SlaughterMouse

[Intro]

Yeah, yeah

[Verse]

Look, it was around '99, baby comin' while I was at rock bottom

Ironic shit, I was listenin' to "Rock Bottom"

Pockets rabbit ears, no paper, lot of cotton

Had some charges stemmin' from me and my squad robbin'

Had to leave the hood, shit stayin', not an option

I bumped your shit forever, felt we had a lot in common

A rapper expressin' wit who spoke in depressive stints

All that introspectiveness, I couldn't measure what it did

Listen, I'm writin' to you now cause we don't get to talk much

'Cept for in the stu' when we be passin' through the halls and such

I wonder if you catch me stare at you in awe much

And we be busy workin' so I never share my thoughts much

Remember signin' four niggas with an attitude?

Well maybe we'll get your star power and his magnitude

All I thought was it was 'bout to be on

But I never guessed that I was 'bout to be wrong

We encountered some things, maybe we should've figured out all along

Who the fuck was I to be too vocal in my doubt for some songs?

Even I can't be that dumb to step over the threshold

And be the guy who says no to so many records sold

Whole career, I never bit my tongue, I let it go

Too many times bein' the rebel, ain't end in what's best for Joe

That second album came and added truth to the slander

But we learned what's good for the goose ain't good for the gander

Guess I'm askin' for advice right now

Experience and leadership to help suffice right now

I guess I'm askin', "How would you do it?" Before I do somethin' too stupid

Before my group lose it just to get our views lucid

Every other day these niggas want a new exclusive

Should I be in the mix more? Maybe I'm too secluded

Do you think you'd be as famous now

If you had to put out "My Name Is" now? The way the game is now, awful lyrics, shit is shameless now

Just tell me how you'd maneuver if you came in now

It's just thoughts, everything is criss-crossed

Gotta be cool with Complex and Pitchfork if I wanna get my shit off

These simpleminded niggas won't think you fuck with us

If they don't see you poppin' bottles in the club with us

It's about fashion now, which I hate

Because I dress like shit, I'm just the best when I spit

But different times, I was feelin' like the odd man out

Like I should leave, they'd be better with the odd man out

Like when I wasn't on that intro, I felt a little weird

But that was for the team, so I didn't really care, for real

For the team, how I happen to be

When Bad met Evil, nigga who was happier than me?

Think back, the way that I was on that shit

You woulda thought it was my album and I was on that shit

Like fuck rap, happy to see a friendship get mended

Cemented and any frivolous tension get ended

Joell you my G, Weapon Waist you my OG cuz

Nickel you know I look at you like it's blood

Here's the flowers, before this end is covered in mud

We can disband right now and it's gonna always be love

For a brief period I tried to rhyme like y'all

I was high, maybe tryna prove that I'm like y'all

But I'm not, I suck at all that syllable shit

I'd rather make the pen bleed to see the feelin' you get

I'm bein' honest, we might never sell a million and shit

To me it's more value in keepin' it trill with my nigs

And to Em, one of the illest ever on the mic

We're less different than we are alike

This ain't about star power, I ain't on the hype

Never mind skin color, I see beyond the white

My whole life I fought trauma like you

Had ups and downs with my baby mama like you

I had my fair share of transgressions like you

Had a bad temper once and fought aggression like you

Did drugs, popped pills, fought depression like you

These are things you'd never pick up from our sessions in the stu'

I beefed with Hov, 50, Game and Wu

Got in my own way a lot, I'm sure the same as you

The whole label think I'm crazy, I been peeped it

I'm only mad I couldn't keep a better secret

Still when I hear your voice, my head goes wrong

Takes me back to that little boy with my headphones on

And the way you saved my life back then is how I'm savin' them

Plaques and charted tracks won't take me away from them

So I hope you understand

Fuck this record deal, you inspired me as a man

I'll cut it short, before I start feelin' like a Stan

HouseGang for life, word to the pig on Royce' hand

Success'll never disable me

No record label will ever label me

My morals ain't for sale, can't under-the-table me

I'll ride it out, even when everything ain't savory

My brothers love me, they won't enable me

And they won't kill me, they won't Cain and Abel me

It’s how I feel at the moment...