Who can paint a picture of my outcome? Still won't make a difference where I come from. You can walk away from me There's nothing more to say to me I'm father figure skating. Try to tell me something cause it's different now, But let me count the ways that I can show you how. You got a lot to say to me But really you just playing me. Born 11-19-76 in the midst of conflicts, Me the quick fix. From the potential tomb, to the womb, to the emergency room, Escaped doom, soon to bloom. Even though my pops plan could never defeat us, Cause between us, when I was a fetus, was greeted by Jesus. He introduced me to a world that turns, and burns, Where hate is the worm that spreads the germ. Never concerned, cause I made through the pregnancy term. Learned at an early age that you must stand firm. So I breathed, stretched, blessed the Lord. They used a double-edged sword to clip the cord. It was my first taste of pain with much more to come, Screaming while they extract the mucus from my lungs. With me the new addition makes the family complete. We made it home in stolen car seat. And it's all sweet and calm until your mom gets beat. Call it common occurrences doomed to repeat Cause home was a prison and a nursery combined We learned how to deal because we never could malign. Cause daddy was a misfit chasing crime My mom had to be a father at the same time. But when you live by the gun, you end up getting shot So you can rest in unrest Pop. Who can paint a picture of my outcome? Still won't make a difference where I come from. You can walk away from me There's nothing more to say to me I'm father figure skating. Try to tell me something cause it's different now, But let me count the ways that I can show you how. You got a lot to say to me But really you just playing me. Skate to California state at the age eight. Now with a step-dad everything's great. I start to get attention for the first time, And in the public he fronts and tells everyone he's mine. We develop a kinship, a father-son relationship, But good things often come to an end, you get stripped. We got a new addition to the family, And since he's the seed of my step-dad's tree, he found no obligation to invest in me. The best of me considers that he's testing me With lessons of letting me Feel withdrawn. As time grew on We found it very difficult to get along. So it was better to jet instead of letting him get me upset Cause running away begets trying to forget. I met the beat and felt complete. The unique sense of concrete Deletes all these feelings of being weak. The past pain was forgot Cause hip hop was everything my pops was not. It was life, love, a place to build, A place to get acknowledged when I flexed my sk**. It was platform, a stage, a place to shine, A spot of acceptance to say "He's mine." See, hip hop was the place where it all began And helped me father figure skate around a step-dad's hand. Who can paint a picture of my outcome? Still won't make a difference where I come from. You can walk away from me There's nothing more to say to me I'm father figure skating. Try to tell me something cause it's different now, But let me count the ways that I can show you how. You got a lot to say to me But really you just playing me.