Woke up quick at about noon Just thought that I had to be in Compton soon I gotta get drunk 'fore the day begins Before my mother starts bitchin' about my friends About to go and damn near went blind Young nig- on the path throwin' up gang signs I went in the house to get the clip With my MAC-10 on the side of my hip I bailed outside, and I pointed my weapon Just as I thought, the fools kept steppin' I jumped in the fo', hit the juice on my ride I got front and back, side-to-side Then I let the alpine play I was bumping new shit by N.W.A. It was gangsta, gangsta at the top of the list Then I played my own shit, it went something like this "Cruisin' down the street in my 6-4 Jockin' the bitches, slappin' the hoes I went to the park to get the scoop Knuckleheads out there, cold shooting some hoop" A car pulls up, who can it be? A fresh el Camino, rolling kilo-G He rolls down the window, and starts to say "It's all about making that GTA" 'Cause the boys in the hood are always hard Come talkin' that trash, and we'll pull your card Knowin' nothing in life, but to be legit Don't quote me, boy, I ain't said shit Bored as hell, and I wanna get ill So I go to a place where my homeboys chill Fellas out there trying to make that dollar I pulled up in a 6-4 Impala Greeted with a .40, and I start drinkin' And from the eight-ball, my breath starts stinkin' I gotta get my girl to rock that body Before I left, I hit the Bacardi Pulled to the house, get her out of the pad and The bitch said something to make me mad She said something that I couldn't believe So I grabbed the stupid bitch by her nappy ass weave Started talkin' shit, wouldn't you know I reached back like a pimp, and I slapped the hoe And her father stood up, and he started to shout So I threw her right 'cross, and knocked his old ass out 'Cause the boys in the hood are always hard Come talkin' that trash, and we'll pull your card Knowin' nothing in life, but to be legit Don't quote me, boy, I ain't said shit Punk ass trippin', but it's all right Homie scored a ki-, he's gonna fly Punk ass fly Hey, we not everybody, man Not everybody

"Vipassana is a science of mind and matter How the mind is influencing the body And later, how the body is influencing the mind" Yesterday? Forget it Tomorrow is? Nada The present is right here, through the breath, watch it Atheist Jesus piece, hangin' on a cross We sit and discuss God on lawn chairs About how we got here What it is, what it isn't, shit Fate versus faith, scrimmaging with coincidence Leave out the marketing, hold up on the business end Focus on the genuine, and everything else, you can shed the skin I was a couple moves away from being dead In that ER overdosing, eyes bleeding red I fell in love, made an album, got a buzz Lost it all, sobered up, and guess what? Now we meet again And now I'm back, finally just laughin' Expectations are resentments waiting to happen Studying the dharma, karma, vipassana practice Bahá'u'lláh, Buddha, God, to the mountaintop and I'm traveling Learning, yes, reflecting on what matters People, impermanence, lack of attachments It's space and time, a couple of man-made distractions The measure of a spirit that no human can ever capture Church, this booth is my Vatican I don't control life, but I can control how I react to it Student of the breath, brick beats and balancin' Desire versus truth until I finally find happiness I was put here to do something before I'm lying in that casket I'd be lying on the beat if I said I didn't know what that is The world's a stage and we play a character, I found him It took me 20-something years and a bunch of shitty soundchecks I'm not gonna be content 'til I find gratitude Regardless of my sales or the record deals they're handing you If the next generation takes our legacy and samples you We'll have a bunch of mp3s and misled kids to pass 'em to I use my veins to create the color I paint from Delve into self 'til my heart becomes my paint brush I told my mama I'm not stoppin' 'til my name's up Thinking those comments on that blog is gonna save us Searchin' for everything but God to validate you Get insecure and then we start blaming the haters Used to look to women to fill a part of me that was vacant Truth, the only thing that I ever used in moderation So I stare into this paper instead of sitting at a cubicle Take all the ugly shit inside and try to make it beautiful Use the cement from rock bottom and make it musical So the people can relate to where I've been Where I'm going, what I've seen, what I've heard From the guts, fuck the glory Just a person on a porch putting it all into recording Many in my past and many that came before me I just keep walkin' my path and blessed to share my story

