[Verse 1]
Stuck between platinum and flop, underground and mainstream
Conscious, backpack, scratch that, same thing
I'm somewhere between the real and the fakeness
The red pill, blue pill -- real and the Matrix
And I can't take this; if the game needs a new look
I'm between a tummy tuck and a face lift
And everything I say in these pages
Is straight from the heart -- nah magazines, y'all can't rate this
Cuz I'll read the bit it's a bit outragous
Like it's an ear virus and this shit's contagious
I'm downloading like, "niggas actually play this?"
Maybe I'm bugging out, maybe I'm on a spaceship
See I was on my stay out jail shit
The way Mouse kills shit, I'm here just to lay out real shit
Besides, other dudes styles remind me of spinning rims
That shit got played out real quick
See some wrote him off, some said he was done
Made a joke of, hope he enjoyed the run
I don't enjoy being shunned, so I'm back as Neo
Fans enjoyed The One, annoint me has begun
I had the whole hood thinking he would never eat
Rappers tried to diss, thinking we would never meet
I heard it if you said it
You wrote it on online then I read it, now I match it, nigga -- bet it
Cause I remember clearly
Once "Pump It Up" stop soaring, there's a few motherfuckers stopped calling
See I remember shit spread like cancer
I would call folks, said folk ain't answer
A few chicks running started pulling they pants up
A few stopped acting like my private dancer
But a light bulb hit once they started to neglect me
See there I was, thinking I was all that sexy but I
Nah fuck that
Cause I'm still sexy, young and fly
Know-what-I-mean, ya heard?
[Verse 2]
Look here can't be finished, what nigga I beg ya pard'
I just let niggas get a head start
I walk to the finish, y'all spread out chase
Nah sprint out pace, and I'll still win the race (yep)
See I'm jogging
Other niggas legs starts wobbling, when opportunities start knockin
You got the crown, pass off like Stockton
It's time to work, I'm offically clocked in
He is a problem, weavin' and bobbin'
Through the speculation that his label tried to drop him
I can't leave, even though it's big options
Kev only signed me, to keep this shit rockin'
Don't ask me how I'm doin, I been better
Stuck in cold February, with a thin sweater
I'm far from a "Yes" man, I'm a trend setter
It's no games, just a Def Jam Vendetta
Don't put niggas in the same sink as me
I mean metaphors, story lines, deep shit, club shit, girl shit, world shit
They don't use the ink like me
Niggas don't even think like me
Who sees what I'm watching, he ain't poppin'
Don't deserve to drink water from the tub that I washed in
Wait, start again, it's a privilege to breathe the same air that I farted in
They want no parts with him
How dare niggas categorize me
If my name's on a mixtape, then capitalize me
I been stopped going to Mixtape Awards
Don't need them to tell me, the mixtapes is yours
I had other ideas, while hitting loot
I'm thinking red carpet, I went and copped a suit
See I'm thinking Grammys
Sunglasses on, with my On Top family and a bad bitch handy
He stayed at the "W" and felt like heaven
I'm at an actress's house, that felt like necking
R&B on, looked and felt like Meagan
Gave me headache till I felt like an Excedrin
Talk very fly
Least until I bought every pie, me me being war ready to my eyes
And these dudes might as well be Jamie Foxx
Trying to sound like somebody that already died
The kid keep a snub wit 'em, good pair of gloves wit 'em
Your first week ain't right, they can't fuck wit 'em
Now if you don't sell 5 mill, they had enough of 'em
Let me find out Hip Hop's turning Republican
I'll sum it up to what he is about
Still new to most, they still feeling him out
Things were type bland, Joey seasoned 'em out
I'm the nicest dude out since "Reasonable Doubt"
Say it ain't so
Rest in Peace Luther, there's some other niggas gay on the low (oh)
So live, who can see 'em? No guy
I'm the Mets, was supposed to be ill in '05
As ill as the flow gets, need a pill or don't snitch
So if you can't tell, I'm preparing for '06
About to OD, anybody that know me
Can tell you I'm bout to make shit feel like it's '03
More like '99
No names should be mentioned but mine
Unless you talking Big Pun in his prime
