Lyrics

Yeah Tryin' to eat, tryin' to live Survival in the eye of the storm and the cipher spins Like a spiral and we're trying to rise and the lightning hits Hairpins in every lock until they finally click, finally rich With information. We can take it if we want it Or just flip the station as that live audience applauds it Queue laugh track, did you hear that? They canned laughter, looks like a canister of tear gas Clear as some follow the money and some follow the love We all follow somebody's blueprint Plain as the black prints on the white one-sheet bio Gray areas are where I flow I know Brilliant practitioners who lack listeners Seen shamans make the ugliest spaces sacred Seen the best minds of my generation wasted Complacent Playing video games off in the basement Disillusioned with how the game went I can't blame them They can't pay rent We can't separate the bullshit from the authentic When the mixing and the mastering are bought on credit Is that the ticking of a time bomb Or is it opportunity knocking on my jewel case coffin? Is that the stacking of chips, like gettin' rich Or the sound of a million white kids hittin' skip? Not everyone who works hard earns it Not everyone who works hard earns it Not everyone who works hard earns it So if they ever make you a monument Scratch your name out, break it, spit on it, burn it I wrote two 16s on my 215s Each day from 16 to 22 it seems I pay dues to eat, made time for rhyming But is that why this promoter's in front of me smiling? If I talk about violence will they call me "violent" Or just "literate and politically minded"? I got so many problems with authority This oratory is validated and plated with relish like Intelligent hip hop? Doesn't that describe pretty much all of it?? Unless your definition of intelligent is off a bit I'm trying to be self-aware but it's hopeless When I got so many white rappers on my "Nope" list And never had no class 'til the best MC in my grad school class I just feel sometimes like acknowledging your privilege is the new not acknowledging your privilege Or rapping is the new "I have a black friend so I can't be racist" But it's a system not a sickness Payback with interest or its useless No intentions, rhetoric, allies, or excuses I thank everyone who's tuned in Deuces to every follower I'm losin' Defensiveness is a burden and Skin is only surface but History is real and It's absolutely certain: Not everyone who works hard earns it Not everyone who works hard earns it Not everyone who works hard earns it So if they ever make you a monument Scratch your name out, break it, spit on it, burn it