Long since neglected so I perfected protectin' / my intellect by strippin' my thoughts down 'til they naked / The trajectory of my story arch has been perfected / It's had so many twists, you'd think Scorsese directed / I've been a Raging Bull and bid farewell to The Departed / Stayed so true to myself that I ended up a martyr / The definitive son, never had a daughter / but I learned first-hand what it means to be a father / I know tomorrow is really just a product of the past / so I multiply yesterday by today to show my path / Four squared is sixteen, in a way lookin' back / I never thought life would get better than that / A sweet sixteen used to mean a bracket in the tourney / Now it describes the way that I communicate my journey / Live fast die young, think that I'ma need a gurney / Started on the straight and narrow, guess somebody turned me / But life's a roller coaster, sometimes when you think it's over / it's just a lull before it propels you forward / I got war stories that'll rival the Armed Forces / I been bein' all I can be and doin' more in the mornin' / than Alonzo Mourning when he was a Charlotte Hornet / and Larry Johnson and him were their small and power forwards / My pen's like an '84 Georgetown Hoya / but will it die young like Len Bias in that dorm room / I'm just like he was as he was snortin' coca' / All the talent in the world but gotta remain focused / The underdog's underdog, call me Villanova / Stay on fire smokin' ain't no need to stoke it / Spit enough heat unprovoked to burn down Wake Forest, NC State, and Oklahoma / Yea, and I spit venom like a Cobra / The same mentality, lash out or your life's over / Gettin' older, winter ain't all that makes days shorter / Time marches on whether the band's in line or out of order / Lost my grandfather and he was the best conductor / Now my highs are more sober and my lows less important / Feelin' like I need to carry that torch forward / but it's tough followin' a legend, you can ask Gary Moeller / Even tougher bein' a pallbearer, droppin' 'em off / Before you know it the ride's over / Never saw myself endurin' that rollercoaster / Now his memory's in my mind like an echo that lasts forever / I'm better than I'm feelin' shout out to my older brother / Old soul, child's eyes, the Illmatic cover / Integrity to the death of me, no time for suckas / Rest in peace, I miss you, there will never be another / And it's surreal, like the Devil made a deal / but he peeled as soon as his end of the bargain was fulfilled / I'm like a high end bottle of champagne chilled / Sophisticated but cool, intoxicate your mind still / Make it a minefield, kicked like a can from a child's heal / Depressed and starvin', would die for a Happy Meal / Self-loathin', problems get bigger than Uncle Phil / but Dr. Phil's taught him how to relationship build / 'Cause just south of the Murder Mitten / T-town, you heard us spittin' hot shit like burn victims / Surgical precision, my intuition's afflicted with a sickness / I'm the illest motherfucker livin' / Presidential villain, mixture of Clinton and Nixon / After chicks suck my dick I remind 'em to stop snitchin' / Quit bitchin', uh, that Beanie Sigel diction / Spit heat on The Truth and bully the system / Until control's relinquished and the system's the victim / I go Hard in the Paint like my name was Blake Griffin / It's Mr. never nervous and y'all Kendrick Perkins / gettin it straight in the face with conviction and purpose

(Hook) Verse 1: Remember playin' Genesis, I'm the game's nemesis / Breakin' and enterin' with every single sentence / Like I'm unrepentive and it's my incentive / to get bread by any means and know I'll be forgiven / When I start spittin' these writtens with bad intentions / I'm not a role model, parent your children / Villain's inhibitions with a penchant for pennin' / adrenaline filled sentences that slaughter senses / Depression unrelentin', my glass' half empty / But I got enough Juice to make Bishop respect me / Obviously illin', like I've been infected / but I didn't fight it, I accepted the infection / As evidence the manifest would not be rejected / by the people that got in the habit of rejectin' / truth as an exception to what's come to be expected / So I