[Intro: Will Smith]
The separation of talent and sk**
Is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts
For people who are trying to excel
Who have dreams, that wanna do things
Talent you have naturally
Sk** is only developed
By hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft
[Verse: Sparrow]
I'm crazy if I say I'm gonna make it
But if I speak my mind enough, though
I bet crazy will seem sane
I feel for the kind of people
Who can't seem to find a peephole
Can't even seem to entertain simple questioning
Rants and attacks the person who seeks the truth
Spurns their efforts and makes every effort
To turn them into a new source of entertainment
Another dude with a bunch screws loose
A'in't that the truth? What else is new?
Just another day - Hey man, I'm telling you
But the truth is that the truth changes
With every opinion we may lay claims to
And different is different than insaneness
Insane is disdain toward anything different
A few strange angles can still form a shape
I think I'll reform my take and take aim
With one where I can staple a statement
Right into the middle of your foreheads
Of you f**ing naysayers who'd forego going forward
If it kept yourself in the majority
You'd forbid others from putting forth resources
Toward anything other than your ignorant unworldly worldview
Warn others “You're encouraged to go with the flow”
Go f** yourselves! I'll hold my tongue despite you fools
But I won't bite mine to oblige you
And find myself walking a mile with you in your shoes
[Bridge]
When the going gets tough
You gotta keep going
No matter the circumstances
No matter who's in your way, or why
[Hook]
Be the fire to the star
Let ‘em know you fixin' to do it right
You done figured out the game
So motherf**in' right, right right
All my winners put your hands up
Only if you believe (x3)
Oh, only if you believe (x3)
All my winners put your hands up .
[Verse: Sparrow]
f** anyone who doubts my motives
This story is my right, and I write mine as I go
Don't plagiarize or criticize - Just write your own!
At no point in time, in any chapter
Will my own lead character
Be undermined, be recognized
As another one left underdeveloped
Or easily described
When you critique me peeking through hindsight
When I tell you I've got something to prove
Know I'm the only juror in my courtroom
So judge me if you please
No acquittal for persecutors with their critical beliefs
There is no bigger critic of me than myself and I
Which is why I play the plaintiff, defendant
Hell, I'm the f**ing judge as well
I don't demand order in mine
It's more like a ballroom I guess
Cause you just keep waltzing in on your high horse
Even though you can't keep the ball in yours
Oh but you talk a big game though, don't you bro?
Chains and s*uts, money and fame - Dumb
So much so you're not ashamed - What a shame
When did ignorance become such a fixture in the game
That the kids grew up thinking idiots were the sh**
What a rude awakening learning they weren't sh**
Just a bunch of puppets
Must be tough overcoming becoming
What you grew up hoping to become
[Bridge]
[Hook]
[Outro: Will Smith]
The only thing that I see
That is distinctly different about me
Is I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill
You might have more talent than me
You might be smarter than me
But if we get on the treadmill together
(Laughter) Right?…There's two things:
You're getting off first, or I'm gonna die
It's really that simple