumes its own dreams, like I’m a cannibal I won’t accept failure unless it’s mechanical But still, the alcohol mixed with the botanical I guess I be referred to the owners' manual full of loners Full of all the homeless throwaways and the stoners Soldiers of the streets with eighth-grade diplomas And the world awaiting their shoulders as a bonus Look, let he without sin live without sin Until then, I’ll be doing dirty jobs like swampmen Counting the faces of those that I might've been It’s like living that life, but I won’t live that life again [Hook: Dice Raw] Homicide or suicide, heads or tails Some think life is a living hell Some live life just living well I live life tryna tip the scale my way My way My way My way [Verse 2: Dice Raw] Lot of niggas go to prison—how many come out Malcolm X? I know I'm not; shit, can't even talk about the rest Famous last words: "You under arrest" Will I get popped tonight? It's anybody's guess I guess a nigga need to stay cunning I guess when the cops coming, need to start running I won't make the same mistakes from my last run-in You either done doing crime now, or you done in I got a brother on the run and one in Wrote me a letter—he said, "When you coming?" Shit, man, I thought the goal's to stay out Back against the wall, then shoot your way out Getting money's a style that never plays out 'Til you in a box, and your stash money’s paid out The scales of justice ain't equally weighed out Only two ways out: digging tunnels or digging graves out [Hook: Dice Raw] Homicide or suicide, heads or tails Some think life is a living hell Some live life just living well I live life tryna tip the scale my way My way My way My way [Instrumental Interlude] [Hook: Dice Raw] Homicide or suicide, heads or tails Some think life is a living hell Some live life just living well I live life tryna tip the scale my way My way My way