checked flexin' for breakfast off my checklist (Hook) Verse 2: Drove by The Tobacco Haven, my lungs are Wes Craven / Bring nightmares to life behind that blunt blazin' / Hopeful and optimistic turned cynical and jaded / Thoughts went from sharp to intoxicated and faded / They say you die hard when you try hard to make it / My strength and weakness is that I could never fake it / Now these rap dudes just fake it 'til they make it / with rhymes less than basic, trap beat, and a stupid sayin' / I'm no gifts on Christmas, that's nothin' to play with / Birthdays past, guess those wishes are belated / But I ain't complainin', 'cause hardship has made me / the illest motherfucker you heard on the mic lately / Real recognize real they say, maybe / but fake can't tell the difference between steak and gravy / When I step in the booth I rock True Religions maybe / what I say is like what I confess alone praying (Hook)

I got an Appetite for Destruction / Call me Axl Rose, Welcome to the Jungle / Where it's dog eat dog, and nobody's got a muzzle / Ever since I was 5 I been identified as Trouble / And since I was 9 been on my grind and had hustle / Now my 9 to 5 presents a puzzling struggle / Clark Kent with the shirt and the tie to survive / then I step inside the booth, Superman's alive, uh / So fly I can fly in my mind's eye / More powerful than a train with political ties / Don't need a Lex Luger beat to get by / and I'm Chronokinetic, able to manipulate time / Spit lyrics take you back to when you felt alive, uh / They say if you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin' / So what corners need cut for disaster victims to stop dyin'? / What refs need bought for LeBron to win a title? / And if you build it and they don't come, whose the one liable? / Been evolvin' ever since my arrival to ensure my survival / Only God can judge me, but still gotta stand trial / The first sign of a problem is denial / but when you tell the truth, and still are perceived to be liar / that small problem can grow into a raging fire / My flow is H2O like the river Nile / Swag itself is self-conscious around my lyrical style / With my black hoody on, prayin' that my life will last / Runnin' fast, just waitin' for the cops to blast / Breathin' heavy, wonderin' which breath will be my last / Seein' my life flash before my eyes, and my future's my past / Never thought that a trip to the gas station / would end up takin' me to my final destination / Tried to have patience, but patiently waitin' / had me feelin' like my manifest function was latent / Like freedom is an illusion created by Satan / and the reason that I'm runnin' is that the Devil is chasin' / Pacin', every time I talk on the phone / When they want you they chase you down, you need them they're gone / And you better watch your tone when you talk to them boys / or you'll be shot dead for makin' too much noise / Too much poise is somethin' you just can't have / whether a cop or block watch with a real gun and a toy badge / 'Cause even though the media fad won't last / the hurt'll live inside my fam until the day they pass / I used to play Doom, now I see it was prophetic / Pavin' the future with the present can present a headache / Enough to get you sent to a medic / to try to get to the bottom of why everything's always been in question / Prescribe some Excedrin for the stress of your transgressions / but that's not enough for the screams in my head to lessen / Lonely like a desert, deserted and infested / with sick thoughts that circle, but I ain't drivin' a Lexus / I drive a Cadillac 'round my mind's culdesac / blarin' music called crack 'til fans snap and react / like what the game's been missin' is back and intact / all at once, on one track, and I look so relaxed / like I could run lap after lap, like the track is a track / with the whole motherfuckin' game on my back / I do it in my sleep, narcoleptic in heat / Sophisticated palette but can't taste defeat, uh / Thoughts deep like a LaZelle Durden three / Sixth Sense-like, how I see what I see / Depict sin vivid as Seven in 3-D / When I was Eight or Nine I used to rewind / my tapes like ten times, just to memorize the rhymes / of the dudes I used to love to listen to emcee / Now the game's...

