Imagine

[Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar]

I sit on the studio couch

Ask myself, "what the fuck am I thinking about?"

Thinking 'bout living without the past and the present

A Dr. Dre record, imagine, I drift off, 600 seconds

10 minutes exact, letting my mind explore

K. Dot had turned Curious George

You know, off the hardship is what I'm curious for

Like what if Pac had never looked left to holla at broads?

Before he turned right to get them shots through the door?

They say Suge did it, but he was in emergency clinic

So he'd risk his own life to get someone else killed?

But in the process, get injure? It don't make sense

It's like 'The Da Vinci Code', trying to solve the crime of these rap souls

What if B.I.G. never did it big?

Never went to L.A., would it make a difference in them bulletholes?

Would it make my flow more persistent?

Would it raise up the bar of competition? Who knows

Who told Nastradamus baby momma was fucking with Hov?

Would the battle be less interesting if it wasn't personal?

If Jay wasn't intimate, there'd probably be less people listening

People thinking it's a publicity stunt

What if he partnered with Jay and still didn't blow?

Hip-Hop would really be fucked

Something like Milli Vanilli

Nothing different, quite similar

Filling up my mind capacity

Thinking about Martin Luther

On the balcony, what if the shooter–

Better yet, what if Malcolm on the side?

Killed two birds with one stone, both would've died

Now let's rewind

[Chorus: D'Angelo]

Before we go, can you imagine?

Picture years with your mom

Can you imagine?

Hang her picture in the sky

Can you imagine?

Call emergency, I've been dreamin' all my life

[Verse 2: Jay Rock]

Imagine if Tookie was a Blood? Look, no disrespect

But would there be more Bloods than Crips sets?

Dominating the population of LA

Orange County, the Valley, and back up to the Bay?

Matter fact, imagine if we didn't really start this gangster shit

Y'all wouldn't have nothin' to spit

No drive-bys, no flags stickin' out pockets

No N.W.A. dudes, just rappin' like Cre Cru

Imagine if Mike Concepcion walked on his own two

Feet no paralyzed, would he be alive?

Or would he been lost his life to the streets?

No match, no cars in that driveway

What if Freeway Rick never was a kingpin?

On this L.A. strip, would these rap niggas use his name?

Nah, what if rap niggas never had rap?

Would they try to fall back on this drug game?

These rappers ass backwards

Now these rappers getting caught with the cocaine

But to smoke, not to slang

Imagine that people not knowing these rap niggas insane

Just think about it

[Chorus: D'Angelo]

Before we go, can you imagine?

Picture years with your mom

Can you imagine?

Hang her picture in the sky

Can you imagine?

Call emergency, I've been dreamin' all my life

[Verse 3: Punch]

Imagine life without death, would you even feel alive?

Your people that passed, what if they never died?

Imagine seeing your mom cry, tears of happiness

Knowing her son safe, and she ain't lose him to this madness

The street living, what if the crack epidemic

Never reached the projects and destroyed our buildings?

Turned most of us to killers, innocent victims

Imagine if heroin didn't affect our system

They say drug money funding the labels today

What about the drug money that's funding the C.I.A.?

Imagine if they really tried to fix these streets

Would they start in the hood, or executive suites?

Where the real criminals meet, and principals beef with me

You could possibly live without heat

Imagine if Al Gore had won that election

Would the Twin Tower buildings still stand erected?

Imagine the penal system without witness protection

Would there be these many cowards on the stand telling?

I don't know, I'm just speaking my mind

Lost in my own soul, just press rewind

And imagine (Training day, training day)