ZAYN
YELLOW METAL (Cathartic)
[Part I]

[Verse 1]
Dark matter like paint splatters, they fit better
The old saying, the way it goes
"Better the devil you do than you don't know"
I hit pedals and switch levels, my heart: metal
I can't settle, I'm part trouble, and not subtle
I fuck good so fuck cuddles, burst bubbles
The dust levels at new highs
I downed doubles and got baked till I felt high
My face puzzled, felt muddled
They're far strung and your flow's wooden
The thought might but the fit wouldn't, a fortnight
And I thought right, it's all bark and therе's no bite
I'm Tony Stark, still embarking on a dream
Took a bit of timе to take darkness from the team
Seen what I've seen, heartless on the sleeve
Tried to burn my wings, so I put them in a piece on my chest
At peace, no rest
Flipped this on its head
Ripped the scripture up now, flip it don't intend
Slipping shit again
Fakers all around me, how they living in pretense
Fake friends, won't make amends
There's no need, these mean queens control the scenes
Attention seekers, their span is weak and it's spamming news
What the family need and the planet bleeds the damaged trees
It's never leaving till we ascend
So fuck the fence
And till they stop killing coloureds
It's fuck the feds
You must be off it, I mean it
You know you hate
Never get what you judging
I used to dread growing my beard too long
Never felt I belonged
But it's been long, like a minute
I ain't looking to no mans for lyrics
They're feeling timid
I'm telling them who they mimic
While healing them like a clinic
Confused why they get no women
Still, we're just fucking girls
Lost in the wrong world - Jurassic
Now to this vermin kicking the game, I'm serving
These losers are never learning
My fire's forever burning
Adding it to my fuel
Seems like I'm always focused on never becoming you
These locals that rob us, feeling
This slaughter is for a reason
I'm seeing my new beginnings, watch out this loser's winning
In waters too deep to swim in
Like combat I see me killing, I'm all that without a limit
Flawless and feeling lawless
They're prisoner to the gimmicks
My vision is set to summit
I'm watching you bitches plummet
No match enough for my cunning
You rappers are feeling done in
Switching your genre, running
Runnin' your jaw, stuntin'
Pulling at straws, something
I think you're a poor effort, definite
Tone-deaf and an attitude shitty separate
Living, I'm in my element, guarding it like a Sentinel
Never lose me to fentanyl, scared when I take a Benadryl
Keeping it green, in general
Think that you remain irrelevant
Look at yourself with reverence, hoping to always elevate
Celibate of these thoughts, killin' themselves with sedatives
In comparison to Eminem, you're feeling feminine
And politically correct, still dropping on my dick
And I never gave a fuck about what they say about my shit
I've been moving things in my mind like it's this mountain dew
Memories made me wonder if one day amounts you
What's the purpose that you do this
What you hopin' that they learn?
I'd like to say I'm done with this gettin' up on my nerve
I'm looking at my life, saying what do I deserve
It's hard to say I know when I'm walking through the dirt
Talking or do nothing, I can see for what it's worth
I'm tired of feeling hurt and I've tried it and nothing works
I'm racking up excuses while I'm slacking off of work
Shit chatting is the usual while talking with this clerk
I beg you don't include me, I might write it on my shirt
So that every time they see me
That they always know it's worth
Life is potent, did some fuck shit till they took notice
Weren't no hocus pocus - it was hard work that got me heard
So I put in the graft like Google Maps
Got the whole Earth
Writing rhymes into my doormat
Taking over like the Romans
Rolling dirt up on miles like the [?]
Rain exploding like [?]'s hematoma
Don't need to see a slammer to know I don't want to go
Man, I'm the showman
I'm just focused on the doorman
Leave the grill to George Foreman
What kills it [?] like I got my own insurance
Show myself up here while I boxed it in a frame
If we're about to talk greatness, I'm beyond great
You know you have to say my name like Beyoncé
[Outro]
(Say my, say my name)
(Say my, say my, say my name)

[Part II]