Maybe '96 Jay, before Dame was throwing money around
Or 2pac without Humpty around
Or 50 before Em, Nas talking like a gun in his song
Cam'ron during Children Of The Corn
Beans before the cops came through and try to grill 'em
I'm talking '95, Big L before they killed 'em
Em before 8 Mile, Shyne before the jail shit
Canibus, no album out before the L shit
Talking bout Kiss, DMX when he was fuckin' wit coke
Or "Cuban Linx," Raekwon and Ghost
I do it all, who blending so well in the game
Talking Fab, back when he was still spelling his name (mang)
On my Diddy shit, Memphis Grizzly shit
Like back in the day when Clue swiped all of Biggie's shit
Rappers don't need trouble with I
Unless it's Ras Kass before the D.W.I
Or Talib with Mos, Common before "Be"
If they any less common, don't put 'em before me
See, I'm not a rapper, I'm a prophet
Chill Joe stop it, skill will speak for you, don't pop shit
Fuck jail, I'm on my payroll cop shit
I call that bootleg cable, it's no box shit
All black, looking grimey in the crowd
Heat on him, no sir, don't try me when I'm out
I tote something tiny that'll blauh
Ain't gotta see Paul Wall, if you want something shiny in your mouth
I probably fool cats, cause I don't ride out in some big car
In the streets, like I ain't some big star
And these young mother fuckers is about to fuck up
Like leaving they whole career in some bitch car
No name, but it's no sublime
Nigga, you know who you are, I'll end it before it goes too far
Your buzz still fucked, you a liar money
I'm still spending "Pump It Up", "Fire" money
Glock for hire money, don't try to mug me
Call ASCAP, maybe BMI for money
Please, what's wrong wit 'em, something ain't the norm wit 'em
Ain't too many dudes out there, out-performin' 'em
Some acquire these skills, I was born wit 'em
Street's asking what's taking so long wit 'em
Jump Off, I'm the best to happen
He's the answer, the who's got the next in rapping
I suggest you ask 'em
If Hip Hop is all smoke and mirrors, then I'm the Windex and a napkin
New dudes is whack, some vets is has-beens
Some were Top 20, till I crept right past 'em
It's a wrap, Joey sealing it nigga
Cold out, long johns, still dealing it nigga
Still peeling it, nigga
If I only get 'em two times, just know it was the Derringer, nigga
It's that 'gnac music, don't know how to act music
Gettin' my Kanye on, putting out "Crack Music"
Car jack music, got what they lack music
Send my little man, get rid of the pack music
That I'm back music, that click clack music
That A-Team, Muggs, that Fab and Stack music
Now who said they fucking with me
They just said that fucking with me, they didn't mean it
Stuck between platinum and flop, underground and mainstream
Conscious, backpack, scratch that, same thing
I'm somewhere between the real and the fakeness
The red pill, blue pill -- real and the Matrix
And I can't take this; if the game needs a new look
I'm between a tummy tuck and a face lift
And everything I say in these pages
Is straight from the heart -- nah magazines, y'all can't rate this
Cuz I'll read the bit it's a bit outragous
Like it's an ear virus and this shit's contagious
I'm downloading like, "niggas actually play this?"
Maybe I'm bugging out, maybe I'm on a spaceship
See I was on my stay out jail shit
The way Mouse kills shit, I'm here just to lay out real shit
Besides, other dudes styles remind me of spinning rims
That shit got played out real quick
See some wrote him off, some said he was done
Made a joke of, hope he enjoyed the run
I don't enjoy being shunned, so I'm back as Neo
Fans enjoyed The One, annoint me has begun
I had the whole hood thinking he would never eat
Rappers tried to diss, thinking we would never meet
I heard it if you said it
You wrote it on online then I read it, now I match it, nigga -- bet it
Cause I remember clearly
Once "Pump It Up" stop soaring, there's a few motherfuckers stopped calling
See I remember shit spread like cancer
I would call folks, said folk ain't answer
A few chicks running started pulling they pants up
A few stopped acting like my private dancer
But a light bulb hit once they started to neglect me
See there I was, thinking I was all that sexy but I
Nah fuck that
Cause I'm still sexy, young and fly
Know-what-I-mean, ya heard?
