[Intro: Nas]
Ayo, Hit, I like this IE weather
[Verse 1: Hit-Boy]
Ayy, look
Vote yes on Hit-Boy, bitch, I'm the city spokesman
They see we got this shit crackin' and now they spirit broken
I'm standin' on the green like the British Open
And stackin' ice on top of ice, but I'm not building snowmen
Doctors couldn't even detect my disorders
One case, six figures on six different lawyers
I put my soul in every song with limited support
Focused on the output, not the outcome, big God is my source
Spirit of excellence in my genetics
Complexities come with my complexion
'Fore you shut me down, let me reach my level first
Y'all be too proud to do the devil's work
All that actin' and fakin', I can't take part in it
I'm washin' my hands with the soap opera shit
I set the cameras to speed, co-directed KD
We know the caged bird sings and screams when it's free
Every second I spend on this, I got it back in blessings
You can't stop and run no errands on the way to legend
[Chorus: Hit-Boy & Nas]
They should've told 'em I'm raising up on the totem
Yeah, boilin' over, pot full of yola
Mix it with the cola, son of a block controller (Yeah)
Can't let 'em fuck me over (Nah) gotta keep my composure, look
[Verse 2: Nas]
Had yellow jaundice when I was born
Kept me in an incubator, ten days long
I made up songs, I was like humming tunes ten years later
Writin' in my room ten years after that on stage like it's too soon, but
For me see, my parents met inside a nightclub
Olu started to fight and then my moms broke it up
She said "This boy, he's in the Navy, settle down before y'all need savin'"
Pop went to war around the world, came home, we celebrated
AWOL
Fast forward to when I started to play ball
From a place where we hate law
See the Jakes and we take off (Whoop whoop)
Hit the gate, I get home and take my chain off
Thankful I got through the day and all the evil I prayed off
Everything is cause and effect
Make the wrong moves in this business, you lose all your respect
My block is dark as it gets
We all make mistakes, only a few will recover from 'em
Don't spend your whole life runnin' from 'em, run up the numbers
[Chorus: Nas]
Should've told 'em I'm raising up on the totem
Yeah, boilin' over, pot full of yola
Mix it up with the cola, son of a queen and a soldier
Can't let 'em fuck me over, gotta keep my composure, look
[Outro: Shaka Senghor]
Keep your composure, on city blocks, and cell blocks
Keep your composure
Hold it down, hold it tight
Hold it close, hold space for yourself
It's the way of the ancestors
Our elders, our artists, our OGs, our dreamers, our builders
With each breath internalize their successes
Their struggles, their sense of self, their sense of overcoming
And take that power forward through your life
Remind yourself of the magnitude of your good fortune
And the mere chance, one in billions, that you survived
That you will thrive
And even the strongest kings and queens bend, yet remain unbroken
Keep your composure
And believe in the magic of who we are
Because what you believe is everything
And what someone believes about you is nothing
Keep your composure, I am Shaka Senghor
