[Intro]
Every kind of self-knowledge I have ever touched within myself, at no matter what cost, and there have been times when it's been very costly. There is no place that I have touched that has not given me, not just knowledge, but power overall
[Verse 1: Tim’m West]
So sometimes your birthday rolls around and it’s not necessarily the most, like, you know…
Blow the candles out time
You reflect back on memories and… basically you have to celеbrate that you, you survived
07-06-72 baby born, the nеgro mother's second boy gave her two
And more will come, more daughters and more sons
But the second-coming was me, sarcastic and witty one
Seven, the lucky month, but the unlucky child with the mind goin' wild
Dreamin’ of heaven's reflectin' the seven and ghetto towers of my old walks
And child pedophiles starts ghetto murders, lined with chalk
Five years after the sixth day of the seventh month of seventy-two
Little boy blue was tryna figure how he was goin' to make truth
07-06, niece sick, years pass
Memories stick forward a man so quick like gorilla in the Mexican mix to tricks the antagonist
My feelin', my truth
Boy was born in '72, uh-huh, I was born in '72 (what, what)
[Verse 2]
3-13-84
They knew I'd be a ladies’ boy
I’d say the joy was maybe short
Kwame couldn't pay support, he made me snort, that’s the way it starts, Tuesday in March
Mom told me life is usually hard
Made me blessed and tried to turn me to God
Didn't work, started tuning it out
Could tell she wasn't truly devout and the learnin' was hard
Word is my art, spittin’ dirty, even vermin applaud
That's how I was brought up, using verbs and the power of luck
Fuck whoever's in charge
Depend on intellect for the spark
My quarters, my aorta, I eruptin the heart
When I'm wondering how, know I was born to bust from the mouth
Love the alphabet since I was a child
And I'm ready to put time in it now
[Hook]
It's your birthday
You feel it in the worst way
Hurts but hey, it's your birthday
It's your birthday
You feel it in the worst way
It hurts but hey, it's your birthday
[Verse 3]
I said 7-12-7-0 fo sho
Is it mace you displayed, the spade of 2-24
And the shout, the[?]daddy Joe wasn't told
And my toes were old, so ‘mong my homies it flow
And knowin' know what you know
Don't mean that that's how it is
So let me ramble for a minute ‘bout the hand on the biz
About the burdens of past
About them pickin' the last
About the motions for the lotion and the stubborn ash and ashy
Askin' questions that were maybe too hard
Why we actin like we better with a garage and a yard?
Why granny call her neighbors niggas thought we all look the same?
Why'd you tell me was better cus we African-named?
If it's soundin' like I'm better, naw just sortin' it out
In my jungle, nigga jumble so I mumble the shout
You see I'm humble ‘bout the bumble and the bubble I live
It made you stumble with the fumble, now I'm honored to give
I'm encumbered by the numbers, brothers who ain't alive
I survived but feelin' guilty cus I make thirty-five
So go finish this nutrition, 7-6 from his spittin' liquids from my mother's room into the hospital room
She said I was livid, and that's just how I kept living
Until I picked up the mic when I turned 22
Then 30 years old found me out in the cold
I was standing on the wall that made China its home
I took a few shots, headed back to the car
Tryin' to catch a ride on the next shooting star
See the ages burnin' up like a fire in the hole
But would you be the ash or would you be the smoke?
Would you be the green or would you be the toke?
Movin' down the throat, laughing, inhaling notes
[Hook]
It's your birthday
You feel it in the worst way
Hurts but hey, it's your birthday
It's your birthday
You feel it in the worst way
It hurts but hey, it's your birthday
It's your birthday
You feel it in the worst way
Hurts but hey, it's your birthday