[Intro: Nicki Minaj & T-Pain]
(And we go by The Runners)
Yo, SB, haha (Go hard)
I think it's my time, you know why? (Go hard)
My tears have dried, and I know that no weapon formed against me will prosper (Go hard)
And I truly believe that my haters are my motivators
Young Money

[Chorus: Nicki Minaj]
If you could, you would get rid of me
Fuck you gon' do when a bitch try to go hard?

But I won't let you get to me (To me)
You should already figure I'ma go hard
If you was as real as me
You would never let another girl sit in your throne
I done put the chokehold
Now they screamin', "Nicki leave me alone!"
(Hard) I am (Hard), I'm still (Hard) the one to beat (Go hard)
Ain't in a rush for mainstream, I am the streets (Go hard)
I am getting it in until the end
I gotta go (Go), go (Go), go (Oh)
Go hard

[Verse 1: Nicki Minaj]
Gotta go, lemme get the car key
You don't want it with the Harajuku Barbie

Keep a marquee, everything sparkly (Man down)
Hit him on the walkie-talkie
Hit 'em, hit em, knock-knock, tell 'em let me in
My name ring bells, bitch, buzz me in (Bzzz)
And I only stop for pedestrians (Oh)
Or a real, real bad lesbian

Hit 'em with the MAC, hit 'em with the TEC-nine
Hit 'em with the Ruger, by the intersect sign
Hit 'em with a Tommy, so my niggas call me Pammy
And I always keep the jammy
In the trunk or in the Lamby
Put my whole borough on my back and I'm good
I don't wanna hear what you woulda, what you coulda
I represent all the girls that stood up (Uh)
Used to drink water with a little bit of sugar (Oh)
Now I'm in the gym with my squats and my sit-ups (One, two)
Doing the scissor-leg, on the mat, with my foot up
Young black pin-up, all of my bitches did up
Now I'm tellin' LA Reid to step his bid up
And I'm tellin' President Carter he picked a winner
Bitches like Nelly and Kelly got a dilemma (Uh)
These birds all fly south in the winter (Uh)
Fuck I look like? Chomping on a chicken dinner?
You can hate me, but why knock my hustle? (C'yeah)
I'ma be the queen, no matter how they shuffle
Skirts with the ruffle (Yeah), Louis on the duffle (Yeah)
I'm a bad bitch, no muzzle
Ooh, ooh, ooh (Hahahahahaha, no muzzle)
What you wanna do, do, do? (C'yeah)
Bitches is softer than Al Dente
Cut from a different kente
Tell 'em I'm the ninja, Weezy is my Sensei
So I call him Splinter, faster than a sprinter
Gimme my chopsticks, I'll have these rap bitches for dinner
This is for my gentlemen in button-ups, and khakis
This is for my nigga, Seven Up, in Castaki
This is for my niggas wheelie-in' them Kawasakis
Shout out to the Vackee's, saltfish ackees
Kisses to my fans unless I'm feelin', kinda cocky
Winter Wonderland is on my hand, it's kind of rocky
I am Nicki, Minaj or Lewinski
Pump's on the clutch, right hand, on the 6-speed
Write my own raps, I gotta go, I gotta get me (Gotta get me)
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh (Yeah), ohh
[Chorus: Nicki Minaj]
If you could, you would get rid of me
Fuck you gon' do when a bitch try to go hard?
But I won't let you get to me (To me)
You should already figure I'ma go hard
If you was as real as me
You would never let another girl sit in your throne
I done put the chokehold on
Now they screamin', "Nicki, leave me alone!"
(Hard) I am (Hard), I will (Hard), I gots to win (Go hard)
I'm still lookin' around for my competition (Go hard)
I am gettin' it in until the end
I gotta go (Go), go (Go), go (Oh)
Go hard

[Verse 2: Lil Wayne]
From slap-and-cry you start to die
So I must go harder
Gotta make these bitches know me
Just like Bobby know water

Better yet, like Bubba know shrimp
But he don't say shit when the gun on his lip

And I don't say shit, put the gun on my hip
So I don't say shit but the gun on my hip
If you don't wanna drown, don't come on my ship
Check out how them bitches just run on my dick
And me, I'm still nasty as a son of a bitch
I still got that bitch cum on my lips
If you ain't got money, don't come on my strip
And if you got money, don't come on my strip
I wear that metal, no Olympic
But I can still make you tumble and flip
You fuckin' with me if you fuckin' with Nic'
They ain't fuckin' with me, they ain't fuckin' with Nic'
Your girlfriend her decision is split
'Cause she wanna fuck me and she wanna fuck Nic
They wonder if he be fuckin' Nic, as long as she be fuckin' rich
That's why I keep my luggage 'cause I swear y'all a fuckin' trip
Young Money dungeon, bitch, my swagger just punchin' bitch
And I shoot like I'm from overseas, so call my gun "Gunović"
Weezy F Baby and the 'F' is for a bunch of shit
Red drank, blue pill, white dust, yes, I love my country, bitch
Hahaha, yeah, guitar
[Guitar Solo: Lil Wayne]

[Pre-Chorus: Nicki Minaj]
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, ohh

[Chorus: Nicki Minaj]
Wish you could get rid of Young Money
Fuck you gon' do when a bitch try to go hard?
But I won't let you get to me (To me)
You should already figure I'ma go hard
If you was as real as me
You would never let another girl sit in your throne
I done put the chokehold on
Now they screamin', "Nicki leave me alone"
(Hard) I am (Hard), I will (Hard), I gots to win (Go hard)
I'm still lookin' around for my competition (Go hard)
I am gettin' it in until the end
I gotta go (Go), go (Go), go (Oh)
Go hard

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About

Genius Annotation

On “Gotta Go Hard,” Nicki affirms her place in the rap industry and ensures that she isn’t going anywhere. Wayne joins in on the second verse where he raps about his usual topics—money, women, and sex.

The song is a remix of DJ Khaled’s September 2008 song “Go Hard,” featuring Kanye West and T-Pain.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Nicki Minaj say about "Gotta Go Hard"?
Genius Answer

To celebrate Lil Wayne’s 34th birthday, Nicki took to Instagram to post multiple lyric videos from their collaborations featured on her Beam Me Up Scotty mixtape. For this song in particular, Nicki used her caption to correct the lyrics in a YouTube video which were coincidentally, the lyrics transcribed here on Rap Genius as well, at the time.

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