For real, e'rybody's a star, e'rybody shine
Follow your heart and not mankind
For real, for real, I'm 'bout to do my thing to shine
Said everybody shine, c'mon"
It's not luck that I'm sittin' here spittin' for y'all
Preeld in by Allah that I'm hittin' for y'all
Growin' up on the New York concrete lookin'
Like a little snotty dish of prodigy cookin'
They called me Little Man all in the boulevard
When I was young, my family used to party hard
Gangs of uncatched kids turned to blood ketchup
The illest niggas was Richard Pryor and Ronnie Bump
Skinned knees from being bad-ass little boys
Police sirens and baby screams was average noise
Hip-Hop came, the ghetto copped the soundtrack
Street poetry to tracks, could you beat that?
Malik Taylor introduced it to me
He said, "Forget Benny Hill, nigga, let's MC"
Twelve years old, rhymin' in the backroom
For echoes, we used to rhyme in the bathroom
Run-D.M.C., Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh
The Juice Crew rule but who's this nigga KRS?
Reference points, too many to wish for
Battlin' niggas on trains, I stay raw
Never let my dream die
I was happy and high goin' to Alee's and Bed-Stuy
We made our first demo tape
Excited like a mawfucka, lookin' for our first break
I know
("F'real")
You can do it
("Listen to the story I tell yo)
Be abidin', chy'all
(F'real")
I know
("Don't let 'em hate to front you")
You can see it
("Get up and follow me and flow again, use my life as an example")
Do it, and see it, and be nobody else
Jungle Brothers, De La, they gave me little light
In Top, Three Feet, Buddy, that was aight
One year later, the Tribe was initiated
Bonita came, it was wild how she dominated
Can I kick it parled us to our next phase
So drunk in those days, I truly was amazed
How I got up enough to make tunes
People cheered me, it was Foreign, then came Low End Theory
People quickly recognized who we are
Phife is ill and Busta is a superstar
Tours with P.E., Naughty, and the Geto Boys
Arsenio Hall, women then were evil toys
Whisperin' hate inside my brother's virgin ears
Tryin to hurt but, yo, we stood amongst the tears
Midnight was even tighter, now look at us
Condoms is on the rida stored on the bus
It got funky right here, I had to save my life
In the snow after the show, I had a fight wit' Phife
Moves to a land to get away but back home
Job was urkin' us, it sent me through a danger zone
The good thing, I found Allah in the process
An angel appeared wit' sneaky ways and gave me stress
Now what am I to do?
My album's platinum but I'm still feelin' blue, c'mon
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah
("You can do it")
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah
Yeah
("I know")
Yeah, yeah
("You can see it")
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Makin' my way, the wilderness has grown fierce
Redemption and my heart, both of them was pierced
Crashed my truck, didn't think I'd make it out
Had a hit on my life, he thought I screwed his wife
Plus my house burned down, me and Ands was in it
My crew was tired and I knew we had to end it
But through all of this, I'm still here
Take notes and let hope floats
I'm still here, take note and let hope float
I'm still here, take notes and let hope float
You can do the same shit that I'm doin'
You can do the same thing that I'm doin', uh-huh
I'm still here, take note, let it, uh-hah
Still here, take notes and let it float, ha-ha
Still here, take and let it
You can do the same thing I'm doin', thing that I'm doin'
Still here, take and let it, uh-hah
Still here, take notes, let it float, c'mon
Still here, take notes, let it float, c'mon
Do the same thing that I'm doin' if ya pay attention
I know
You can see it
Do it, and see it, and be nobody else