[Intro: JID]

Our offense is awesome, our defense dominate

We got that winning combination

To what? To regulate

Offense is awesome (Forever)

Yeah

[Verse 1: JID]

2007, Cole dropped The Come Up

I was in high school playin' corner

I never dreamt of mumblin' words in front of hundreds

Studyin' plays all summer

I'll hit the league if my growth spurt come in, on my mom

2009, bro dropped The Warm Up

I was in warm-ups playin' Weezy

And Yukimi, Little Dragon, flame breathin' the weed

Patrick had the studio dorm room next to me

I freestyled ovеr his beats

My nigga Keese transferrеd in from Tennessee

He's a receiver, I played DB like Aqib

Snatch a nigga chain, Talib

Talib Kweli, I could be lyrically, but I put on cleats

Scribbled lines goin' through my mind like a paper piece

While I covered three, playin' nickel, doin' safety reads, watch the flats

I can rap, but I rather tackle and pedal back

Get a pick when my growth spurt hit (It don't matter 'bout the size, it's in here, man)

I'ma be captain, and I was around 2010, no cap

I got 'Freshman Player of the Year' and figured I was on track

This nigga Pat' been in my ear talkin' 'bout rhymin' on tracks

So after practice we record and then we got it on wax

And on campus I heard about a couple rappers from Atlanta (Earthgang!)

Said them niggas was snappin', maybe we could make somethin' happen and shit

I wasn't serious enough to even be curious

And we lose like every game, so every day I be furious

So, the spirit of a nigga had changed

To the point I had to reframe and focus my skills for other things

I took the steel wheel, I'm steerin' in other lanes

But my fuel on low and my oil need to be changed

Amongst all the other shit that's goin' in my brain

My brother got out of jail, I only know him by name

He did a nickel and a dime in time, probably be stayin' with my mom

And dad probably get mad, actin' lame some times

[Verse 2: JID & Ibrahim 'Ib' Hamad]

Uh, look

The Sideline Story came out September of 2011

Ib said around that time:

We was huntin' for a record, under lots of pressure

Just combine the leverage with a better effort

You could find a sound to get us out the underground forever

Maybe you can bless a little brown effervescent kid

Youngest of seven from the six, eight sections

Section.80 dropped, yeah, we used to play that shit to death

And if I recollect correct, you tried to sign him for yourself

All the while I was round my out of town college, wildin' out

Restaurants, Destin dinin', dashin', call it dinin' out

Fuckin' bitches, 'posed to be in class, but I was hiding out

My friends take a little shot, smoke a lot of cannabis, coolest nigga on the campus

Now a nigga skippin' practices, and actin' like a rock star

Going from in the dorm to in the car, leavin' the football field

But fuck that, we still sorry, and the problems from the home front

On my home screen callin' me, I don't wanna answer

My brother Carl hit me, said my granny had cancer

I'm 'posed to graduate and make my way back to Atlanta

No job, no money or nothin' from ballin'

Because between that and school, that was really all

And maybe here's the back that broke the camel with the straw

I wasn't on camera with them amateurs that they saw

But they said they still caught me and my dawgs stealin' boxes

Like Craig on his day off

Called us in the office day before we 'posed to walk, uh

Called a squad car, a couple officers

I know bro was finna tell, he was lookin' nauseous

Now I'm sittin' in a cell, nigga double crossed us

Crossed me off the list for scholarship because I lost it

No more football, my red-shirt senior season, exhausted, so I'm off it

And I'm right back in Atlanta with a half a gram of weed

And a gold Pontiac that my granny had bought for me

I was sleepin' in the back, my dad kicked me in the streets

When he saw my neck tatted, then I told him I was rappin'

Fuck school, no goin' back, he said

If I can not follow his rules, just go and pack

Told you he be actin' lame some times

[Interlude: Carl Route Jr.]

This my son, he came from these nuts

This negro come back from school

All tatted up like the Sistine Chapel

Talkin' 'bout he ain't playin' football no more

Because he know he ain't goin' pro (Hey, it's a stamina that you left the house with)

But he left on a full scholarship to go to school and get a degree

Because we taught education was the number one thing

Anyway (Every one of you gon' be like your oldest brother)

He came back, determined to do what he was determined to do

And I know because he, he is, who he is, we taught him

Hey, whatever you do, put your full self into it

So he did that, anyway (Do it your best, damn what other people want)

He's back home, I ain't with that

So I'm sayin' "Hey, you got to go to work"

And he sayin' "Hey, this is my job, what I'm about to do"

So I'm like "Hey man, some times you got to work (Or don't be a partner)

To do what you really wanna do"

We went through this whole brain wrestle

But anyway, he won (I'm standing by you)

He decided that "Hey dad, I'm puttin' this thing, I'm doin' this

This is my job" and he committed to it

And hey, the rest is history (You can do anything that you want to do)

I'm lookin' at him, I believe in him

I know what was in him

All him and his brothers and sisters

They all got the same mindset

Do your best, give a hundred percent or don't do it at all

So, I know whatever he put his all into, it was gon' be golden

Anyway

[Verse 3: JID]

Look

March 10th, 2017, The Never Story dropped

And I'm comin' off of tour with ****

That was three years after openin' up for Ab-Soul

But it's EARTHGANG's set, I only came to do a song

DoeBurger used to say "Ayy bro, this lil' nigga cold

Keep on doin' what you doin', you gon' make it, you 'gon blow"

I ain't know that Ced had went ahead and played my shit for Cole

But I knew he knew the game, and he pulled up to his show

And then that's where we first met, but I ain't think of it no more

'Til Ced Brown said that I should open up for Omen on my own shit, if I wanted

Only four cities, maybe we get Rob Gibbs on the phonin', I got to hone in

In the game grown men uncomfortable in they own skin

But all I wanted was a chance

It feel like I'm in a mannequin challenge

Still stance, but I'm still standin'

'Til my nigga lend a hand and I'm no longer stranded

Lookin' for strengths in the streets of East Atlanta

Momma said "Don't take advice, they gon' try and take advantage"

I was 'bout to sign with Coach K, I ain't take the advance

Cole say "Hold on, wait, bro, I got the plan

So come on, damn, lil nigga, come on, shit, let's roll, fuck"

[Outro: J. Cole]

Shsh, yo, that's crazy

That's crazy, yo JID, I remember

I remember you came to the crib

You remember this? After we had met

And I told you and EARTHGANG to pull up

To the crib in Carolina, it's the studio house

I wasn't on no shit, like "Yo, I'm tryna do some Dreamville shit with y'all", nah

It wasn't no talk of no deal, I didn't even know if I wanted to sign niggas

I just knew I, y'all was dope, I fuck with you

Just pull up, let's see what the vibe is like, let's work

In my mind, if something happen, it happen

If not, then cool, niggas just got a chance to link and kick it

But while we was there, the thing that I noticed off rip

I said, "Oh, this nigga want it, this nigga really want it"

That look in your eye, nigga, I know that look

I know that look too well

But a lot of niggas want it

The thing I noticed about you my nigga, off rip

"This nigga don't just want it, he willin' to do the work that it takes to get it"

And that's the difference, that's the separator

That's the difference between the niggas that never get what they want

And the niggas whose names ring out forever

Forever