[Verse 1]
Dumb, just a bum with a cigarette
Sun comin' up, all my thoughts on the Internet
Feeling deep, I'm just bored with the silhouette
Single sec, get fucked up for the thrill of it
Kill a streak playing Pac Man
Like I came from the Philippines
Vanilla beans, still a thing
For the thrill of seen
Facility, there's a beam
You may fall, leave it well alone
Ain't moving, stood still on a Peleton
Telephone, and it's always on the dial tone
It's been a while since I've smiled at a milestone
Seen a big pile in my mind, stone
Me against the world on my Jack Jones
Like I'm John Jones with the bitches in the condor
Far from John Doe
In the [?] like I'm Johnny Bravo
Got bravado with your small dick
Sittin' in [?]
Stealin' Five Gum 'cause that last hit
Was that good shit, was that stained lip
You can never take my shit
Come and get me if you bailiffs
On the top floor, cloud 9, fadin'
Never bailing, felt amazing
Inhaling, till my lungs two guns blazing
Overcome all the stunts that I pulled
A suit of just skin and then woah
This life it don't give you no armour
A lot of meself that can harm ya'
I swear on what's good, that I'm here 'til they take me
I pray that I'm wrinkled, at least over eighty
Started movin' like a ruler
Damn [?], gold bars from the jeweller
Bring the songs to the beach in the hope of findin' tuna
[?]
[?]
Fucking trap, I'm killin' rappers tumors
(I wish it was a rumor)
[Verse 2]
Grab a bat, lose my rag
Couple things got me mad
Couple people got me wrong and now I'm changing up the swag
Coming in and stealing it, I might take the whole bag
Feeling undefeated, I'ma beast with a reason
I'ma lead the whole pack
Fearless like I'm Caesar, I'm just waiting for a chance
To fill it up with diesel, and all I've been achieving
Clocking miles in this region
Moving like a legion
Promise that I made to myself, an allegiance
Do you still believe I'm a fool for ever leaving?
Staring at the ceiling, can never put a cap on achieving
I'm just here for the rap, then I'm leaving

[Verse 3]
I've had about enough of being my own enemy
It's time I grew up, a long way from seventeen
Always went against the grain, struggles in my life
Got some things to say when I stand up on a mic
I ain't dropping this for fame, I need this time like therapy
It's just to keep me sane
The truth is you're my medicine, can't put that on your plate
Speeding into everything, 'bout time I fixed the brakes
Don't say I can't communicate
You know I conversate with you in several different ways
And I know you know it's reverence, I'm looking at your face
Can't justify mistakes, like every man that made them, seems I ain't the one to blame
Lying to myself, only had so much to gain
So now I'm switching up the play
See if that affects the place I'm at and lost to this
I ain't going with the usual so they looking at me strange
Confused, and I can feel it all
I'm here to make the change
It's cold at 3 A.M. outside, I'm walking with the dog
Thanking god that you don't talk at all, my mind is switching off
Driving time to find myself, 'cause I've been getting lost
Lived a selfish life and said that I can't give a toss
Lessons that I've learned I've tried teachin' to myself
What I've learnt from certain people is that they're better than myself
So I surround myself with real ones, and you feel the plastic melt
Like burning toy soldiers that used to go up on the shelf
Recycled ideas, conveying on the belt
Mind stuck in the circus, always hurting how we felt
Embarrassed that we dreamt of bigger things, with this relent
And letting go with notions till we feel the means cement
Tired of only hoping, we feel like broken men
'Cause the gravity is weight, and it's kept us to the ground
See the only people speaking, ones with favours in their mouths
[Verse 4]
Gun killer, rhyme-zilla, no fillers like Godzilla
Eating clouds 'cause my smoke's thicker
Throat liqueur, my dope sicker
Bringing people they hope like I'm the pork slicker
I hope you getting the point because I won't bicker
I thought my city was shit because I want bigger
Like my zipper couldn't zip up
Fed up with the lip
[?], my love is fickle
Constitual age has a primitive face
I see demise for your limited ways
Left it to simmer, similar ways
A straight pillar with fake glimmer in their heads
Feeling trapped, this industry is a cage

[Part III]

[Verse 1]
Nobody's speaking the truth
I'm offended by the State
Look at the state of the news
Undecided the argument
Reciting my views while they're inciting the hate
I'm feeling pressured to choose
Standing here as one man
How can I do half when you're half the person I am
If it wasn't in your life, you didn't choose it
It's the funny thing about music
It's the pain and beauty of it
Don't give a fuck what my suit is, it looks good so I wear it
Better than the shit that people's wearing
Changing the whole narrative for these basics, it's scary
See, I've been facing the racists from back when I were a kiddie
Growin' up in 93', living in Bradford City
They kicked me out of the schools
Said I had a problem with hittin' the kids that would call me paki
Still sittin' in classroom chillin'
I'm angry now that I'm older 'cause I see they treat us different
Got me thinking I'm the problem 'cause they never dealt with these issues

