Macklemore - Otherside lyrics

[Intro] "Chad Butler, known as Pimp C, died in a Los Angeles hotel room..." "The L.A. County Coroner’s office ruled the rapper's d**h accidental..." "And attributed it to a combination of..." "Apnea?" "Yes." "...and syrup, and we know that syrup on the streets usually has codeine?" "Absolutely, we have a problem now with the cough syrup epidemic..." [Verse 1] He rolled up, asked him what he was sipping on He said lean, you want to hit it, dawg? That's the same stuff Weezy's sipping huh And tons of other rappers that be spitting hard Yup, he had five up on When he pa**ed him that Styrofoam The Easter pink, heard it in a rhyme before Finally got to see what all the hype was on And then he took a sip, sitting in the Lincoln Thinking he was pimping as he listened to the system Little did he know that it was just as addictive as base Not the kind of hit from the kick drum Hot box, let the ba** bump Take it to the face, gulp Months later the use went up Every blunt was accompanied by the pink stuff But goddam, he loved that feeling Purple rain coated in the throat, just so healing Medicine alleviate the sickness Liquid affix and it comes with a cost Wake up, cold sweat, scratching, itching Trying to escape the skin that barely fit him Gone, get another bottle just to get a couple swallows Headed towards the bottom couldn't get off it Didn't even think he had a problem Though he couldn't sleep without getting nauseous Room spinning Thinking he might of sipped just a little bit too much of that cough syrup His eyelids closed shut Sat back in the chair clutching that cup Girlfriend came and a couple hours later Said his name, shook him but he never got up He never got up, he never got up We live on the cusp of d**h thinking that it won't be us It won't be us, it won't be us, it won't be us Nah, it won't be us [Verse 2] Now he just wanted to act like them He just wanted to rap like him Us as rappers underestimate the power and the effects that we have on these kids Blunt pa**ed, ash in a tin Pack being pushed, hara**ed by the Feds The fact of it is most people that rap like this Talking about some sh** they haven't lived Surprise, you know the drill Trapped in a box, declining record sales Follow the formula: violence, d**, and s** sells So we try to sound like someone else This is not Californication There's no way to glorify this pavement Syrup, Percocet, and an eighth a day Will leave you broke, depressed, and emotionally vacant Despite how Lil Wayne lives It's not conducive to being creative And I know cause he's my favorite And I know cause I was off that same mix Rationalize the sh** that I'd try after I listen to Dedication But he's an alien I'd sip that sh** Pa** out or play PlayStation Months later I'm in the same place No music made, feeling like a failure And trust me it's not dope to be twenty-five And move back to your parent's basement I've seen my people's dreams die I've seen what they can be denied And "Weed's not a drug," that's denial Groundhog Day, life repeat each time I've seen Oxycontin take three lives I grew up with them We used to chief dimes I've seen c**aine bring out the demons inside Cheating and lying Friendship cease, no peace in the mind Stealing and taking anything to fix the pieces inside Broken, hopeless, headed nowhere Only motivation for what the dealer's supplying That rush, that drug, that dope Those pills, that crumb, that roach Thinking I would never do that, not that drug And growing up nobody ever does Until you're stuck Looking in the mirror like I can't believe what I've become Swore I was going to be someone And growing up everyone always does We sell our dreams and our potential To escape through that buzz Just keep me up, keep me up Hollywood, here we come [Outro] You can tend to, um, go a little too far with some of these things , they have very strong addictive qualities, pills and syrups and whatnot, so um… (Is it changing the music?) Um, I can only speak for myself personally, you know what I'm saying? Um, we had been taking down, toning down the content of certain things in the music lately. My new album, of course, probably won't have any references to cough syrup in it, but, uh, it's a little bit more than the music. I think it's gonna start affecting the personal lives of a lot of artists and people...