[Verse One: Masta Ace]
Walking through my hood feeling good about my destiny
I realize that God's only testing me
I can't complain cause when I look at the game
I see dudes that got a whole lot less than me
A lot of dudes got a lot more stress than me
I'm Looking Out The Front Door like Extra P
Other cats still stuck in the backyard
Everyone running round like a track squad
Just cause you rap hard, don't mean the fans care
Cause you can have a lot of hype, a lot of fan fair
It don't mean your air play is gon' match that
Heavy row you be happy to get half that
When I think about it, I'm quite fortunate
Cause this is something that I never made a fortune with
But looking at the grand scheme of things
It was never 'bout them black Benz and Beamer dreams
[Scratch Hook]
"It was all a dream" - Notorious B.I.G. 'Juicy'
"A never ending saga when I rap to these beats" - Gang Starr 'The Squeeze'
"Never forget where you came from
Never forget where you got your name from
And the game from" - Cali Agents 'Neva Forget'
"Now before making records the hood was my savior" - Lords Of The Underground 'Tic Toc'
"New York, New York" - Rakim 'New York, New York'
"Are you ready?"
"Original heads represent the Brooklyn all night" - The Crooklyn Dodgers 'Crooklyn'
[Verse Two: Strick]
Where I'm from, record label n***as won't come
They say they will, get you all thrilled and don't come
Damn, I think I said that on an old joint
Cause it was true and you dudes kinda missed the whole point
Yeah, so then I bounced to see some other places
Try some new ideas, see some other faces
I even tried to take a break from rapping
Then I decided to break so I could make it happen
When I'm home I see the same cats I started with
Trying to start their career with the same starter kit
My phone rings but I'm scared to answer
Cause they gon' ask me some things that I don't really care to answer
It's not that I'm the greatest or I'm balling out
It's just that I'm good where I'm at and that's what it's all about
But looking at the grand scheme of things
It was never 'bout them black Benz and Beamer dreams
[Scratch Hook]
[Verse Three: Masta Ace]
Was I rapping hoping I could cop a black five?
Prolly, I wanted to be one of those rap guys
Popping the champagne cork getting baptized
But God said "no" and the boat capsized
Then I washed up on shore and discovered that
If you doing this and don't have a love of rap
If you covet that crown for the king of things
You just living for them black Benz and Beamer dreams
[Scratch Hook]