This is Chicago, nigga Surprise, it's the boy who lived It's the West Chatham Santa with some toys to give A. 38 Special I call Noisy Cricket I got a chain on now, call Roy G. Biv It's the new New Edition like Poison, Bibb, Bell, DeVoe It's time to make that noise again Lauryn Hill said she'd see me on The Voice again But this the end of the road like Boyz II Men You better use your pen, baby, use your heart, child Where's your viewpoint? Where's your art style? Sometimes a teardrop can make your heart smile Looking for a sign and He sends a star shower Fresh out surviving the coup d'état The music stopped, you just might lose your spot No fairytale endings if you lose the plot It's written in the notebook if you forgot It's a love letter I used to hate math, used to love letters They had me in the class with the dumb niggas This na come to class with an umbrella This cool, day walk, I'm a Sun dweller Until I met a brother Mike, he said: Young fella Everybody dies, some write poems So I raised my right arm and I said: Right on Put my name on that don't-give-no-fuck list America's own, niggas you can't trust list I got a SIG Sauer called MC Hammer I got a chain on now called You Can't Touch This I said I gotta figure out a–huh? Gotta figure out a way to get this money by tomorrow If you know me, it ain't funny anymore If you owe me, ain't no running anymore Oh, life will be just you believe if you Put on that full armor Learned that from my mama, she said Life will be Life will be Just you believe If you believe Separate the waters and so lead An ocean liner, star shine Check it for Starline Working for Starline Check it for Starline Working for Starline Check it for Starline Working for Starline Working for Starline And we back, look, Mama, I seen a star Yeah, gettin' pretty and it ain't that far Bright and bold and Black like me And it's right in the mirror, I'm shining hard The last time that my check got commas My whips got horses, my chains got blinders Teachers got laptops, the kids got binders Celebrity barber, but my stars all lined up The three went platinum, the one went diamond I had a F-minus, but that's behind us My pen on paper worth millions of dollars Shout out to the fact that they still ain't signed us No contract, no fine print, no lease, no co-sign-ment I emptied the safe for a case I ain't never been broken But you don't know how broke I been Tell me, how can you now afford the file divorce The child support, the back door, take the trial to court? Either I'm the best or these times is good There's only two reasons this shit could rhyme this good Heavy is the crown, I'm ahead my time I left breadcrumbs when I read my rhymes So if I catch a red dot to the dome They'll find me with a note on my head saying: You read my mind The pen gon' flow, God, I'm your vessel Now bless my soul, God, we gon' wrestle The writing's on the wall, baby, it's a fresco It's a Death Note, it's a manifesto Oh, life will be just you believe if you Put on that full armor Learned that from my mama, she said Life will be Life will be Just you believe If you believe Separate the waters and so lead An ocean liner, star shine All of us have something to say, but some are never heard Over seven years ago, the people who watched stood together And demanded to be heard For over six hours, the audience heard, felt, sang, danced And shouted the living word, in a soulful expression of the Black experience