You - GRIP

Ah, ah, ah, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh (Uh)

You paved a lane in this rap biz, made a way for these Black kids
Paint your pain for the masses, ain't the same as these bastards
Escaped the chains and the shackles while these lame niggas baffled
This talent entangled with randomness, this game is a raffle
Could've been in this position at a younger ager
But maybe then my hunger fades
Could've signed a bad deal and be underpaid
Or made a hundred a mill' and maybe could've died a hundred ways
Cold winter nights and hot summer days
It's easy to become a slave when tryna put food on them plates
And shoes on your jits, you losin' your shit 'cause you movin' in place
Feel like you losin' the race (Ooh)
Maybe my shoes isn't laced (Ooh)
Paid all my dues and I faced (Ooh)
What only a few could embrace (Ooh)
A sinner for do-gooder's sake, I'm sparrin' and duelin' with snakes
So still keep a tool on my waist, but now they can Google me, wait
Used to be scan DeKalb (Ooh)
Life will knock you yo ass (Ooh)
If you don't land a jab (Ooh)
I played the hand I had and got my fam a bag
(Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh), yeah

I know you are a star, hope you get real far (Ooh)
'Cause where you need to be is exactly where you are (Ooh)
I know that you're a star, but don't take too long (Ooh)
One day you'll see, he'll never leave you in the dark

What you wanna be when you grow up? An NBA player
You know it's gon' be, like, you know, it's tough, but
It's somethin' that you can do, you believe in yourself? Yeah
You willin' to put the work in (Yeah) to get there?
It's a lot–, it gon' be a lot of obstacles and, uh, just hardships
And stuff that you gotta endure, but, you know what I'm sayin'
You–, you gotta know, you always gotta keep it in there
In your heart, know that you can do it, don't let nobody stop you
You know that, right? Of course, I know that

Little one, here my plea, you'll be okay, just listen to me
Never change, you'll earn some grace, the world a stage
So make 'em see, just have some fun, a major key
You'll feel some hate, but you're still free
You'll feel some pain, it may seem strange
But here's some game to feelin' free (Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh)

We 'posed to be corpses or in a penitentiary by a quarter-century
And don't no outside forces intervene
You sport the same skin as me, that's symmetry
Instead of closin' doors to limit me, more empathy, we absorb energy
So if you see me as your enemy, that's stemmin' from your inner-me
We get millies and still got poor tendencies
Support industries that don't care 'bout the war in these streets
And endorse 'em to eat, we feel forced to compete so we beef over a chorus and a beat
On a course of defeat, and of course it'll seat millions of asses in stadiums round the globe
This game pimped us, now everybody yell, "Ho!" (Ooh)
Chop of both of my feet before I ever sell soul (Ooh, ooh)
That's my word and I stick to it like Velcro (Ooh)
Had a dream I met my younger self, so I knelt low
And I told him these words (Ooh)
"You gon' go through a lot of shit that wasn't part of the plan (Ooh)
Take all them losses as lessons (Ooh)
Go as far as you can," (Ooh), uh

I know you are a star, hope you get real far (Ooh)
'Cause where you need to be is exactly where you are (Ooh)
I know that you're a star, but don't take too long (Ooh)
One day you'll see, he'll never leave you in the dark