I Swear, This Is Not an André 3000 Diss Song

Lyrics

[Intro] Are we out of time? [Verse] I swear I wanna like this Andre album When they announced it, I got all excited This artist I've admired is finally outta hidin' Somehow he got inspired, then decided It's time to break his silence, but he told us he's stayin' silent Playing flute instead of rhyming I'm like, "Yeah, okay, that's cool", I'm behind it Somethin' different, but somethin's missin', it felt way off Felt like watchin' Jordan play baseball, then I got suspicious Like, André, did you let your inner critic win? Did you convince yourself that you isn't him? Do you got hard drives full of hidden gems? Locked behind computers and won't let us in? And listen You don't have to, yeah, I get it, man, but who am I supposed to listen to? Lil' who? Or another rapper with ghostwriters who only asset is that they visual? With all due respect, I'm sort of pissed at you 'Cause I been hearin' things you said in interviews and it's got me a bit confused Saying you too old to bring somethin' new, that isn't true But who am I supposed to listen to? I'd rather hear from an old you, than just be stuck with hearin' all your old tunes But who am I? Just one of your pupils, who got student pride Sometimes it feel like you dead, but you alive I just pray before the day that you truly fly You feel like the gift God gave you was fully utilized And maybe this is foolish pride, like, what do I think I'm doin'? I'm just a stranger out here asking this man for new music And you never listen to nobody except yourself so I know this is useless You dropped "Hey Ya!" at the height of G-Unit And, man, that's gangsta, you the ultimate non-conformist You kept pushin' boundaries, explorin', you taught us normal is borin' That's the thing I love about you the most, you re-invented yourself You raised the bar on what you expect of yourself But maybe the bar got so high that you can't even reach it Unsatisfied, start calling all your heaters decent, then you don't release it Honestly it's hard to believe, 'cause I heard all your features You got Killer Mike a Grammy, man, that joint was recent And look, no disrespect to him either but, dog, you tweakin' This all speculation, I don't know the reason neither But my guess is that it's pressure, it's probably easier To be a flute player than one of the greatest rappers ever ever (Ever ever?) And I know I'm soundin' critical But if I'm comin' clean, this got more to do with me, it isn't you 'Cause you're an artist I aspire to, now you gone and retired I think my deepest fear is that I see myself inside of you It's been three years and I been quiet too And all this time, I been inside the stu' Everything I cook up feel meh, like it's kinda cool Got me really thinking like, man, maybe my time is through And you got nothing left to prove, I'm still playin' festivals To pay my team and fund the dreams that I'm yet to execute And everyday, I'm less enthused to write a rhyme or bless the booth Every thought ain't fresh and new like when I was twenty-two When music was the place I would express it through I was fightin' for respect, rappin' like the rent was due I wanted the world to love me, now a couple friends'll do Tell the truth, are these the thoughts you had? Is where you at where I'm headed to? So every year that I ain't heard from you The insecurities I'm workin' through, feel like for sure they true So please don't take it personal But you moved on from rap, and I don't think I got the courage to [Outro] But keep your heart, Three Stacks, keep your heart Share your art, Three Stacks, share your art Share your thoughts, Three Stacks, share your thoughts If I could be anyone, I'd be me, yeah, yeah If I could be anyone, I'd be me Maybe I'll start