What I was made to do growing up I was made to hate
I was just another time bomb that was afraid to wait. I refused to wait
There were no spare seconds allotted for those who wanted to
Decide and control my fate
I was almost exclusively contrary and wary of the ways of the world that wanted to
Wager and cast lots on my cloth as it unfurled
I lost my innocence when I lost my baby curls
Mullet gone in the first grade. Hello world
The world said "hi jake." I'm meaner than I seem
I'm waiting to rain upon all your hopes and your dreams
So what you thinking? This should be day one stuff
You watch everything fall apart thus you learn to be tough
Like Okonkwo. Chinua Achebe writ it
Ikemefuna versus Unoka, who's really living?
Feel the rhythm of your bumps and bruises
Double the tempo up. Last man standing loses
Living is proven by movement it's fast and it hurts
We leaders are bleeding with speed while the weak are in reverse
Solutions are seen slowly cause we learn and revert
We burn what we work for. We see by the light of the curse
You and I will someday be riding in a hearse. Even my verses aren't impervious
I'd rather fade with the world than live on endlessly just serving it
Imma take inventory of everything I know and slowly start unlearning it
You're scared of the end? You should see how frightening the journey is
But now I'm stronger and I rap better. Became resilient and more clever
Got a rhyme book loaded with hotness better than hell's weather
Everything's flying by I gotta window seat in a lemmings' cliff
I tend to stay seated saying “what if, what if, what if?”
I'm not scared to die, I'm scared that when I do I won't have lived yet
And when I look back at my calendar the empty days are chances I'll never get back
Why is it so easy to see the hardships and set backs?
I haven't accomplished much but it's my own fear that did that
Recognize your inhibitions, we're swimming in superstitions
But I'll carry 13 black cats under a ladder in an instant
With salt on my shoulders I brush em off with some hard knocks
Take a grain with every word you hear until your heart stops