[Intro]
Okay
It's like this nowadays, yo
[Verse 1]
I'm focused on trying to stay focused in '06
I dealt with some blows now the process
Of sorting through these ghosts feels hopeless
It's bogus but it still gets under the skin like osmosis
Yo this world's so sick, like Ne-Yo's hit
Or folks with no OHIP, don't slip
Know who the staff you roll with is
Your staff can turn to snakes like Moses'
And motives get exposed quick when cash is grossed so don't trip
No sum is worth what your soul is
No sun immersed in the coldness
No son, reverse like the poles get
Past the bitterness out the standstill
It wasn't in the cards, some people can't deal
Play the hand you're dealt, might make a grand still
A man's real if he can return like Grant Hill
[Hook]
(Nowadays)
(Nowadays)
[x2]
[Verse 2]
Those that know Shad know that he's on his own path
Like a nomad rolling without a roadmap
Just four lads in a Topaz with no gas
I call my car Roc-A-Fella cause it's got a broke dash
My generation's moving so fast, running like old taps
From fear and stress and tears choked back
Boys hold gats while the girls got no strap
On their dresses and won't eat 'less it's low-fat
Between low-cut tops and teeth with gold caps
That new school looks more crazy than OCAD's
When there's no dads to say don't show that
Make 'em look in your eyes, your mind's where the show's at
And you need more than beats for a dope track
Even with more hooks than a coat rack
And more hot lines than 1-800 phones
That's why most cats in this rap game just don't last
It's not vocab they need to grow, it's gonads
And back bone so they can speak and not hold back
We need folks with faith that's gon' last
To teach the younger ones how to live with no mask
And pose the kind of questions that most just won't ask
And keep that hope stashed like a safe of cold cash
Our vision for the future can't fade or go black
Like some Kodak pictures at night with no flash
Them cats be polluting the air like smoke stacks
Let the freshness in get your windows cracked
[Hook]