[Verse 2]
Twenty years later, I'm still in the same boat
Tryna treat me like my grandpa, say I came up off the boat
Came to tell you what I stand for, man I think this shit's a joke
How can I be civil when they've got me by the throat
Pushing my feelings down, you ain't got it like them
"Boy your skin is so light"
Okay motherfucker, take my name up on a flight
And try to convince immigration that your bloodline's half white
I don't know how that's acceptable
When life is more susceptible to perception, be the death of them
I've been looking at the sky saying where's that day of reckoning?
You had your prophets right when they said that you would speak to them
I needed justice in this life, and I will trust that it's my fight
'Cause when I'm writing it feel right to have them focused on the facts again
Focused on the rap again, hoping for the change
Gonna put this on the map again

[Verse 3]
Writin' in all caps again
The pain, it goes through me so I write the letter
All the shit that could have broke me, but made me better
[?]
I'm at home with a pain in my soul
Yeah, 'cause that home ain't it
'Cause you know I been too real to contest it
My time was invested
Now I look upon the industry, I see it infested
Looking like kids who would grab up a Nesquik
My name ain't on the list unless they label it "ethnic"
I ain't never gave a fuck about these jokers and jesters
Ain't no answers for those things, so just save us the questions
Man all out of of violence, 'cause my silence is deafening
Your opinion stinks, somebody get 'em a breath mint
Start to understand why they think that I'm threatening
I move in certain ways, couldn't slow me with ketamine
Now they all wanna hear me, got a table at Letterman
Direction changed, like I changed up the lettering
Don't believe the age, because I move like a veteran
Raised on the benefit for whose benefit?
They'll never learn shit, man, if the shoe fits
[?]
No one's gunna know, before you open your mouth
And to be honest, it's insulting
Offensive to my wounds they're rubbin' salt in
Tryna ask me questions that they know I never answer
I'd rather sit online and reply to the fan art
Fuck a sports car, coming through in a raptor
Tell you what I like, farm life on the tractor
Fake life, 'sup online, suck a fat one
You don't wanna buy into that, none of that, son
Sitting in the garden, '98 in the Datsun
Seen some hot summers, but I still remember that sun

[Part IV]

[Verse 1]
I make millions off of my pain
'Cause I know a few millions still living that way
Dealing with the hurt, that they should know they don't deserve
It hit deep, 'cause I hit the nerve
Only way that the sheep learn with the street
Firm in my ways, I don't want to change
Everything should stay the same
Who you trying to convince, you understand?
Can't maintain, let the lights dim
Some' get the Chow Mein, flex, get the tape right
Up at night, while these men be mice to my face be nice
I ain't trying to be a gangster, it ruins my vibe
Rather stay lowkey and on my phone, B
Never need the trophy or the showpiece
Never show peace in the North Face fleece
Showcase this like a goat, might flip
'Cause the sign might fit to the start, I'm sick

[Verse 2]
Now you see where I come from
The raw dump
Only achievement in life is the Jordans
Committing petty crimes out of boredom
Can't afford em', so I stole it
See the Rolex on door, let go
It don't make sense just to get yourself a job
It's a poor man's game, trying to sit and pray to God
He ain't sorting all your problems, got to sort them out yourself
Used to tell us fables, now I'm writing them myself
'Cause we roar like animals, we all just need some help
Cathartic, I'm an artist, trying to put my heart in
Felt double crossed like Leo in Departed
For the knowledge, I'm not charging, see I've got it all free
But my hunger kept me starving like I'm fiending for the feed
I just need a reason, see me bleeding for my Creed
Tricky with the words like I keep them up my sleeve
Picking where I fit, I see me sitting with the queen
I ain't doing it unless you're used to saying please
Let me flow a bit, before I sting 'em with the bees
They're tryna kill us with disease