(Hook) Verse 1: When years were formative I was drivin' a DeLorean / into my past and Back to the Future fast-forward / Relivin' past glory while pavin' the way to a fortune / Not knowin' it's either sell your dream or forfeit on your mortgage / so I did the former and turned my house into a fortress / When I didn't die enormous I started to live dormant / My headphones became an instant source of order / Any of the bullshit I could skip or fast-forward / The shit that was dope got me high without smokin' / Ridin' a roller coaster of bein' focused and losin' focus / Turnin' in no homework to craftin' a magnum opus / Only brushin' my teeth, now I floss like an orthodontist / The skeletons stay killin' it in my monstrous closet / Crucified for bein' unbiased in a world full of liars / Trial and error pilot always arrivin' in style / Whether in a G5 or walkin' a green mile (Hook) Verse 2: Time keeps slippin', I'm tryna gain position / without becomin' a victim of conventional wisdom / I defied tradition with revolutionary intentions / whenever right or wrong was based on opinion, yo / I started to question every question that was given / Authority couldn't control me, I'm morbidly aware of my limits / When innocent eyes see lies it leads to cynicism / I'm lookin back on life reminiscin' on how I miss' em / My Grandmothers' heart, my Grandfather's spirit / They shaped my life so much, when they died it was cataclysmic / Ashes to ashes, I found a new beginnin' / Faced with mortality, livin' like life was endin' / Tomorrow's never promised, used to think it was a given / Broken promises can make hope seem like a false religion / So I bought the denim with the horseshoe stitchin' / and walked on pretendin' all I'd lost wasn't missin' (Hook) Verse 3: They say things in jest that sound like they really mean it / and really mean things that come off as facetious / Contradictory is the nature of bein' a human bein' / At times I hate my reflection at others I'm conceited / Realized real lies are what I once believed in / and democracy is hypocrisy in disguise as freedom / Sheep's instinct is to play follow the leader / and leaders are beleaguered by the root of all evil / The things that we want aren't usually what we're needin / and the things that we need take insight to see / Went from fightin' the good fight to wagin' war against my feelin's / Won half my battles the others I conceded / My reasons started to become one with my demons / Looked high and low for God, at odds 'cause I couldn't see him / My empty search made worse the pain I was feelin' / but those pills couldn't kill the ill skill I was buildin', yo / Expressin' myself in a way that was unforgivin' / Sharper than a knife attemptin' to cut the tension / Developin' a penchant for bein' relentless / now I dispense it in every single motherfuckin' sentence (Hook)

Uh, bein ill ain’t nothin' new / Old news, you can call it Phil Donahue / Old demons that haven’t aged gracefully / Younger days, maybe would’ve motivated me / Nowadays look at my hand and think the dealer’s playin' me / But even if you reshuffle the cards and cut the deck / You’ll choke if the noose is still around your neck / Suffocatin', do anything for a fresh breath / House in perfect order, but my life is still a mess / Feel like everything’s a test or a text / Just wonderin' to myself which one will come next / Refreshed, is somethin only felt by my computer / Beat down, not knowin who is the abuser / 'til I look into the mirror and see that the real intruder / is the same guy I rely on to make improvements / A paradox that can push me into seclusion / It’s like even when you’re cruisin', you’re cruisin' for a bruisin' / and the bruiser is the usual computer user / And doubles as the judge, jury, and executionor / Life’s a bitch, but my grip won’t let loose of her / Even Angels fall, look what happened to Lucifer / Don’t get me wrong though, I know I’m blessed / but how can good be good enough when there’s better and best / When people look at me, they just see how fresh I dress / but it takes clothes this fly just to hide my stress / Thought happiness was spelled NBA / Had a sick J and the illest pair of J’s / but JJ’s only remembered for one thing these days / Dy-no-mite, and when that blows up in your face / See the world may be a stage but it ain’t safe / Feel miseducated, but what’s the cause and effect / Learned from Inspectah Deck got to protect my neck / Learned from my grandfather the value of a check / Invested checks in Nike Air’s since I was able to step / Now I see Swoosh’s in reverse, and see those checks / So much irony in stayin' fresh to def all the way to death / Make sure loved ones are dressed their best before they’re laid to rest / Uh, and their soul has left / 'Cause life’s an exercise in perseverance / and I’ve been doin wind sprints, yoga, and mad calisthenics / Been evident ever since I was the age of ten it / ain’t the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight of the dog in it / Bein' realistic can get you labeled a cynic / I just spit