Oh girl, this boat is sinking There's no sea left for me And how the sky gets heavy When you are underneath it! Oh. I want to sail away from here. And god. He came down down down down down down down down And said (down down down down down down down down) Nothing (down down down down down down down down) He rolled up, asked him what he was sippin' on He said lean, You want to hit it, dawg? That's the same stuff Weezy's sippin' huh? And tons of other rappers that be spittin' hard, Yup yup five a bone When he passed him that Styrofoam the Easter pink, heard it in a rhyme before Finally got to see what all the hype was on And then he took a sip, sittin' in the Lincoln thinkin' he was pimpin' as he listen To the system Little did he know that it was just as addictive as bass Not the kind of hit from the kick drum Hot box, let the bass bump Take it to the face, gulp Months later the use went up Every blunt was accompanied by the pink stuff But Goddamn he loved that feelin' Purple rain coated in the throat Just so healin' Medicine alleviate the sickness Liquid affix and it comes with a cost Wake up, cold sweat, scratchin', itchin' Trying to escape the skin that barely fit him Gone, get another bottle just to get a couple swallows Headed towards the bottom couldn't get off it Didn't even think he had a problem Though he couldn't sleep without gettin' nauseous Room spinnin', Thinkin' he might've sipped just a little bit too much of that cough syrup His eyelids closed shut Sat back in the chair clutchin' that cup Girlfriend came and a couple hours later said his name shim but he never got up He never got up, he never got up We live on the cusp of death thinkin' that it won't be us It won't be us, it won't be us, it won't be us Nah, it won't be us Oh girl, this boat is sinking There's no sea left for me And how the sky gets heavy When you are underneath it! Oh. I want to sail away from here. And god. He came down down down down down down down down And said (down down down down down down down down) Nothing (down down down down down down down down) He just wanted to act like them He just wanted to rap like him Us as rappers underestimate the power and the effects that we have on these kids Blunt passed, ash in a tin, pack being pushed, harassed by the feds The fact of it is most people that rap like this Talkin' about some shit they haven't lived Surprise, you know the drill Trapped in a box, declined record sales Follow the formula violence, drugs, and, sex sells So we try to sound like someone else This is not Californication There's no way to glorify this pavement Syrup, Percocet, and an eighth a day will leave you Broke, depressed, and emotionally vacant Despite how Lil Wayne lives It's not conducive to being creative And I know 'cause he's my favorite And I know 'cause I was off that same mix Rationalize the shit that I'd try after I listen to dedication But he's an alien, I'd sip that shit, pass out or play Playstation Months later I'm in the same place No music made, feeling like a failure And trust me it's not dope to be 25 and move back to your parent's basement I've seen my people's dreams die I've seen what they can be denied And "weeds not a drug" - that's denial Groundhog Day life repeat each time I've seen Oxycontin take three lives I grew up with them, we used to chief dimes I've seen cocaine bring out the demons inside Cheatin' and lyin' Friendship cease, no peace in the mind Stealin' and takin' anything to fix the pieces inside Broken, hopeless, headed nowhere Only motivation for what the dealer's supplying That rush, that drug, that dope Those pills, that crumb, that roach Thinkin' I would never do that, not that drug And growing up nobody ever does Until you're stuck, lookin' in the mirror like I can't believe what I've become Swore I was gonna be someone And growing up everyone always does We sell our dreams and our potential To escape through that buzz Just keep me up, keep me up Hollywood here we come Oh girl this boat is sinking There's no sea left for me And how the sky gets heavy When you are underneath it Oh, I want to sail away from here And god. He came down down down down down down down And said Nothing

Could we take this life a little slower than we used to Than we used to Are my eyes More like story tellers of what's past Are my eyes The triggers of a story that won't last Feels in the path of a past storm Emotions of the past got me transformed You're back in the game but summer is over Warn me when the water is getting warmer Could we take this life a little slower than we used to Than we used to Please don't open This old folder Files unspoken So much colder Chills in my back give me fevers Those pictures of the past, is it over? Placed me in a frame, summer is colder Warn me when your skin is getting warmer Can we live this life a little closer like we used to Than we used to Can you open This new folder Files unwritten Let me write them