[Verse 1: Sapient] I've been obsessed with words ever since I was a little buck Then I grew bigger And figured drawing pads weren't big enough I wanted to use a wall, but in school was taught not to And that graffiti was the root of all evil It's just letters and making them unnatural shapes So clean caps, surgical masks is actually sayin' activate To coat our empire Liftin' mad cans of paint from Fred Meyer's Empty 'em out under bridges and walls of alleyways Giving the graff task force a sour taste The same flavor that makes haters salivate It was my goal as a minor, caught a felony, so nowadays I don't struggle to prove nothing to you I get a head full of letters, I'm cutting 'em loose Up in the booth, cousin, it ain't a gift, it's a habit Whether good or bad, I won't regret it when I'm looking back [Hook: Sapient] ‘Cause I'm a letterhead I'm a letterhead So don't sweat the technique When I represent me; get 'em! [Verse 2: Illmaculate] Lunch time, I was tryin' to bring that realness back f** the lunch line,‘ cause I ain't have no sprill or sprash I was on the way to Fred Meyer's just to fill my bags Steppin' in the home improvement section With my sticky hands That's why I got these baggy pants, to conceal the stash But undercover security can't conceal his badge I know every single camera that this building has And I racked so many cans that I'm almost feeling bad That's exactly what a bad look ain't ‘Cause it's quite good, like the Backwood taste
And I never stole a Snickers, but I have took paint So hello my name is pickers in the blackbook, thanks sh**, I'd be admired if I was trying harder But I'm a riot starter, beef igniter Just a street writer, but I hope to die a martyr Freedom fighter, with a stolen Pilot marker [Hook: Illmaculate] Why you got all that spray paint on your finger tips? ‘Cause I'm a letterhead I'm a letterhead So don't sweat the technique While I represent me [Verse 3: Macklemore] I was just a kid in Seattle, doing kickflips in a flannel With some fat caps, I racked off midget enamels In Cali, they rhyme "Shelltoes" with "Melrose" My posse was on Broadway, scribin' on the metros Gettin pound by the bus driver, "Hell nah!" I was a letterhead, my life was graffiti Letters I lived, I put pride in that mean street Adventures to your ribs, I'm not going to the precinct You can buff me, you can cuff me, you can't stop me I'm young, co*ky, gettin' up with my sharpie Michelangelo with the concrete That little ball in the paint can Was the metronome to my heart beat I put my freedom on the line for the letters on the walls Shubu, patriot, flat black up in my palm Cherry red in my blood, I bleed the ink through my arms It's like America; bombing buildings and not getting caught [Hook: Macklemore] Nope, I'm not getting caught ‘Cause I'm a letterhead Yes, I am, I've been telling you that Don't sweat the technique While I'm k**ing these beats