[Verse 3]
Why does it feel like they have the same notebook
And the same four looks
Like the rain won't touch on their face, so sus when they lie
Don't, trust not a minor
Plus, no fuss
I just move through the game like must
Something in my way, I adjust
'Til I take free form, like the shape
Freefall, 'til I bust
Remember '21, brother gave no fucks
Tryna project when they gave them looks
In the projects, and the object's us
In my own way, never gave me love
Should have never started this, broken-hearted kid
Jarred of the feelings, 'til I stole the lick
Don't want to relish in the pain, but I can't resist

[Outro]
I like the way we feel
I like the way, I like the way

[Part V]
[Intro, needs lyrics]

[Verse 1]
Make no mistake I'm [?]
I ain't tryna be a leader, been selling out since Jesus
All my rhymes are for the readers, between the lines
Like Father time, I fuck with Mother Nature
That's what they get, the connotations
Tell 'em I lived a life
And then I lived a life adjacent like it's [?] and played it patient
Alone on my own spaceship, always tryna find greatness
Still defying lines, but I'm fighting in my prime
Shining light like Kylo while I'ma kill it all the time
Aging like I'm wine
Aging in my face, but still my race you can't define
Focused on defiance, I'ma fight it while it's life
Started something sick and on my mind is what's next
Just became a dad now so I'm taking all the cheques
Better know I'm staying and paying like it's debt
I'ma get it done, if it's taking all my breath
Swear down, I ain't messing around till I'm the best
Speaking in full sentences
Should'a thought about a strategy before you went in the stratosphere, better this
One of the rings around Saturn, this ain't about [?]
Casually doing magic [?]
I feel you could use some practice
Until that, you get the blacklist
Not built like a zealous actress
Foolin' them like a catfish, schoolin' them like a legend
Happy to be the reference
[?] like a iridescent, leavin' 'em all guessing
Leaking out of my brain like a pipe I ain't fixin'
Shining like a star, you can see it from a distance
Ain't many of me around, paki, I'm just different
Certain stages to this level and ain't here because of favors to the devil
Fuck a label, I'ma do this from the ghetto
Clean up like I'm Dettol
I'm romantic, put the bet on sight, smart like a weapon
This is my kind of setting
I write the world I'm sat in while these others live on hype
I see know fight in how they type
The fruit is ripe for the taking, I think I might

[Outro]
Let me take you away from here
Let me take you away from here
Let me take you away from here

[Part VI]

[Verse 1]
Eccentric things I mention, like a kid stuck in detention tryna escape
I'm just spittin' what is written on the next page
Spittin' image of my dad in his young days
Born sinner, when I'm livid I say, "fuck's sake"
Done runnin', I'm too cunning with no plumbing
The water works, I sung something that resonates
I thought it first, like giving birth to the parrot perch
They see me do it and they know it works
Don't know what's worse
The way that you live your life, or the way that you write a verse
Shouldn't be nervous, you don't deserve it
Won't scratch the surface, I leave a crater
And I lift the dirt up to find the find the hurtin'
Can't know for certain, nothin' is guaranteed
Tryin' to be a better person than the world deserves to see
'Cause I see a lot of sharks still swimming in the sea
Cease and arrest, what's the reason? It's theft
Are these the kind of kids that we're bringing up next?
Distorted reality, all they needed was family
Too out of their face to see what the damage is

[Bridge]
I don't want to be, I want to be
A part of this, no
I don't want to be, I don't want to be
A part of this

[Verse 2]
Sometimes they ask the questions, too deep to form a sentence
To this form, is this the norm?
Is this the sentence?
I feel defenseless
I played the setlist so long my sweat, blood, and tears
Forgot to mention
Feelin' lost, goin' off into different sections
I feel like love wrecked it
If it's not a drug why am I waiting for the next fix, affected
Can't believe that you left this
I guess I leave with a best wish
Movin' on like next, I'm fine for the lectures
We see all full spectrum
'Cause if we're fallin' down, we can fall down together
Staircase to heaven, mirror down the middle like 11
Resentment on one side, it won't settle
Mind fried, but talking sense
They ain't got a sense of themself in them rich ends
Need to spell it out for the dickheads
I'm here for this, so witness
I know you feel afflicted, but you always love it Whitney
While I'm laughing at you, you think you're laughing with me
I try to pull up, but I've grown so they don't fit me
My body flown from this new to this old city
I'm sick of sitting on my own, feeling so shitty
I've been on roads where it's cold and the snow hittin'
It's okay to be yourself, sittin' talkin' to myself
I've been walkin' for longest, just need a little rest
Know I ain't the strongest, I can feel it in my chest
Talkin' 'bout my feelings and of me they get the best
They ain't leaving, see 'em breathin' in my breath
'Til death do us part, it's just seeded in my heart like a work of art

