Who Is Terrace Martin?

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Who is Terrace Martin? I'm just another artist tryna catch a break In this world starving, hungry for love and the truth Regardless of what I've found life taught me "be optimistic" Can't receive a blessing with my head down, I might miss it So my head in the clouds at least for right now Organic vodka and this weed won't let me come down But when I do, reality consumes My sober brain can't take the smallness of this little room Call my life, 4 kids, no wife Four baby mamas who all said they hate me at one point in time Rightfully so cause I ain't shit, I barely see my kids Like I should, I traded them for the music biz It hurt me when I say that shit out loud Some of the things I said and did was so foul I ain't proud, what I am is an imperfect man I try to send my babies bread whenever I can But that's few and far between My money ain't what it once was, I was living a dream A long way from 8th and Slauson Boulevard Fascinated with hood shit, but wasn't a hood star A cultured boy in a hood of sharks Whoever thought my love for music would take me this far Some of these scars, we wasn't piss poor But it was hard moving into that motel off of Crenshaw My daddy was in and out of the crack house Many a days, me and my momma had to pull him out That's why my skin so tough now You think I give a fuck what these rap niggas talking about Not in the least, all you niggas could die And I wouldn't give a rest in peace No rest, no sleep, cocaine in my bloodstream And I'm up trying to get this cheese Yeah I turned into that nigga Signed a deal with Warner and compromised my whole vision Round that time I met Wiz Khalifa A big dreamer from Pittsburgh, smoked a gang of reefer My house reeked of cannabis sativa What got me high was the shit coming out of the speakers Warner dropped him, they wasn't believers Truthfully speaking they wasn't fucking with me neither Snoop helped me get that situation I broke bread with my niggas, most of my niggas hated But not Jason, me and Problem so basic Just had fun with the music, avoid the confrontation Other niggas thought my deal was a meal for them And west laid plotting on me letting my feelings spill Chrissy heard the whole ordeal I'll never fuck with them again, so real [Verse 2] Three years passed, same scene, different cast Old team went bad, lost focus, got it back Me and Quik crossed paths in the lab, he was fast Breaking sound down to math, eventually we would clash We patched it up, that was in the past To be real, I couldn't even tell you why we was mad My Top Dawg niggas put us in the same room To mix Jay Rock album, the energy resonated through When I seen him, I already knew That any problem that we had wasn't an issue Same session me and Dr. Dre reconnected In the presence of them legends, taught me a valuable lesson Stay humble, never act reckless Cause all of this could be gone in a split second It did before, I slipped into depression And couldn't work 'cause my gift, I was second guessing A lot of that was over my ex, shit A lot of people tried to warn me I didn't even trip I quit music, sold all my shit Evil bitch sucked me dry, had me so sick Watching TV was a trip I couldn't turn the channel without seeing somebody she fucked with That marked the birth of Here, My Dear Combinations of emotions I experienced in them dark years (I had no idea) Hold up, I'ma stop here Cause Kendrick said it all, my downfall is documented But my rise is cemented Acclaimed critics dig it, women love it, niggas feel it Some of which vented they want the vintage Terrace Martin, in my eyes, is on the finish line Progress away, thinking I caught myself just in time [Outro: Terrace Martin] Life... It's all true So I wanna take this time out right now to just To just... acknowledge... a few folks that touched my life Touched my heart and touched my soul this past year That we lost Mr. Harold Williams We love you, you gone but never forgotten MJ, what's up! I ain't know you that long, playboy But you had an everlasting energy and effect on my life, and those around you Rest in love, gone but never forgotten Nate Dogg... wow, Nate Dogg I miss you I'm gonna grab my horn [Saxophone Solo: Terrace Martin]