[Verse 1: Oswin Benjamin]
Ay, look
It took depression runnin' its course
Pawn the family goat for some months to ride on a iron horse
Disregardin' my reality to cling to the gospel God spoke
For Sway to say, "Come through", now I'm here; the condom broke
See these is pro-method seen, no activist
Stopped leaning on n***as since Tony Hawk was on Activision
Foresight with no execution is just a hallucination
Why have dreams if you ain't gon' act the vision?
So I tatted my hands for the motivation
These corporations ain't shit, fuck a day shift, ay bitch
This sazón too potent for seasonal wages
I paid for showcases off unemployment compensation, facts
Billed a 400 on Fordham Road
My second home, my resume ain't get it
Retain information, goin' forth, Daily Planet
Same n***as I seen at my lowest, lane switchin', facts
*Beat switch*
I decided to ascend, they digressed to bein' fly
But still I hold kryptonite with them same fingers
That I use to take frames off
I seen red flags on blocks they cripped on, these blues too cryptic
But if I fall off my high horse, they still will cheer
For this Christopher Reeves, revealin' pain in 'em
Operating system been that iOS to win
Now my Macintosh are from different gardens, these jobs pay different
Rest in peace, I seen the victory lap
Learnin' to see silver lining through the clouds
Lauren London my grind and fell in love with the hustle
A marathon through back blocks, found God off the scenic route
Second eviction, condom wrappers, and bible scriptures
Hit the weed, saw Satan, old hoes I hit up
Blocked more times than Muggsy, these messages ain't get delivered
Fell victim to a lot of angles, a lot of filters
*Beat switch*
A lot of secrets I second-guessed about tellin' dudes
Set trippin' that inbox where that they left me red and blue
Deliberated dismemberin' those degenerates
Goin' Criss Angel on hoes that knows I'm Heaven sent
Twenty-one, caught Chlamydia from a bird
And I ain't let my wood peck her ever since, Sway
I wasn't gettin' no ass at all
Now they on my balls to see how far the pendulum swings
Look, I been through a whole lotta shit
I maneuver through manure for a grip now, n***a
Almost lost the message try'na craft the hits, my n***a
Petrified of what this wave may bring
There's two type of boats
And I was told you got to choose one
It's album sales or relationships, my n***a
Or you could do both, if you got strength to backstroke
With that wooden pen until you sore, I'm tired
*Beat switch*
Of these tidals that woke, streamin' us dry
But I rock with it till the wave subsides
Or till they see the Hova that resides in every line, I hold the nine
That's a flagrant on Rajon, disrespect my stripes
Got a tech in sight for your mind, blow the whistle
N***as too short to see eye to eye with divinity that resides
Inside of Os where the ratchet and righteous do intertwine, uh
I'm the perfect marriage of humanism and God
Look, channel the Holy Ghost on my own
That's Oprah Winfrey's Network
And Oprah Winfrey's net worth is found inside every line that I scribe
I'm dancin' with devils, now technique's immortalized, fill up
Pennin' flows, blueprints, try and be the coolest
Thought Terrence was Lucious, young O was studying Hov'
No disc jockey dashin', movin' clueless
An overwhelmed undeveloped student pursuin' music
*Beat switch*
Still in motion like a running man, but so was the Son of Sam
I was murderin' any beat that I'd see, n***a
Raisin' the bar, bench pressin' my pen's message
They see Sunday, know it's the end of them weak n***as, whoa
Let that sink in, I'm constructin' these euphemisms for you to listen
I use the truth to expose the gimmicks, implode its fillings
Revealin' the sinning Christian double-crossin' God
Like two Nazarenes and a crucifixion
Before the locks, couldn't get the P or a kiss for nothin'
When I would kill a mic' at every show and see low green
This big boy would dream to get his family out the dungeon
Make n***as look up to the bars on some bottom bunk shit, look
My back slidin' with the soul of Michael
I gave 'em the feel without a single Jackson
I gave 'em beauty in the midst of the struggle
I gave 'em stardom with feet planted still on the planet
Gave 'em Oswin when I was losin' myself
Even when I lied to the hoes, still stayed true to myself
Mama called me a pioneer back when Tyson was bitin' ears
Went to church for that holy feel, she knew my soul needed help
She knew America's focus on the exterior designs
Put a filter on everything for the sake of a like
We so worried about the lawn, we ain't even fixin' the lights
We so worried about this wall, we ain't even fixin' the pipes
*Beat switch*
Look, I ain't political, I'm just a god with a sinner's view
Ridiculed for how the spirit move
You ever seen a survivor through a Robin Williams type of depression?
Well this dead poet is livin' proof
I did my dirt on the come up though
A Doug trio skeeted, left mayonnaise on some patties
A Dugtrio, offset by they ways
Know when they take off broads for amigos
That's when I take off like a Migos
The same for any lil' n***a
Try'na politic and build and he get the veto
I been the type of Janosz to speak life to a Vigo
Paint a picture so real no way it don't touch the people
I remember gettin' suspended in seventh grade
For indecent exposure, I couldn't care at all
So showin' my ass ain't nothin' new to me
Pause, I ain't got a problem barin' it all
*Beat switch*
Fake jerseys, fake Pradas, wore 'em all
Washed and dried the Marbury and all the letters came off
But now, uh, I'm gon' fly, may get mine when the drones fly
Cross my fingers prayin' you clones die when I close eyes
Oh my, this that student loan flow without the cosign
Clothespins hangin' Izod polos on clotheslines
Eleventh item in the tenth item maximum clothes line
Layaway payments for people frosty before the snow time
Peep though, people [?] the player
Mama prayin' the rain will stop fallin'
In the kitchen before the flow dry
"Stomp a shawty," says Kirk Franklin
Look like ol' Plies, life was gentle, that K-Dot [?]
