[Verse 1]

I play Nina Simone, nobody knows you when you're down and out

Hearing voices in my head, try to drown em' out

Damn Nina, I wish that I could tuck a nina

It's fucking with my demeanor

Picture heaven above these overcrowded arenas

Watching us fall, as we try to balance like ballerinas

About to blast, couldn't quite figure how to grasp

Me watching my sand pass through my hourglass

Never used to faze me, eventually my youth betrays me

In due time, I bear the fruit that saves me

Uh, I used to peddle fiction

Deep conviction had my earlobes twitchin' when I would mention my goals

But the path I chose, had me sufferin' blows

I was exposed to the pressure and froze

When the lights have faded, I isolate

Debating myself about the price I payed, in the life I traded

I was built for more, but was I built for war?

I say by any means, but never killed before

The allure of dreaming is pure, it's way too much for me to ever ignore

Plottin' adventures, head in the clouds, hoppin' in trenches

Gravity pulled me down, a bullet lodged within inches of my soul

Yeah, of my soul

[Hook]

Look me in my eye, tell me something good

Sell another lie, maybe if I would

Look you in your eye

I would see the mirror now reflecting your reply

And you reply, look me in my eye

Tell me something good, sell another lie

Maybe if I would, look you in the eye

I would see the mirror now reflecting your reply

[Verse 2]

The approach I mastered, straight-up, ass-backwards

Picture me relaxin' while droppin' the tax brackets

Trippin' off the way I felt, like I was strapped to a conveyor belt

Destined for greatness where major players dwell

Fast forward when the cash lowered

Get behind a mask for no one to see how I left my ass showin'

Busy dreamin' bout quasars and stars

That my 8-ball dissolve, like my fate called it off

Feeling low, cuz truth be told

My older brothers lacked half the opportunities I loosely hold

Cuz I was raised in the U.S., made in the U.S

Educated and paid, but I do less

My brothers came to the U.S. for a change

But they knew less, at 20-plus age, maybe you guessed

I start thinkin' bout all the shit that I could've done

I start thinkin' bout all the battles I should've won

Like rule of thumb, never let your mom succumb

To the pressure, my confession, I'm fleshin' out as a son

I got regrets tattooed to the inside of my skull, I been cried til I'm dull

Men lie when they're young, but then try when they're old

To develop self-awareness, I been tryin' to uphold

[Hook]

[Outro]

It's just you and I, It's just you and I

It's just you and I, It's just you and I

I ain't got shit in this world

Me, myself and I trying to live in this world

Gotta hold my head high, black kid in this world

Never let my dreams die, hope they fit in this world

I ain't got shit in this world

Me, myself and I trying to live in this world

Gotta hold my head high, black kid in this world

Never let my dreams die, hope they fit in this world