it how I live it, can’t help it it’s intrinsic / Hurt so many people, they thought I was sadistic / but I’m just gettin started, what’ll they say when I finish / 'Cause everything happens for a reason / The good, bad, and indifferent, they all have a meanin' / And havin' faith ain’t bout knowin', it’s about believin' / So the only thing that tempts fate is not to believe in / your dreams and that one day you’re gonna achieve 'em / 'Til then don’t lose sight of your vision, endure the seasons / And If the people in your life come and go like the seasons / In the summer prepare for winter, be wary of treason, uh / Obituaries all have a similar theme and / Somebody died young, someone else went to meet him / They say money’s replaced love as the thing that we needin' / so instead of comin' together we keep on competin' / For green, until one day you envy the feelin' / of trustin' in the one those dollars imply when you read 'em / Because, I just think about writin', and my ink ignites in / red like a lightsaber, the lyrical Darth Vader / Anecdote for haters, not atheist, my pen’s my savior / And it’s a Monster, call it Rancor / Beatin and poundin on death’s door / Life’s a gift, but it’ll treat you like a fuckin creditor / It’s not a myth, the J10legend has been confirmed / and ever since each inch has gotten my foot into doors / Of whores, and they Honda Accords / Until they beg for more but by that time I’m bored / Ignore - most calls, really pointless to call me / ‘Less you’re Jesus Christ, MJ, or Bob fuckin Marley / Chris Farley, Richard Pryor, or Tyra with an army / of big booty bitches, and all they wanna do is ride me / Can’t stop me, got the heart of a kamikaze / and a chin like Rocky, squares can’t outbox me / I’m somethin that you just pray to contain / ’91 Game 1, MJ mindframe / Goin in with the right hand, then switchin it just ‘cause I can / I been the man before golf fans yelled it from grandstands

My mind starts to drift and I can feel it in my wrist / My pen takes over, and ignorance is bliss / It's got a mind of its' own, and when it gets in its' zone / it's ill 'til the ink's gone, like a tattoo gone wrong / 2 choices: Love me, or leave me alone / or here's a 3rd, do both, how's that sit with your soul? / The sins that get atoned still take their toll / as the wins and losses of yesterday only get old / And heroes get exposed as the truth unfolds / You start to distinguish between what you think and what you know, yo / Who can be bought and what dreams have been sold / The beauty of bein' bold, Malcolm X with the flow

Verse 1: When The Chronic dropped I swear I fell in love / but I was too young to even know what chronic was / A few years later i was introduced to bud / and my heart strings were tugged as soon as it hit my lungs / Doin' what was considered right, I'd had enough / and I acted out of spite by abusin' the drug / Too much was somethin' that was never enough / Like a bumblebee, the way I kept a buzz / Like a chimney, the way I smoked so much / as a sign the fire inside was too hot to touch / Too cold to hold, I boldly broke the mold / by controllin' my lows like they were mine to control / The windows to me soul were red as the Devil's nose / and able to see all the things that weren't shown / Friends that were foes, lies that were told / and how young and old we fear what we don't know (Hook) Verse 2: She was from the other side of the tracks, I was a straight-edge jock / Nobody ever thought that she and I would go out / But we knew the same people and went to the same places / so we slowly started to get better acquainted / She consoled me when I was told I wouldn't make it / and opened up my eyes to the real in a world of fakeness / Got me out of the matrix, sorta like it was fated / and if I became jaded, that's another thing Mary Jane did / I love her nonetheless, she's relieved so much stress / and brought out my best when my mind wouldn't rest / But Mom and Pop hated the fact that we ever dated / and we would get degraded when we went in some places / Like it was illegal and she wasn't good people / but she was my equal, self-aware and cerebral / And if bein' together is wrong to some people / I guess, to the rest, I Don't Wanna Be Right either (Hook)

Verse 1: Seein' my hoop dream dyin' and my grandfather passin' / made me the definition of a heartless bastard / Friends equal pain and family disdain / They don't love you for you unless you're who they want you to be / Immune to group think, can't not be me / Rather lead in agony than follow the sheep in peace / With each day that passes, it looks like the grass is / greener on the other side where they're out to pasture / The load I carry's massive, I'm aggressively passive / I'd ask 'em to walk in my shoes, but knew they couldn't last it / Always had a passion but it never made me happy / Just gas to fuel a fire a size they couldn't fathom / And when that fire burned down all that surrounded / my life it enticed me to look inward with malice / Think positive and good things will happen / or succumb to