[Fat Joe]
Yeah
This is goin out..

to all the live mother$#&@ers, knowhatI'msayin?
All the real ^!$$%z
Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens

California
LaBella Puerto Rico, wherever the $#&@ you from
KnowhatI'msayin? Yeah


This story takes place, back in the South Bronx
where at the age of 14 I was already knockin off punks (yeah!)

And suckers were scared to death -- every time I walked by
I hear them ^!$$%z take their last breath (ahhh..)
See I just didn't give a $#&@ - and if you had a C-skin

a leather bomber, you was gettin stuck (word!)
That was the way it was
One day I went to visit my aunt, and stuck up my cuz

See %#@! was $#&@ed up back then
No matter what the $#&@ I did I never had no ends
And my moms was on walfare

Aiyyo I knew I had a father, but the ^!$$% was never there
So what the $#&@ was I to do
I'm sick and tired of bein the bummiest ^!$$% out the crew

I gotta get mine, I gotta get cash
I see an old man, I'm gonna rob him with the quick-fast
Give me your mother$#&@in loot, papi

I'm gonna get paid, and can't a damn thing stop me
See, I'm tired of this poor %#@!
And who the cops? Well they can suck my mother$#&@in dick

Cause all them ^!$$%z ever do is harass
That's why I get glad when I hear somebody smoked that $$# [gunshot]
Just to let ya know how I feel

Word em up, the $#&@in %#@! is real
Hey yo, it's real


[Chorus: cuts "Down on the reel to reel"]

Aiyyo the %#@! is real

Aiyyo it's real
Word up, the %#@! is real


[Fat Joe]
Now I'm sixteen and there's a brand new scene
I'm makin mad loot, gettin paid off the dope fiends (word)

Keep the %#@! in check, in order
and my main man Tone was $#&@in everybody else's daughter
See everybody knew in town

that Joe and Tone had %#@! locked down
And a ^!$$% wouldn't test me
It seems like every other day the $#&@in cops arrest me (yea!)

But the %#@! will never stick
I make one phone call and be out like quick
Cause Uncle Dan had my back

And now ^!$$%z gettin jealous cause they know I'm livin fat
Talkin %#@! around the way and on the block
But never in my face, cause they knew I packed a glock

And my crew is mad deep
A bunch of crazy Puerto Ricans, so aiyyo don't sleep (word!)
And all you (*##$ $$# ^!$$%z know the deal

Check it out, the $#&@in %#@! is real
Hey yo, it's real


[Chorus: cuts "Down on the reel to reel"]

Aiyyo it's real

The $#&@in %#@! is real
Yeah.. aiyyo it's real


[Fat Joe]
Check it out
Let me let ya know why I made this song (why?)

Brothers can't deal with the real, word is bond
I'm sick and tired of these fake $$# ^!$$%z
sayin that they catchin bodies when they never pulled a trigga

I know your style, I've seen it before
You wear an army suit, now you think you're hardcore
Drinkin on your 40's, smokin on your blunts
Can't afford a chain so you wear gold fronts, yeah
You're fakin the funk, kid

And you'll be gettin it up the $$# if you ever did a $#&@in bid
It's time to separate the real from the phony
The name is Fat Joe, punk, act like you know me
I come equipped with the ruff %#@!
Nowadays I can't believe the bull rappers come up with

And all ya (*##$-ass ^!$$%z know the deal
Check it out, the $#&@in %#@! is real
Hey yo, it's real

[Chorus: cuts "Down on the reel to reel"]


Aiyyo the %#@! is real
Aiyyo it's real
The $#&@in %#@! is real


[Fat Joe]
Word up!
I wanna say peace to my peeps, The Beatnuts
Messengers of Funk, Strickly Roots
My man Funk Flex, Zulu Nation
Jazzy J in the house

Diamond D, the whole Diggin' in the Crates crew
And rest in peace to my man Tony Montana
Aiyyo, I'm out, word is bond
The %#@! is real

[cuts "Down on the reel to reel"]


Aiyyo