Pharoahe Monch
Maintain
[Verse 1: Prince Poetry]
I'm sitting at the edge of my bed and I'm fed
Up with negative thoughts running straight through my head
Light’s red, I can’t make moves, I work hard
And I thought it would have been nice to buy papa dukes some shoes
N***as try to get over, pressure on my shoulders
Dropped the fat LP in '91 of October
Now that I'm older and my man pops is gone
My focus is stronger, Monch pick up your head, we gotta move on
Do you remember Mr. J used to say the beats was fat
But when it comes to business, n***a don't play
I look beyond all this stress to seek fate
Mad homicides, unemployment rates sky high
Shorty busting caps, cops caught him out there
Daytime drama and his mama didn't care
That's why I should be rapping and packing pistols on the bully
But n***as be stressing me and I ain't paid in fully
So I'm dropping something fatter, not for props
We're respecting the matter, hops
I'm fat, check my stats, Prince drops data for me and my man Pops
Rolls-Royce and myself are always getting mad harassed by the cops
So now I'm in the chop shop creating masterpieces
So it don't matter money what my fronting label releases
This is thanks to the streets and my peeps that made me
And the la-la-lee, la-la-lee
We gotta maintain (Repeat 8x)

[Verse 2: Pharoahe Monch]
Now it's been saaaaaaaaaaid, a grown man ain't supposed to cry
So whyyyyyy, are there tears inside my eyes?
I wake up in the morning, it's a new problem
I just can't solve 'em
Yo, extreme kid, I'm telling you man, I'm on the brink of robbin'
Who's that man in the mirror? Ha!
The picture's getting clearer and clearer, ha!
The end is coming nearer and nearer, ha!
Take a good look at what you fear, ha!
Time marches on and it's a new song
It's a new morning, it's a new dawn
Feet don't fail me now, I got to make it to the studio someway somehow
But I need a little bit of nourishment first
I stop at the store to quench my thirst
Why are they watching me buy my juice?
Why must they clock me buy my juice?
Just give me my change and please put my change into my hand
Man would you listen to me if I didn't have a tan?
All you have to do is show some decency
But you want to bring out the beast in me
Papa always told me...be all you can be
And maintain, gotta maintain
(Ad-libs to end)