Reason

[Intro]

Yeah, I got some shit I gotta say

Check

[Verse]

Since sixteen, I had big dreams, I used to keep 'em hidden

By nineteen, shit I seen the truth up in the system

A lot of cats I hoop with end up shooting something different

Or just missing the ambition but the proof is in the privilege

There's kids I met in college only down there boozing, sniffing

Popping new prescriptions, choosing women to abuse

Until it's been four years, maybe five

So tell me why they still on corners, stop-and-frisking

But the frat house stay unlisted

Shit, you and I both know the reason

It's black, it's white, but still the power about where the green is

For real, and I done known a lot of dealers

And known a lot of interns

The main difference, hustlers get paid in the end-term

So only passion really impress me

Gangsters and scholars respect me so you really don't stress me

They get defensive when I spit but no one really could check me

They send me traps but I move past them, no one really compress me

And I know a lot of peers that try to act like rappers

But they still ain't got the heart to say that Black lives matter

See, they came for the slang and they stayed for the drugs

Me, I came for the knowledge and I stayed for the love

Millions of poor kids and we teaching them the wrong way

Think I give a fuck if Hov cheated on Beyoncé?

Children starving, cops killing people for nothing

But you think that I should worry bout who Rihanna be fucking?

That's no slight to 'em, but to the bullshit I throw AdBlock

Pops taught me 'bout this shit back when we would slap-box

'Cause while they show you the left, they hit you with the right

That's why I keep a wide perspective, so that everything's in sight

Was times I let the bleakness pervade everything in life

But now I'm thinking 'bout getting better every single night

Take the darkest of the thoughts and I try to give 'em light

And they tried to give me pills, I just told 'em "give a mic"

[Outro]

"Okay, guys, now I just came from the park, and [there's] this kid teasing me because I have Filas on. Now, mind you I am not a material person. I just wear Filas because, you know, I like the colour and I think they're cool. They might not be what's popular today, but you know, that's what I like. So, you know, I told the kid, 'It's not about what I have on my feet, it's about what I have inside my head. No matter what I'm wearing, no matter what I have on, it's about my information, the knowledgeable things in life. These sneakers are not even going to fit you in 20 years from now..."