3 - The MANual lyrics

When they ask for it, never tell ‘em no. Let it go
Put a pen to the pad—it’s an effervescent flow
Definitely know—I’m a product of the era I was brought up in—
Competition slaughtering for fun
Might’ve mentioned guns as a shorty for attention
Not to say they wasn’t in my area, but listen
My competition, they never wanted me dead
They wanted decapitation, they saw that I was ahead
Heard that I told tales, knew that I did it well
Sisyphusean descriptions—I live in my own Hell

It’s populated by heat that I hand make—flip a coin—
No matter how it lands, where you’re going—
Is through they alleyways, back blocks, tenements
Where if he don’t call a girl a b*tch, he’s a gentleman
Misogyny expected—Sodom and Gomorrah
Scary movie mind state—the problem ain’t the horror

In the movies, we die in the first scene
So we’re all really Drew Barrymore in the first Scream
Only it’s set in Harlem, maybe it’s in Detroit
The audience prays you don’t turn around—it ain’t The Voice
You fall as you’re running to get away—
Felonious metaphor, you do a year and a day
Or die trying
Lie silent
Crack infested—surrounded by thirst, it’s Rock Island
From 217 to 309, n*ggas open they rhyme books up and bleed on lines
Hope for some recognition—to cheat on dimes
Ladies like Changing Faces, and we don’t mind
Bars over the head like snatch lifts
Dope boy antithesis—rhyme with a back flip
Flip back one chapter, finish the exposition—
Juice, on the roof, I’m standing right next to Bishop;
Raheem’s dead and Steel got shot—
We all know how the story ends—still I watch
Excited to see the violence—destined to See It Through
Kinda funny, back in school, I pledged: I’m a Q

Grew up in the era of ass whooppins
Switches, belts, knuckles for mad lookin’
Bus transfers, bummy and bad lookin’
Lunchtime ciphers, dice get cash tooken

C-Style—A-dot, kind of the same guy—
Aries and Virgo—we should have been Gemini
Cause since shorties it was just him and I
Talking more sh*t than a little bit
Ignorant
Wasn’t all good, but I choose how to remember it
Mention it cause he sent me the track for me to spit to it
97 Canibus, jaw dropped listening;
Nobody spit like he did, and it’s been a minute since
I had inspiration—so I listened closely
Wondered what I’d say in conversation with the old me
“Stop drinking, pig is a filthy animal
If an elephant’s in the room, then you should be Hannibal
Scribble down in your notebook all you can manage to
Wait ten years, then publish it as the manual.”