"Everything may be nothing, but nothing is perfection."
Ayo, this is Progress and this is my story
[Verse 1]
Straight from the Boxx, I'd like to tell a tale
From what seems to be the apex of my acts of avail
It's why I write, just seems to be the notion
For just going through the motions and avoiding all emotion
I started the rhymes so that I could touch a heart
Heartbreak was the story from what seemed to be the start
I hate looking back, nostalgia is a curse
Prepare to enter my past through a verse
My life was more than it ever was before
An event unpredicted would change forevermore
I suppose that it made for quite the exciting quote
I'll refrain from naming names and avoid an anecdote
I was confused for who I was, what I'd become
From all that oversaw, I refused to succumb
I wouldn't let 'em take me, I wouldn't let 'em break me
Walking through the flames but they won't incinerate me
I wanted people to feel everything that I wrote
I strove to be the greatest with every single note
He was my inspiration, knowledge was my concentration
And a sense of hurt seemed to be my consecration
So I wrote every night until my pencil fell asleep
I'd awaken in my dreams and compose another piece
They don't get what it means to be a true artist
Rapping all about b**hes, hoes & Ferraris
Tell me you remember when the game started out
I seemed to have the premonition for what this was about
To tell about your life, where you live, how you grew up
About how you defeated the streets and f**ing blew up
But no, I see the sh** on TV
Rapper getting shot, could the next one be me
I don't want a beef with a guy who likes to scream
And rap about the club and some hoe who's 18
[Bridge]
So I have a little box in the corner of my shelf
Where I wrote and recorded my experience in Hell
Every single rhyme I spoke, every single line I smoked
Countless sheets of paper overrun with brushstrokes
They show the true me and who I strive to be
They show the true Pro, all my lies and my dreams
So I refuse to turn the latch for the fear of what's inside
When feeling's coincide and the powers will collide, that's why
[Hook: Sarah Jaffe]
I flee the scene like it was my last ride
You see right through, oh you had me pegged the first time
You can see the truth, but it's easier to justify
What's bad is good
And I hate to be the bad guy
I just hate to be the bad guy
(Follow me I ruh-uh-un, follow me I ruh-uh-un)
I just hate to be the bad guy
(Follow me I ruh-uh-un, follow me I ruh-uh-un)
[Verse 2]
And I appear to be the bad guy when I say that I erupt
Or they say that I'm corrupt when I appear to self-destruct
That's f**ed up, I just need a little time
To vent my frustration and to truly speak my mind
I bet you think that I'm evil for all the sh** that I spit
Because it won't be fun and games when the rhythm finally hits
That's a hint, you don't need to f** with me
I'll eliminate your being infinitesimally
So here I am, sitting in this locker room
Writing lyrics to a song just for you to listen to
Scanning away at this hopeless, broken room
That can't be repaired with just some nails and some screws
It'll take a lot more to repair the soul of Pro
Venting thru a song many tales of woe
It's like I'm Poe, I seek to terrify
No, Socrates, I only wanna' clarify
What does it seem like every time I bust a rhyme
That there's another bullsh** hater that wants to step in line
I'll make a bee-line from my fist to his nose
And use the blood as ink for the next rap I wrote
You can choke on a motherf**ing dick for all I care
No sh** it's no fair, choke dangling in midair
I'll tear your f**ing stomach from the bowels of your chest
And use your heartstrings as thread to sew a fresh vest
Wanna' bet, I'm insane as you see
I'm just the bad guy, it's just the persona for me
This war won't be the clean, this next rhyme's obscene
I swear to f**ing Jesus I'm the last thing you'll see
How's this for a verse, I'll chop off all you limbs
Use them as firewood and eat the rest for dinner
I can scarcely remember when I used to be sane
But then again, there's still a spot in the corner of my brain
[Bridge + Hook]
[Verse 3]
So I had to be the bad guy, who murders and lies
And is already scheming another plan to devise
So precise, down to the last second
Small than that, the smallest unit of measurement
Some days I dream of taking a car out in the rain
Turning off the lights and playing chicken with a train
But then I remember that I ain't using my brain
f** that sh**, I'll take it swimming in this lake
"Look at what you've done
Look at all the pain that you've caused
Think about it
Think about how many lives are gone because of you
How about that, huh?
How many people got offended
How many people cried
Don't you see?
You'd have been better off if you'd never even been born
That's right
You could just die right now and I don't think anyone would care
What do you gotta' say to that?"
Pro, how could you do this, you had to much to live for
What about that girl and all you had to give for her
What about your parents who raised you to be great
What about your brother who would die without you, mate
What about the God who you promised your life to
What about your friends and the others that you've lied to
You're living in a lie, just face it, you know it
And you only had one, now look, you've gone and blown it
There too much not to show it, your hands covered in blood
Your fingerprints on the blade and your feet are tracking mud
You eyes are tearing up and your hair is falling out
One trigger-squeeze away from the lights going out
Come back to us man, we forgive you, we promise
No more messing up, we'll be completely honest
I could never go back to when I unleashed the shock
Do what you want with my ashes, but don't open the box
That was my story, bloodied up and gory
Down to the last ounce of lies that sat before me
For a fan that adores me, a family that ignores me
You won't even breathe without remembering my story
"Perfection is in the eye of those who live their lives for others."