(Verse 1) In my city it's a pity brothers rarely make it out I'm from a small town where college seldom is the route Slaving in the oil field, dirty, sun beaming Or either at Texas Eastman keeping your clothes greasy I remember how we used to play Basketball and ride bikes ‘til the end of day Pops used to say, “Son, I hope you make the grades ‘Cause I'm working hard for you so you can make a way” But I was daydreaming Nodding my head to the beat, and every word I'm singing Enter into another world through my headphones, I was clinging To the art of expression, with a plan to write my life into a studio session My homies asked why I quit hooping – I coulda' shined I'd tell ‘em how I felt with a 2Pac line Plus I was losing on the court, but I was loving my rhymes That's all I really need to satisfy (Chorus) (2x) Sometimes I feel North Carolina Blue Sittin' here reminiscing over you We all tryna' make it through, but it's not use Looking in the rearview, we gotta try something new (Verse 2) I'm not from NC, I'm from Longview, Texas But growing up we loved the ‘Heels or the Blue Devils Bumpin' DJ Screw, all ba**, no treble And never knew about the east until Roc-a-fella, or actually Biggie We kept it southern sh** strictly Didn't know about much outside the state where we were living But we were living good, no one was rich but our folks provided what they could We stacking chips through side hustles off up in the ‘hood It was a carefree life, at least to me it was We kept a slow boogie, rarely even thinking of The next day, then suddenly we in the 12th grade I'm off to college a lot of my pa'tnas on to getting paid One way or the other, we all were growing up And now we grown, I visit home and start to choking up When I see the ones who never learned to slow it up I'm wondering if I had stayed, would I have lacked in focus, bruh? (Chorus) In this life sometimes I wanna quit I'm too damn old not to really have sh** That's how I feel sometimes, I'm hating working all this overtime I should be starting but I'm riding pine, plus I know I can rhyme So what's the use of a masters degree? And when I pray to God, he never answers simply It's tempting me to wanna take a different approach Then I think of my parents, I get a lump in my throat How they smile when they see me, my old students stop and greet me Never could imagine I'd be teaching, but I really seemed to reach ‘em Least I hope so, then the more I think, I know so Yea I was mad when the district kept my dough low But I live a life I can be proud of Trying to follow the path that's less traveled Though at times I may get rattled Pursuing purpose and my music makes me happy ya'll (Chorus)