[Verse 2]
Look here can't be finished, what nigga I beg ya pard'
I just let niggas get a head start
I walk to the finish, y'all spread out chase
Nah sprint out pace, and I'll still win the race (yep)
See I'm jogging
Other niggas legs starts wobbling, when opportunities start knockin
You got the crown, pass off like Stockton
It's time to work, I'm offically clocked in
He is a problem, weavin' and bobbin'
Through the speculation that his label tried to drop him
I can't leave, even though it's big options
Kev only signed me, to keep this shit rockin'
Don't ask me how I'm doin, I been better
Stuck in cold February, with a thin sweater
I'm far from a "Yes" man, I'm a trend setter
It's no games, just a Def Jam Vendetta
Don't put niggas in the same sink as me
I mean metaphors, story lines, deep shit, club shit, girl shit, world shit
They don't use the ink like me
Niggas don't even think like me
Who sees what I'm watching, he ain't poppin'
Don't deserve to drink water from the tub that I washed in
Wait, start again, it's a privilege to breathe the same air that I farted in
They want no parts with him
How dare niggas categorize me
If my name's on a mixtape, then capitalize me
I been stopped going to Mixtape Awards
Don't need them to tell me, the mixtapes is yours
I had other ideas, while hitting loot
I'm thinking red carpet, I went and copped a suit
See I'm thinking Grammys
Sunglasses on, with my On Top family and a bad bitch handy
He stayed at the "W" and felt like heaven
I'm at an actress's house, that felt like necking
R&B on, looked and felt like Meagan
Gave me headache till I felt like an Excedrin
Talk very fly
Least until I bought every pie, me me being war ready to my eyes
And these dudes might as well be Jamie Foxx
Trying to sound like somebody that already died
The kid keep a snub wit 'em, good pair of gloves wit 'em
Your first week ain't right, they can't fuck wit 'em
Now if you don't sell 5 mill, they had enough of 'em
Let me find out Hip Hop's turning Republican
I'll sum it up to what he is about
Still new to most, they still feeling him out
Things were type bland, Joey seasoned 'em out
I'm the nicest dude out since "Reasonable Doubt"
Say it ain't so
Rest in Peace Luther, there's some other niggas gay on the low (oh)
So live, who can see 'em? No guy
I'm the Mets, was supposed to be ill in '05
As ill as the flow gets, need a pill or don't snitch
So if you can't tell, I'm preparing for '06
About to OD, anybody that know me
Can tell you I'm bout to make shit feel like it's '03
More like '99
No names should be mentioned but mine
Unless you talking Big Pun in his prime
Maybe '96 Jay, before Dame was throwing money around
Or 2pac without Humpty around
Or 50 before Em, Nas talking like a gun in his song
Cam'ron during Children Of The Corn
Beans before the cops came through and try to grill 'em
I'm talking '95, Big L before they killed 'em
Em before 8 Mile, Shyne before the jail shit
Canibus, no album out before the L shit
Talking bout Kiss, DMX when he was fuckin' wit coke
Or "Cuban Linx," Raekwon and Ghost
I do it all, who blending so well in the game
Talking Fab, back when he was still spelling his name (mang)
On my Diddy shit, Memphis Grizzly shit
Like back in the day when Clue swiped all of Biggie's shit
Rappers don't need trouble with I
Unless it's Ras Kass before the D.W.I
Or Talib with Mos, Common before "Be"
If they any less common, don't put 'em before me
See, I'm not a rapper, I'm a prophet
Chill Joe stop it, skill will speak for you, don't pop shit
Fuck jail, I'm on my payroll cop shit
I call that bootleg cable, it's no box shit
All black, looking grimey in the crowd
Heat on him, no sir, don't try me when I'm out
I tote something tiny that'll blauh
Ain't gotta see Paul Wall, if you want something shiny in your mouth
I probably fool cats, cause I don't ride out in some big car
In the streets, like I ain't some big star
And these young mother fuckers is about to fuck up
Like leaving they whole career in some bitch car
No name, but it's no sublime
Nigga, you know who you are, I'll end it before it goes too far
Your buzz still fucked, you a liar money
I'm still spending "Pump It Up", "Fire" money
Glock for hire money, don't try to mug me
Call ASCAP, maybe BMI for money
Please, what's wrong wit 'em, something ain't the norm wit 'em
Ain't too many dudes out there, out-performin' 'em
Some acquire these skills, I was born wit 'em
Street's asking what's taking so long wit 'em
Jump Off, I'm the best to happen
He's the answer, the who's got the next in rapping
I suggest you ask 'em
If Hip Hop is all smoke and mirrors, then I'm the Windex and a napkin
New dudes is whack, some vets is has-beens
Some were Top 20, till I crept right past 'em
It's a wrap, Joey sealing it nigga
Cold out, long johns, still dealing it nigga
Still peeling it, nigga
If I only get 'em two times, just know it was the Derringer, nigga
It's that 'gnac music, don't know how to act music
Gettin' my Kanye on, putting out "Crack Music"
Car jack music, got what they lack music
Send my little man, get rid of the pack music
That I'm back music, that click clack music
That A-Team, Muggs, that Fab and Stack music
Now who said they fucking with me
They just said that fucking with me, they didn't mean it
( Joe Budden )
www.ChordsAZ.com