[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]