Like It Or Love It – English Lyrics

• By: Tinie Tempah, Wretch 32, J Cole

Lyrics & Translation

Discover the confident flow of UK and US hip-hop with 'Like It Or Love It.' This track offers a great opportunity to explore the nuances of British and American rap slang and delivery. The lyrical wordplay and cultural references from Tinie Tempah, Wretch 32, and J. Cole provide a rich context for language learners interested in contemporary hip-hop.

[English]

(Cole World Out in the UK)

(Aww yeah) [Tinie Tempah]

You fucking with the Knights of the Temple

Mental, how am I successful?

Niggas chose the pen, while I picked up the pencil

Grew up listening to So Solid and Essentials

Always round P’s like some lentils

Bitch I do you like a weight lifter and hold everything against you

Everything happens like it was meant too

I ain't tryna sound like a promoter

Bitch I’m tryna sound like Yoda when I say tonight is gonna be eventful

Black brer, black hat, black sack, black hat, black J’s

Uh, black ring, black snap back, matt black ring, black Audemar Piguet

Uh, black girl, black diamonds, everything black fam, blacker than Blade

Uh, lean’t back, bringing back to back, screaming Rest In Peace, say mate!

Heart goes out to her family my cabinet’s looking fancy

With Brit’s and Ivor Novello’s, I left a space for a Grammy

If it ain't Adele out in London, I’m with Pharrell in Miami

And fuck around and I go opposite of Mahatma Gandhi, my nigga uh [Chorus]

You ain't got enough bottles in your bucket

Bitch you ballin’ on a whole different budget

Like it or love it

Gotta go to drive through to get them nuggets

They gone lose it if they see us out in public

Like it or love it

True a girl that's badder than Latoya Letoya Luckett

And I told her we ain't fucking til she suck it

Like it or love it

(Aww yeah)

Like it or love it [Wretch 32 - Verse 2]

I’m saying like it or love it

I weren’t designed for a budget

I got emotional money

I can cry you a hundred

Wipe my eyes with a twenty

Wipe my ass with a fifty

But I get the same attention when I drive through the city

People sayin’ they worry that I’m gettin’ too flash

You know how hard it was to get on Jools fam?

They wanted me to flop so urban never comes back

When under pressure can you handle all that

So the same amount of ice that's in my rings in my drink

I be filling up my boat, still I pray I never sink

This the realest shit I wrote

Lately I’ve been on a binge

Rocking diamonds in a club can make you feel like a king

Aww yeah!

Ladies surrounding my table

They see my Ralph and they thinking that I’m stable

Wan’ see my house but I take ‘em to the same walls

Check in, check out, do you think I’m playing fool? [Chorus] [J. Cole]

Impossible, impossible

How many nigga don’ jock the flow

Young boy from Fayettenam, how you gon’ tell me not to go?

The south of France we out in Cannes and I ain't never been on no yacht before

I took the bitch, she went with me, we literally just rocked the boat

Nigga, lock the vault, sewn up, young Simba, grown up

Told y’all I was growing up, now I’m on ya’ll I’ma load up

You was hatin’ me, cops waiting patiently for me to fall gracefully

Know a couple yall couldn’t wait to see

You bitch niggas better own up

Phenomenal, tired of acting like y’all don’t know

Hoes fallin’ like domino

She aint fucking she gotta go

Am I wrong cause I got some dough and copped a couple finer things

G-Shock to Rolex, my, how the times have changed!

Life’s better now, might spend a thou’ for a bright sweater

Tell ‘em that my price went up now

Had the right set up, ain't no way I might let up now

Do you know how ill it feel to make a dyke get aroused

nigga [Chorus]

You ain't got enough bottles in your bucket

Bitch you ballin’ on a whole different budget

Like it or love it

Gotta go to drive through to get them nuggets

They gone lose it if they see us out in public

Like it or love it

True a girl that's badder than Latoya Letoya Luckett

And I told her we ain't fucking til she suck it

Like it or love it

Like it or love it

Fucking like you love it

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
knight /naɪt/ B2	noun - a man granted an honorary title of knighthood; a medieval soldier
temple /ˈtɛmpəl/ B1	noun - a building devoted to worship
successful /səkˈsɛs.fəl/ B2	adjective - having achieved desired aims or results
pen /pɛn/ A1	noun - a writing instrument that uses ink
pencil /ˈpɛnsəl/ A1	noun - a thin rod of graphite used for writing or drawing
diamond /ˈdaɪmənd/ B1	noun - a precious stone; a shape with four equal sides
budget /ˈbʌdʒɪt/ B1	noun - an estimate of income and expenditure verb - to allocate money for a particular purpose
love /lʌv/ A1	noun - deep affection or strong feeling of attachment verb - to feel deep affection for someone or something
emotional /ɪˈmoʊʃənl/ B2	adjective - relating to feelings or expressing them
attention /əˈtɛnʃən/ B1	noun - notice taken of something; focus of the mind
pressure /ˈprɛʃər/ B1	noun - continuous physical force exerted on or against an object
handle /ˈhændəl/ B1	verb - to manage, deal with, or control
flash /flæʃ/ B2	noun - a brief, sudden burst of light verb - to shine suddenly or briefly
city /ˈsɪti/ A1	noun - a large town or urban area
boat /boʊt/ A1	noun - a small vessel for traveling on water
sink /sɪŋk/ B1	verb - to go down below the surface of water or another liquid
binge /bɪndʒ/ B2	noun - an excessive indulgence in an activity, especially eating or drinking verb - to indulge in an activity to excess
club /klʌb/ A2	noun - an organization or venue where people meet for a shared interest
king /kɪŋ/ A2	noun - a male monarch; a ruler of a kingdom
stable /ˈsteɪbəl/ B2	adjective - not likely to change; firmly fixed

Key Grammar Structures

• Everything happens like it was meant too

  ➔ Simile with 'like'

  ➔ Uses "like" to create a simile comparing life events to destiny. Note: "meant too" is a misspelling of "meant to".

• I ain't tryna sound like a promoter

  ➔ Informal contractions

  ➔ "Ain't" = am not/is not; "tryna" = trying to. Common in casual speech but not formal writing.

• Tonight is gonna be eventful

  ➔ Future with 'gonna'

  ➔ "Gonna" = going to (informal future tense). Shows prediction about near future.

• I can cry you a hundred

  ➔ Dative construction

  ➔ Indirect object ("you") + direct object ("a hundred"). Means "I can cry to produce $100 for you".

• They gone lose it if they see us out in public

  ➔ Conditional + informal future

  ➔ "Gone" = gonna (informal future). First conditional structure: "if" + present simple → future consequence.

• I told her we ain't fucking til she suck it

  ➔ Negation + time clause

  ➔ "Ain't" for negation + "til" (until) introducing time condition. Note informal verb form "suck" instead of "sucks".

• How am I successful?

  ➔ Rhetorical question

  ➔ Question not seeking answer but emphasizing surprise at success. Structure: interrogative + subject + adjective.

• I be filling up my boat

  ➔ Habitual 'be'

  ➔ African American Vernacular English (AAVE) structure. "Be" indicates habitual/repeated action ("I regularly fill").