[Verse 1]Look, long live your idols, may they never be your rivalsRakim was like Jesus, Chuck D wrote the BibleG-Rap was God, I learned to punch from KaneLived in Queens so on Farmers we would see Todd JamesRemember the cover of Black Panther with the fat gold chainsThen Slick Rick had a million of 'emSo I wanted a million of 'emYeah, back in my first daysWhen we ain't know who was the nicest nigga in 3rd BaseWhich emcee was the worst before my emcee searchSome niggas thought Pete Nice, me, I thought MC SerchThis before I ever met Em, way before "Hammer Dance"This when I was asking Carrie Anne to make me Hammer pantsSmooth B was dope, Greg Nice had characterBefore I ever knew image would even matter, bruhIce Cube raised me, gotta mention Gang StarrMe and Premier tight right now, we in the same squadAlways tell me stories on the game and how it changed, y'allLife don't always come full circle, I can't explain, GodTeacher to studentThe overlap and the generational gap I'm seeing is prudentSo when I speak of pursuingWhat we deemed as mere dreams and illusionsAlbeit a nuisanceI'm brewing from eyes that have seen through itIt's no time for even a body to be reclusiveExecs'll feed you excuses, and if its seasoned, you chew itWe got old ideologies, I think we should renew itThe psychology for some of that reasoning's even stupidFor me it's deeper than music, much deeper than musicThey stole our musical freedom, up next it's freedom of musicAs a tenth grade drop-out I'm watching the aftermathOf everything streaming and doing the extremistThis is true shitDon't take a genius to see the genius is stewingAin't got the reach to do it, so let me reach you can do itIt go[Hook][Verse 2]Look, lookIf you live long you see your idols be your rivalsHov was like the GOAT, congratulations on TidalSalute, you broke through many barriers for usWhen we couldn't move the needle you carried us for usLook forward, maybe in 30 years they'll implore usPush to the back of the red ignore usI think we nearing that borderMr. Carter, who gon' fare for the authors?They only there to extort usWho gon be there to record us, nigga?Even deeper who gon' care for our daughters?And our sons just the vulturesWe keep handing them the cultureAnd the hip-hop that raised this kid is one that spoke upI'm pessimistic, I won't even get my hopes usBut if it's gon' all implode before it blow upNeed more than overcharging for what they did to the Cold CrushJust a PSA in lieu of the movementCan't get a quarter back now, what about future music?Really[Hook][Verse 3]So if I'm gone when tomorrow comeThe mission for my only-born when tomorrow comeHow will we receive songs when tomorrow come?Here's my study for understudies to borrow fromNew Rage & Machine, nigga, we got thisIs what you hear when label ideas meet a plot twistUsed to be faded from the killer talkNow we suffocating from the pillow talkEvery verse like, “damn, y'all love chivalryâ€They offer me fame as a man, I chose dignityGuess everything ain't for everybodyMaybe everybody ain't for everythingIt ain't a thing, I'm looking through my careerI'm more the long game dude on how I choose to prepareNot the richest, just the sickest, ask the dudes in your tierKnew if I made it to the top I'd hate the views from up thereWe don't value the same shit, I spoke through a despairStood out before it was cool to be weird, my nigga, you just appearBefore these niggas hit pubertyI was online talking like it's just you and meThe foolery, but since we hopping like rabbitsCalling everything that's dropping a classicWith all this modern day practiceTactics that should rot in the ashesSome are cut from the same clothSome have forgotten the fabric, listenRaised a nigga that you rather leave at bayShe ain't walking in naked, she ain't fashionably lateHave her bring your good shoes so you can dodge around the rumorsIn a suit that light the room up like Robert Downey Jr.'sFifth to the court tell I did this beforeWithout a bearing ask Karen, nothing civil in warIt's civil war, to judging off the shit that I sawI'm trying to leave it so our kids'll have moreTomorrow is bigger than all
