Verse 1 [talib]
we sell crack to our own, nigga,
i'm back in tha zone
my passionate poems
got the feds tapping my phone
it's like timothy mcveigh
they say i'm acting alone
i got a whole team that'll put a gat to yo dome
ta get by… just ta get by…
just to get by, just to get by
yo, this remix is hot,
we only dealing with the live hip-hop
yo get by, just lay back and rock (nigga)

verse 2 [jay-z]
just to get by,
nigga i sold coke
nigga i pushed lah
carried the 4 5
claimed i was ready to die
promised never to cry
held it all inside
reality was to much to take so i
kept my mind fried
slept for most of mine
soon as i closed my eyes
and i woke up behind
nigga … either… i… filled up these nines
to blow up, with rhymes, with this flow of mine
is like blow-up the lines of coke up
and you folks think that
hov' just wrote stuff to rhyme
naw, i'm a poster for what happens see your mind
doing 5 dollars worth of work just to get a dime
so, pardon, my, disposition
why? should i listen to a system that never listened to me
picture me working at mcdonald's
i'd rather put a mac on you
sorry miss jackson, but i'm packing

now this morning i woke up,
feeling brand new, and i jumped up
feeling my highs, and my lows,
in my soul, and my goals,
just to stop smokin' and stop drinkin'
but i've been thinking that i got my reasons
just ta get (by), just ta get(by)
just to get (by), just to get by
Now everybody through your hands in the sky and go
ba ba ba, ba ba bada, ba ba bada, ba ba bada, ba ba badahh
just to get by, just ta get by
just to get by,
put yo hands in the sky and go
ba ba ba, ba ba bada, ba ba bada, ba ba bada, ba ba badahh
(laidies and gentlemen you now rocking with the best)
just to get by, just ta get by
just to get by, just to get by.. (talib kweli)by.. by

verse 3 [talib]
we keep it gangsta' we say fo' shizzle, fo' sheezy
to save some time, of the violence,
on the tv, during the war
killing each other is easy
as pouring liquor for fallen nigga's
believe me its ghetto love, i've seen it all before
just to get by, my people we keep it fly
my people we get high,
filling cigars with the lah
nigga, c'mon, even jesus was stoned,
before receiving the throne
i say “rest in peace” and i mean it some more
Verse 4 [bust rhymes]
back in the day
we were used to doing tha shit
i can't called it all in the streets
we would hustle
and fiends would ask for it
yes, i was used to standing on corners
waiting for paper bags with
bundles of crack
hope the week was good
so i can get money back
just to get by, just ta get by
just to get by, just to get by
when i'm stressed i posses
the stuff that make me angry and bleed
with the frustration having me smoke new ports and weed
just to get by, just ta get by
just to get by, just to get by
those be the times when i try to rely on my niggas street mother fuckers
that reach out for the wife and i place a call to my mother
to get by, to get by (hey, yo ma pick up the phone i,i have to talk to you ma)
to get by, to get by
if you were fly, you couldn't be sentenced
fo' acting stupid and guessing that you
had to go study all your lessons
and bail you man out of the building
to get by

now this morning i woke up,
feeling brand new, and i jumped up
feeling my highs, and my lows,
in my soul, and my goals,
just to stop smokin' and stop drinkin'
but i've been thinking that i got my reasons
just ta get (get), just ta get (get)
just to get (get), just to get (get)
(repeat x2)
some people try to be fly
they fake and they lie
they snakes, see the hate in their eyes
look at the sky to survive
some people try to get by
fighting for a slice of the pie
trying to eat and be high
how you know you really alive
if you don't reach for the sky
your eyes, keep on the prize
what you seek you will find
who the realest nigga's
we let the people decide
we keepin' it live
brooklyn got the key to the ride
c'mon