Cheers Mate

'87 West Coast raised in the days when
Side street cyphers elicited amazement
And battle rap meant just your friends in the basement
And it was all love, ain't no dream to be famous
See murder was a case, had it on tape
Side A, sing along every time it got played
And I used to wanna be Will Smith

I still wanna be Will Smith
And it goes like this
I was eight in the bathroom
Listening to Dre straight rap about Sassoon
Everybody had a boombox blasting Bad Boom

Looking for a fat tune, something we could dance to
Had Montell singing out, "This is how we do it"

Get the new Jordans when they was really new
And give a damn about money but we still rock gold
Let's raise a toast to the days of old

I said cheers mate, how the beer taste?
Bottle in the sky, raise 'em high, show that we're great
OJ and some Seagram's gin
And we gon' take it back to where it begins
Raise 'em up
I said cheers mate, how the beer taste?
Bottle in the sky, raise 'em high, show that we're great
OJ and some Seagram's gin
And we gon' take it back to where it begins

And yes, yes y'all, and it don't stop
I'm from the time before music needed steep drops
Spitting heat rocks over a G-Funk beat
I've been cultivating music that be captivating he
He who should not be named
Snake tattoos like I rep that gang
Man your boy's insane with a dumbass name
But the kid's been frank 'cause he just wants change

Last name Chang 'cause I'm all about community
The do it for the love style really ain't new to me
In high school I rocked white shirts, Chuck T's
And khakis with only one crease
That's how we got down way back when
Everything from Mack 10 got play back then

Back before Pac was a name in lore
So raise a cup to the days of yore

I said cheers mate, how the beer taste?
Bottle in the sky, raise 'em high, show that we're great
OJ and some Seagram's gin
And we gon' take it back to where it begins
Raise 'em up
I said cheers mate, how the beer taste?
Bottle in the sky, raise 'em high, show that we're great
OJ and some Seagram's gin
And we gon' take it back to where it begins

Sophomore year at the dance like, "Shawty what's your name?"

Acting like I understand 40 water slang like
Peep my scraper, it's all about the paper
Man cut the shit like I'm swinging lightsabers
I used to write gang rap, ain't that some shit?
I can't believe that I'm even saying that
Instead of having rights read, I read books
'Cause there ain't no such thing as halfway crooks
We used to act so cool after school
Bumping old Kanye in an above ground pool
And I could live here forever, feel me?

Grouch saying, "I'm just a simple man really" and
That was just another day
Perfect in every way, not much to say

Who would've thought that these days won't last?
So let's raise a toast to the days long past

I said cheers mate, how the beer taste?
Bottle in the sky, raise 'em high, show that we're great
OJ and some Seagram's gin
And we gon' take it back to where it begins
Raise 'em up
I said cheers mate, how the beer taste?
Bottle in the sky, raise 'em high, show that we're great
OJ and some Seagram's gin
And we gon' take it back to where it begins