negativity and watch the chain reaction (Hook) Verse 2: Stand on my own two feet, always an individual / Proof bein' strong can still make you miserable / Lookin' in the mirror, feelin' so cynical / Thinkin' back to when I thought I was invincible / Unforgettable, don't let anyone limit you / Do it to the death and when it's dead become spiritual / 'Cause when you stop doin' all the things you used to do / are you still chasin' that dream or is it chasin' you / Irreplaceable, the only thing relatable / is what you want most always escapin' you / Unanswered prayers make you question who you're prayin' to / Everybody gotta say what they would do if they were you / Expect you to change so they change what they expect of you / but you stay the same so you blame them for changin' too / and remain estranged from either point of view / It's either suffer or they suffer from you (Hook)

(Hook) Verse 1: She's gone 'cause I left, it wasn't fair to stay / Now Ain't No Sunshine when she's gone, and she's always away / This house ain't a home, it's just where I stay / and I live with the fact I did her wrong everyday / No shame in my game, I'm ashamed how I behaved / I betrayed my own self, no one else to blame / What started when LeBron James became King / wouldn't remain through the Heat and end with a ring / It became apparent, we were different as our parents / and my heart began to put up a barricade / Went from watchin' games to playin 'em with each other / Pullin' on each other's heart strings like a puppet / So Many Tears like 'Pac up above us / Love is revolution, it's all in the struggle / of perseverin' through the worst times of trouble / and puttin' together a puzzle of lettin' someone love you (Hook) Verse 2: I'll go, you stay, this wasn't meant to be / I'm losin' more of myself every single day / We're both unhappy, as much as it hurts to say / It's like our chemistry blew up in our face / Maybe we both changed, for that I'll take blame / If I know one thing, it's that I'm not the same / I still look back on the impression you made / and think about the good times as much as the pain / It's like sometimes people need to part ways / just so they can be what they were destined to be / In the case of me, I wen't straight to that notepad / and started writin' what I would become known as / Rhyme titan, but wonder when I look back / if the sunshine I ever really looked at / and if the dark days since would still look black / if circumstances changed and I had you back (Hook) Verse 3: The day I got my things and left behind my key / the darkest cloud was above that house I had ever seen / It's like ever since its been followin' me / and when I see the sunshine that's how I know its a dream / When meanin' what I say and sayin' what I mean / started to get mistaken for me bein' mean / I questioned if our future was bright as it once seemed / or if our history was doomed to repeat / Sometimes that sunshine's so bright you can't see / and regardless who's right fights end in defeat / We thought we needed each other to be complete / At the same time best friends and worst enemies / Lookin' back now, in hindsight I see / that it took bein' blind to ever really see / and it took losin' faith for me to believe / that it took losin' you to really find me (Hook)

Can't start a renaissance takin' the path of least resistance / I go so far left with the pen, I shoulda been left handed / If God don't make mistakes, I blame it on poor plannin' / Like the meek inheritin' Earth and demandin' a King's ransom / Status quo's become so low standards are sub-standard / I'm raisin the bar so far you'll be in limbo standin' / Understand I'm entrancin' without a dance or sample / Ladies love lyrics and miracles do happen / Punchlines so deep, effects are delayed and long lastin' / so I'm on 34th Street waitin' on the reaction / Mastered mathematics, tore rat bastards to fractions / Half my life has been addition by subtraction / As a kid my favorite books were Choose Your Own Adventure / Learned less is lost to haste than it is to indecision / When it came time for college I couldn't settle with conviction / I sidestepped wide left and ended up in prison / Ridiculed for breakin' rules, I paid my toll for sinnin' / Flyin' down life's highway I almost died a villain / When I realized livin' in itself is a privilege / I repeated mistakes to make sure they weren't brilliant / Doubled up the stakes of the game I was winnin' / just so it would hold my motherfuckin' attention / The realist shit is what don't usually get mentioned / so I'm airin it all out, like openin' a soul's window / Introduced to Indo, became like a limo / that drove my thoughts in style from innocent to cynical / Started with a nickel, quickly became a cyclical / process of relievin' stress, that at best could be called mystical / At worst predictable, truth's somewhere in the middle / but I ain't ever been average, just mean in principle / Went from pledgin' allegiance to one nation indivisible / to seein' the ignorance in ever thinkin' we were invincible / Grew