[Verse 3]
Never winning, I'm just scarred
Can't begin it from the start
Do I play a part in the rhythm of the night?
I guess I'm up to something, 'cause the dark's feelin' right
Every cloud got a lining, put my own miles in like Morales
Figured that they're jealous that they could just
Never tell us to change because the weather never made me
Question whether or not I'm at that level
Got rid of all the the bullshit sittin' in my way
Most of 'em are full of shit, I see it everyday
Are you hearing the same things that I do?
Maybe that shit's hitting like haiku
How much do you pay for them to hype you?
Recycle your flows, but they ain't like new
Leavin' them conceited and full of diesel like engines in need of cleaning
The ending will be revealing
Even though we ain't raising the facts
Now we've been facing the cactus with spikes
Needing spaces, different faces, the same story
A full body like straight voddy direct to your system
But never tell 'em we missed 'em
Not even with the thoughts we gift 'em
'Cause they just take advantage, guess we're caught in the system
My soul pouring out details of borrowed time
Had enough of a fill, this is for sorrow time
I'm seeing visions of heaven
I seen the severed line between the gospel we speak
And when they're telling lies

[Verse 4]
Remember tellin' a friend of mine, [?]
Identified like a third eye
Got a habit of knowing now where the dirt lies, so benign
I ain't sober after nine, gonna fuck their minds
Why you flippin' out, see another
Tryna rep it from the city?
Fuck a Chiller Crew, reppin' for the nittys
Tryna keep us down
Raised on the social, don't wanna let us out of the system
Me, I insist we assist them
Me alone puttin' shift 'til I lift 'em
I know it's hard, that's why I like it
I'm fit to fight it, I'm from the North
I'm backin' Tyson, it's been decided
Don't see no light, they're needing guidin'
Just be defining, realizing
I'm realigning in full finance
They say silence can be louder, I'm juiced up with no powder
I fix shit like slick spanner, I've gone green
Like Bruce Banner so "Free Gaza" on my banner
The real McCoy, I ain't nothing to toy with
Signified peace like a Japanese koi fish
How did this happen?
We're moving backwards in our timeline, killin' us with cyanide
Riot for the freedom till we transform like Ironhide
This one's 'bout my feelings
The way that I move affects the fate that I'm sealing
Can't say nothin' without somethin' being on the page
Kept inside the pen like the bars have been kept caged
See, I always had a plan since I was young, we had nothing man
Now it's been a few years since I ain't seen the fam on foreign lands
'Bout to climb Everest in the avalanche
Right into the riddles as soon as you were born
Never askin' a question, 'cause it's the norm
See, I'm on a questionin' session
Like the manner got a method to teaching a lesson
Listenin' to MF Doom, he taught me like Ra's al Ghul
Felt like livin' in Gotham, the people were rotten
Still we play cartoons so it's never forgotten
Chillin' at the top, but we came from the bottom
Writin' and jottin' for them life by spottin' the difference

[Bridge, needs lyrics]

[Verse 5]
They're hating on Palestine's ways
The [?] palace playing Prince on a Steinway
Sending out mind waves
Stop 'em like crime waves
Freedom fighter, Yellow Metal is my name
Like vipers I see the sly ones, the snake that's called Biden
None of 'em abiding by what they might put in writing
We should be used to it by now
Say whatever for the vote, and then just chose another route
Say they'd never kill another, unless that brother's skin is brown
I'm just tellin' you the facts, if you can't take it
The truth, naked
To bare bones, and my thoughts lately
Spittin' politics while done with it, shit just gets me vexed
And now I'm sayin' that I think of it
Feeling on the brink of it
Whatever it is
Figured out some shit, at least it feels that way
Talk about my feelings, and I don't feel so strange
Finding solace, that's a promise in Metropolis for bein' honest
Can't write a sonnet without some pain

[Outro, needs lyrics]