[Verse 1: Abscaand]
Before Hip-Hop, I used to sleep my days away
Anything to stop me from facing responsibility
Until I traded in my apathy for determination
With that, of course, came sleep deprivation
I can't count the times I spent in my room, pacing
Waiting for the perfect line to cross my mind
Unable to close my eyes because that's time wasted
Reluctantly gaining the grind of Oli Sykes
I used to think I could instantly become the god mc without practicing
And that's when life poured me a cold gla** of humility
Writer's block can be so humbling
The way it leaves you stumbling over your words like a bumbling idiot
The public humiliation made me feel like quitting this
But it only increased my resilience
Which makes me pity the fool like Mr. T
Who thinks that writing raps is easily done
That's inconceivable, which means that you haven't listened to Run DMC
Because even they tell you that writing a rhyme is tricky
1997, they may think it's no Biggie
His flow is with me, his influence is ever-lasting, even in his pa**ing
He died when I was four, never really knew him while he was alive
But he contrived this new breed of emcee, which is I
And you can tell by the action I'm taking, I refuse to let his legacy go vacant
That's why I'm going non-stop on this beat with no hook
His impact on my style has earned him the fifth placement
As we descend, this is going from least to greatest
I'm showing love to the emcees that helped make me
And this is, in no way, a diss to the emcees stated
It's just the way that the game fell in my lap
It's crazy, but sometimes, it happens like that
Old cats made the Golden Age sound so extravagent
Like 90's kids reminiscing on the past again
The problem is they don't listen to what new rap has to offer
Some of us have learned from our forefathers
And earned the right to be called an artist
I know I have, because I stick to my Roots like Black Thought
This isn't just any beat, I wanted to come correct
Go so hard, that Biggie's bobbing his head from heaven
So many flows, you think I work at Progressive
So many bars, it's like I'm sitting on top of a prison
The mic gives me life like conception
Like Eminem and Jay-Z, I choose to use my words as weapons
This is lyrical warfare and I'm the necromancer
I resurrected this beat just to knock its teeth in
I'm filled with Stardust like Ziggy
A Blackstar like David Bowie, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli
Who envisions ripping cyphers and getting love from my city
And they will be with me, once I get on the road and start performing
Then, I'll fly to NY and be on Sway in the Morning
There's nothing that you can tell me, these lyrics will propel me
Off the ground and to a better place, safe and sound
While I'm making my rounds around the world, I'll think about how I came up
Engaged in a war with negative thoughts
Taking Suicidal Thoughts to a B.I.G. level
Fighting with a devil that took part of my life away
Now, the dust has settled, giving me peace of mind
In this peace, I found a reason to stay alive
My calm nature and purpose in life, they coincide
The flow is tried and true, from mind to you
You better mind the youth