up in the spotlight, then I became invisible / but four is to one like the mental is to the physical / When I realized I had limitless potential / obstacles started to seem inconsequential, yo / It's the J-A-M-I-E, no I in team but there's an M and an E / Break it down, see my name contain all three / Me, myself, and I, the Holy Trinity / But blasphemy's in the past for me / I'm equivalent to a catastrophe / of epic proportions, that ain't reported by ABC / CNN, MTV, BET, or CBC / That means I'm devastatin', too explicit for TV / Very hard to read, appearances deceive / Can't judge a book by its cover or open each other and see / what we're made of, and yo they made us believe / all it took was hard work to achieve the American Dream / But the amount of work I've been puttin' in this bitch is obscene / and nightmares still haunt me, where's my Coretta Scott King / Ain't searchin' for a Queen, do me to the extreme / but I'm tired of the tricks these Court Jester's bring / Bars for days, like the jungle gyms where we played / Fell off in Fourth Grade and busted my face / That's the last time to this day anybody can place / the words bars, fallin' off, and my name in the same place / My haste brought me face to face with God's grace / Time and again, like a stopwatch in a race / Realness can't be recognized by fake, so I'ma make / a ski mask hashtag the new symbol of strength / I've perfected raw emotion, but that's an oxymoron / More raw the emotion less able you should be to control it / Let alone perfect it, but I'm such a perfectionist / Consistently able to fix shit that ain't broken / Hear the unspoken, see what ain't showin / Lose myself, but not in the music or the moment / In self loathin', and the search for atonement / Knowin' bein' lonely is better than bein hopeless / I focused on escapin', the blood in my veins frozen / Colder than four below and the winds of change are blowin / Been static too long now my flow is so dope it's / enough to set a motherfuckin' movement in motion

(Hook) Verse 1: I push people away like a motherfuckin' bouncer / but not at a club or concert, It's my heart that I'm guardin' / Most people I've known have ended up farther / away than on the day before the relationship started / Grew up as a marksman, those free throws cost me / my sense of belonging, became a one man army / From a pedestal you gotta fall off to join the party / Friends and Family, they tried in vain to find me / Ironic, heart poundin'; feel like I'm back at the line / Palms sweaty, knees weak; will I make it? It's do or die / The Jumpman on my shoes made me feel like I could fly / I guess now these J's symbolize chasin' that high / Days turn to night and dark back to light / The ebbs and flows of life, like war take a side / Lament bein' uncontent if you don't choose wise / and quick, indecision can kill if given the time (Hook) Verse 2: My perspective's like lookin' at a mosaic up close / Details stand out and the big picture gets lost / Have to take steps backward to see what others saw / and dumb it down enough to feel right bein' wrong / Life's like a long song, thought it was Stairway to Heaven / but it was Highway to Hell when I got pulled over by the Devil / Told him I'd never settle for less than incredible / Either burn out or fade away, that mind frame is stressful / Was told I was special since the day I was born / Now forlorn recordings are the way that I mourn / the loved ones I've lost, my heart's been ripped out and torn / but I've weathered the seasons lookin' in the eye of the storm / They say Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned / but they couldn't foresee this furious journey I'm on / When dusk came they never thought I'd see the dawn / but the light my pen shed led me right where I belong (Hook) Verse 3: At a time I was low, that was a long time ago / I watched my hopes and dreams fall like dominoes / Took controlled substances to feel in control / and closed myself off so my brilliance wouldn't be known / Truth be told I'd rather fold / Playin' a losing hand's like shootin' at a net-less goal / Sometimes you can't tell if you made it or fell short / Said I was too short for the court / so I resorted to force and wound up in a higher court / Up North used to mean a summer vacation / Now translation was a jail cell waitin' / Thoughts still racin', placed in a place where pacin' / meant turnin' around more often than I change faces / One I show my Mother, one I reserve for strangers / One when I'm alone, another when I'm in danger / Anger motivated me more than Darth Vader / My pen was my sword, shed light without a saber / The world was like Patron, I shot it with no chaser / Let the girl I loved go, no need to chase her / Couldn't have been more abrasive / but the pictures I'd paint, nobody could trace 'em / Like no gifts on Christmas, I ain't nothin' to play with / I turned my back on God and made a pact with Satan / Gave up hope in exchange for bein' complacent / Remained Grandmom's favorite even when she was robbed of the memories we created (Hook)