[Verse 1: J. Cole]

I hit the weed I told myself the last time would be my last

I don't trust my own niggas now my mind racing fast

Got my foot up on the gas, got a hundred on the dash

If the police run up on me I ain't stopping for their ass

Boy you know my L's dirty if they stop me I'm goin to jail surely

I'll be next to my brother in the cell no bail for me

Man let me out send me back to bitches that smell Purdy (pretty)

And all I gotta do is call once and she'll be all ready

Yeah buddy can't you tell I'm goin thru hell

I don't even open my mail

I'm in the shower with soap on the towel

I need cleansing

Bad bitches all on the prowl they need Benzes

Pussy niggas running they mouth but we ain't flinching

They names ain't even mentioned

I got dreams bigger then your whole team

You niggas so broke but yet somehow you seem so green

I guess it's envy, started with a penny now I'm getting plenty money



[Hook:]

One time for the city, yea

Two times for you

Hey

And one time for the city, hey

Two times for you

Hey



[Verse 2: J. Cole]

Look kid, it's raining outside boy

Fuck an umbrella, niggas banging outside boy

They guns dumb bell a nigga

Tired of telling niggas that's a cease rest in peace

We tired of only having just a peace

And fuck policing, they killing niggas what's the reason

His daughter starving and she fucking freezing

So no wonder why he fucking squeezing

They out here bussin' leavin' niggas stuck in bleedin' on the flo'

Bullets wet you like a semen on a hoe

Breathing slow man I inhale

One day you tryna make rent, next day you in jail

Lord knows he meant well

So I take the pencil and write like a pen pal

Some shit that's darker than the tints up on the windshield

Welcome to sinville where niggas on base

Shit is looking like an infield

High as a Sprint bill

What you think, that's the reason why this ink in my pen kills

Phoney niggas until they are extinct, bitch I've been real



[Hook:]

One time for the city, yea

Two times for you

Hey

And one time for the city, hey

Two times for you

Hey



[Verse 3:]

The more niggas sayin'

Cole the wrong one bringin' the city shine

All he ever doin' is paintin' pictures of crime

Tellin' stories of pain, paintin' pictures of dope

Bitch if you listen I'm paintin' pictures of hope

That boy in class embarrassed because he broke

Hopin' the day he won't be the butt of somebody's jokes

See me; I lived it all from dirt-poorin' and trailer

Worried about my mother and never trustin' my neighbors

To middle-class with a backyard and my own room

To bein' the only black kid in my homeroom

Academically gifted and followed my own rules

Was runnin' the streets hey ma I'll be home soon

Was out chasin' ho's, was out hoopin'

Them niggas wasn't ballin' but yet they was foul shootin'

So meet the newest role model who don't know how to fake this shit

Never sold a rock and look I made it bitch



[Hook:]

One time for the city, yea

Two times for you

Hey

And one time for the city, hey

And two times for you

Hey



[Outro:]

Girl it's been so long, I've been gone from you

But you ain't gotta worry 'bout the thangs I do

It's hard but the thought of you would ease my pain

Girl I promise they gon' know our name

Ain't seen you smile in awhile

But I been dreamin' 'bout you