D-Mac - Still I Rise lyrics

[Intro:Dr.Maya Angelou] Everyone in the world is going to bed one night or another with fear or pain or loss Or disappointment, and yet each of us has awaken arisen Some how made our absolution, seen other human beings, and said "Morning how are you? Fine thanks and you?" And it's amazing Wherever that abides in the human being, there is the nobleness of the human spirit Despite it all, black and white, Asian, Spanish, Native American, pretty, plain, thin, fat Vow to celibate...we rise [Verse 1: D-Mac] Through the cracks of the concrete grew a rose Blossoming every moment I stay true to my soul My pops asked son what you gonna do with your flows? Kick knowledge or talk about money,cars, and clothes? And hoes? I told em both I gotta I'm from the slums I deserve to tell em what I got now I started with none But to motivate's my m-o, and i do it because If i never make it I might inspire someone who does And make em think that they can cuz they could They try to make us think it aint no way up out the hood And we believe and grieve cuz we're naive and we don't know no better So I don't write raps I focus spreading open letters Like Dear Destiny, I'm just trying to get you next to me Give me that and I'll give u the best of me I bet you'll see nothing less from me, I think we're meant to be Especially cuz I'm from where your budget's small and dreams way bigger Where the cabs don't come and where the pizza don't deliver Grew up seeing bullet holes through my windows of opportunity Aint no unity its all for self its either you or me So I'm doing me but I still do it for my corner Where I sipped on those coronas and lit up that marijuana I swear on everything until the day that I'm a goner Imma wake up everyday and go harder than morning bo*ers One of a kind can't clone him f** slaving at 9 to 5's I'm striving to be the owner Got the persona of a loner, only trust few It's a must you, cut a check or yes its f** you, yeah f** you I don't need new friends, I don't need loose ends I just need new ends,rims for a new benz Brims for my new timbs, gin paper and a pen Grins from all of my kin, proud that I get it in to make it out Goals to grands, dreams to dollars, ideas to income, n***a, plans to prophet Couldn't afford dates, shared plates at Boston Market Now my bottom b**h in red bottoms on red carpets Verses like books out the bible that ghetto gospel Street sermons, Hood hymns, Proverbs for the projects Poetic & image so photogenic Leave yo hoe alone a second then be ready for home wreckage Check me out at times square, chilling with my circle Ace of spades out the bottle, swisher's filled with the purple The plates surf and turf, co*ktail sauce for prawn You get used to them shula steaks when you become a don Was rocking Sean John now its Louis V and Bally My partners long gone I do it to make em' happy In heaven smiling down on me I talk to em in my dreams Used to run with Roy and Keem, young and thugging as teens 40 tucked in my jeans, its nothing to squeeze I come on the scene, f**ing clean, the f** do you mean Do i love hoes? hell no I f** em and leave You n***as cuffing em'? please, I'm one and done with your queen n***a I'm a king, Martin reincarnated And boy I got a dream, me and my team all make it I'm just trying to do my thing, and some of yall hating Waiting for my downfall I use yall as motivation Motivate me in this world where it seems everybody wanna eat But nobody wanna season the meat Acting like we aint got the same hours in a day When I was out here grinding you was out here trying to play I was making visions, you was chasing b**hes So you aint gotta question the success you aint getting And if you aint risking don't expect to make a lot Dog how you gone score if you don't ever take a shot? Imma make it to the top, even if it takes a lot Boy I'm ready for whatever the devil cant make me stop I'm a Brownsub n***a boy I came up on the block Brownsub n***a boy we came up on a block [Hook: D-Mac] Where we grind, we ball we rise, we fall and then we rise again n***a, and then we rise again n***a Cuz real n***as take losses, and don't whine we get the f** up and get on our grind and we rise again n***a, and then we rise again n***a I said still I rise [Outro: Dr. Maya Angelou] Out of the huts of history's shame, I rise 
Up from a past that's rooted in pain, I rise 
A black ocean, leaping and wide, 
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide 
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear, I rise 
Into a daybreak miraculously clear, I rise 
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, 
I am the hope and the dream of the slave And so naturally, there I go rising.