I'm sure like a lot of you
People often ask me what do you do
To which I reply, "I rap"
To which they reply, "Yeah, but besides that"
To which I reply, "Not much"
To which they reply with awkward coughs and such
Until I feel compelled to elaborate
This is not a hobby
Do it for my salary mate
And been doing so for well over a decade
See I get paid for putting pen to page
Performing sets on stage
And when selektahs play my record
Let's just say that at the end of the day
That's how I collect my wage
At which point they inevitably say
"Damn, that's how you're expenses are paid?"
Yes, that's what I'm attempting to say
"Well that's great getting to do what you love every day"
And yes, it may seem like I'm living the dream
But hey there's much more to it when you go behind the scenes
When rhymes and beats is the life I lead
Which I know might seem all nice and sweet
But take the time to peep what's behind the scenes
You might agree there's more to it the what the eye can see
And what I mean is when the lights are screened
Some cyber juice, they're deadlines to me
Bookers with high fees, late nights without sleep
Sign up for these I never did when I decided to MC
Now don't get me wrong
I know for a lot of people I'm living the dream
Collecting green from spitting six steams
With no 9 to 5, and no cubicle
Just rhyming live in the studio
I don't take it for granted
I understand that it's a blessing
That my music allows me to travel the planet
But like most things there's another side
Most won't witness
For example, show business
In my experience there's more business then show
So instead of ripping flows I'm sitting [?]
Send e-mails for half of the day
Tapping away on my Mac in a cafe
Just tracking my pay
And taking care of other tedious administrative details
Necessary but very derailing
And most attempts at writing raps
This is behind the scenes of my life and I'm inviting you back
Struggles
Struggle to survive
I guess you can call this my 9 to 5
Gimme a chance man I know how to rock it
But it's not that easy, putting money in my pocket
Follow your dream, as the saying goes
But let my case at [?] displaying insane flows
Over breaks yo
But wait, no one ever told me the pay's low
Unless you're Drake bro
But I started in the middle
Now I'm lower then my 9 to 5
High school friends are homeowners
Just raising their families happily
While I'm in this freezing apartment
Chasing this rapping dream
Now I do what I love, and I love what I do
But if you think this is easy, you must be new
There's so much more to it then just rhyming words together
There's marketing, accounting, answering fans' letters
Grant applications, dealing with the press
Man I reeling from the stress I can feel it in my chest
Nonetheless
I'll keep pursuing this dream, but just know there's more to it
When you go behind the scenes