[Verse 1]

Look, long live your idols, may they never be your rivals

Rakim was like Jesus, Chuck D wrote the Bible

G-Rap was God, I learned to punch from Kane

Lived in Queens so on Farmers we would see Todd James

Remember the cover of Black Panther with the fat gold chains

Then Slick Rick had a million of 'em

So I wanted a million of 'em

Yeah, back in my first days

When we ain't know who was the nicest nigga in 3rd Base

Which emcee was the worst before my emcee search

Some niggas thought Pete Nice, me, I thought MC Serch

This before I ever met Em, way before "Hammer Dance"

This when I was asking Carrie Anne to make me Hammer pants

Smooth B was dope, Greg Nice had character

Before I ever knew image would even matter, bruh

Ice Cube raised me, gotta mention Gang Starr

Me and Premier tight right now, we in the same squad

Always tell me stories on the game and how it changed, y'all

Life don't always come full circle, I can't explain, God

Teacher to student

The overlap and the generational gap I'm seeing is prudent

So when I speak of pursuing

What we deemed as mere dreams and illusions

Albeit a nuisance

I'm brewing from eyes that have seen through it

It's no time for even a body to be reclusive

Execs'll feed you excuses, and if its seasoned, you chew it

We got old ideologies, I think we should renew it

The psychology for some of that reasoning's even stupid

For me it's deeper than music, much deeper than music

They stole our musical freedom, up next it's freedom of music

As a tenth grade drop-out I'm watching the aftermath

Of everything streaming and doing the extremist

This is true shit

Don't take a genius to see the genius is stewing

Ain't got the reach to do it, so let me reach you can do it

It go



[Hook]

[Verse 2]

Look, look

If you live long you see your idols be your rivals

Hov was like the GOAT, congratulations on Tidal

Salute, you broke through many barriers for us

When we couldn't move the needle you carried us for us

Look forward, maybe in 30 years they'll implore us

Push to the back of the red ignore us

I think we nearing that border

Mr. Carter, who gon' fare for the authors?

They only there to extort us

Who gon be there to record us, nigga?

Even deeper who gon' care for our daughters?

And our sons just the vultures

We keep handing them the culture

And the hip-hop that raised this kid is one that spoke up

I'm pessimistic, I won't even get my hopes us

But if it's gon' all implode before it blow up

Need more than overcharging for what they did to the Cold Crush

Just a PSA in lieu of the movement

Can't get a quarter back now, what about future music?

Really



[Hook]



[Verse 3]

So if I'm gone when tomorrow come

The mission for my only-born when tomorrow come

How will we receive songs when tomorrow come?

Here's my study for understudies to borrow from

New Rage & Machine, nigga, we got this

Is what you hear when label ideas meet a plot twist

Used to be faded from the killer talk

Now we suffocating from the pillow talk

Every verse like, “damn, y'all love chivalry”

They offer me fame as a man, I chose dignity

Guess everything ain't for everybody

Maybe everybody ain't for everything

It ain't a thing, I'm looking through my career

I'm more the long game dude on how I choose to prepare

Not the richest, just the sickest, ask the dudes in your tier

Knew if I made it to the top I'd hate the views from up there

We don't value the same shit, I spoke through a despair

Stood out before it was cool to be weird, my nigga, you just appear

Before these niggas hit puberty

I was online talking like it's just you and me

The foolery, but since we hopping like rabbits

Calling everything that's dropping a classic

With all this modern day practice

Tactics that should rot in the ashes

Some are cut from the same cloth

Some have forgotten the fabric, listen

Raised a nigga that you rather leave at bay

She ain't walking in naked, she ain't fashionably late

Have her bring your good shoes so you can dodge around the rumors

In a suit that light the room up like Robert Downey Jr.'s

Fifth to the court tell I did this before

Without a bearing ask Karen, nothing civil in war

It's civil war, to judging off the shit that I saw

I'm trying to leave it so our kids'll have more

Tomorrow is bigger than all