I fought for my damn rights, damn right, he back at it
A reincarna-- wreak havoc, that genius that reads backwards
All that sodium y'all throwin' on my podium
Potent enough to live on the surface of saltine crackers
*Beat switch*
How you survive in a industry full of posers and meat jackers?
I usher in my sound and let the heat clap 'em
I too got caught with that round of applause
That's what happens when you fire, and you this raw, my fault
A little too much Tracy, I be wildin'
The type of n***a to black out on a Ku Klux from the hood
Where overpriced sativa leave you buried for good
Genocide in Cognac and Backwoods and shit
I ain't no better
After this I might go cop a lil' bottle or whatever
This is Brownsville meets Selma
Righteous as monogamy with a lil' infidelity
In my placenta, that balance you can't get rid of, uh
And with God bein' my anchor, man
This Bruce Almighty will carry substance through all your fillers, I'm too good
And like a white author in '42 with a tight noose
I don't feel right hangin' with n***as
More concerned with a perfect facade than a flawed picture
See, every masterpiece has its blemishes, Mona Lisa
Paint us foolish but we ain't stupid
There's a difference from lack of knowledge
And not having that access to it, 'cause look
What we know about us, and what they know about our selves
It never falls in the lines of bein' congruent
Closer we get to learnin' that truth
'Bout our regality, in reality
Turn us to casualties, then remove it, nah
Display a portion in books, then dilute it
Make every attempt to decline every inclined movement
Follow a Western European rendition of Jesus
With a Oval Office that walks in the steps of Judas
Told salvation but taught to raise us through bruises
The hammer used to crucify us been the gavel
We took those chains and pedaled with pure will
To survive, ain't a bar you set that we can't handle
Peep the cycle, the psychological damage that's been done
Due to this narrative, it's a scary one, oh
But it's genius, fuckers were so in fear of us
They found a way to make us inferior
*Beat switch*
Takin' lions out of the jungle, labelin' them a threat
In environments you designed to be ruptured
Environments you designed to be ruptured
But until my lions learn to how write from they own perspectives
Every story read'll be glorifyin' the hunter, look
To be honest, I might not read the comments
I know they wanted that ruthless Os with no legs
But instead I'm Holly Holms to those heads, Ronda neck
Stepped on platforms to kick knowledge
And still I'm fly enough to make any woman's esophagus
A landin' strip for my cockpit, look
Y'all ain't worthy, y'all Fergie
Singin' fake anthems in the wrong Francis Scott Key
I try to tune y'all out with that fuckery
Now fuck it, tell them, "Shut up"
The '02 Black Eyed Peas
You think I'm more Guyanese than male shin tops
I pick locks to basements, but we'll keep that low key
The same shottas that rolled flour will roll up on you
And clap a n***a like the proper way to make roti, boy
That's some culture for yo' ass
How you plan to build a monumental future
On the sculptures of yo' past?
What, you gon' stand outside forever
Reminiscin' on the ones you assisted?
Personifyin' Stockton sculpture of the past
Talkin' all of that jazz, but you couldn't hold the band
If it grew legs and hopped up into your Hancock
Herbie, black Beatle, I'm McCartney in a flat top
Dancin' in the buggy with my Miles and Davis headin' to Heaven, ain't this
Some shit, Godfrey on the way
Now you Mother f-- Teresas ain' got none to say now
The tale is told, the tale of this hairless O
Ironically grew by dreadin' this growth, but I'm here now
Low self-esteem, something like macchiatos
But I've grown to a man, bare hands for the bear down
I'm clear like accessories who I am now
The son of man and the son of God
I'm Uncle Sam's nephew with a credit score lower than eyelids
From my kin that get high all of the time, tryin' to get to Zion
The nappy-headed know that Don Imus
I recite shit to rearrange the climate
Section 8, Con Ed bill flow
Fuck the polite shit, I write shit I believe is the right shit
And I admit to the accolades that I have been hittin'
I've gotten way too serious
Homicide cyphers, they say I'm way too serious
From satellite radio to those TV appearances
Judged on Sway 'cause of my lifetime sentences
Unaware of the gold inside the dock in my penmanship
And they don't get this shit, they all got a problem
They don't see how y'all gravitatin' to Oswin
From Ogden to Austin, to Texas sent
To my inbox, callin' me the best without a label or album
How could one with a gun charge and one in the Dean's List
Hear my shit and love still be the outcome?
God, see ain't a track that can't get outrun
Boy, I'm Jesse Owens with the souls
The fingers wave at 'em here, 'cause ain't a style that can't get outdone
See there was God, there was Moses, then it's me
But I split a different sea when palm put to the rod, man
No bullshittin', no bullpennin'
I hit home when I touch bases
No tobacco, just truth spittin' till there's no sin, stop pulpitin'
This Keith Haring's been deaf to the doubt
Paint a mural so dope, pen and needle, Lupe would smile
SOSA I.T
Black Thought blacked out and inspired me
Condolences if you followed behind me
R.I.P. to Nipsey and those casualties in and out of rappin'
I know it may sound cheesy, but rest easy, Mac
They don't pray for us, they prey on us
They scream "Rest in power" to give power to vices that dig the grave for us
All those memorials and murals is cool
From y'all n***as' sleep, but when you gon' find the gumption to wake for us?
Don't wait until a wake to pray for us
Don't wait until Jesus walks to "Yay" for us
Clap for me, an encore before I'm a part of the funeral parlor decor
Let me smell the rose
And let y'all praise be the praise I redirect to Messiah before he take me home
N***a