Can't Win For Losing

[Intro: Phonte]

Woo~! Uhh, Illmind; aiyyo man

I don't know what the fuck they thought this was gon' be y'knahmsayin but

It's like, it's like y'knahmsayin

When you be sittin back listenin to shit like this

Y'know you start takin inventory

Like I know niggaz is boppin and shit I know niggaz is feelin it but like yo

This is what I been through in the past year

This is where I'm at with my shit now, yo listen

[Phonte:]

I used to do it for the fans

'Til I realized that they'd never understand

What I was feelin as a man, fickle as Trav' Bickle

They either hatin you or they they'll stand

Then I said I'd do it for my fam

'Til I realized that they didn't give a damn

I stepped out of they comfort zone

Now I can't step, can't step inside my mother's home

Situation so nuts

So much for tryin to be a man

Then I said I'd do it for the props

'Til I realized that the props always seem to stop

When niggaz can't keep you all to theyself

Take you home, put you in they little box

Then I said I'd do it for my city

'Til I realized that I shoulda been warned

I stepped inside the ring, rockin my best apparel

Ma, I own the sparrow, but this torero

Couldn't take the bull city by the horns

So now I'm back on my me shit

Cause me and my team gon' make it do what it do

Had a long hard talk with my nigga Jazzy Jeff

He said, "Fuck 'em 'Te, do it for you! "

So I'm doin it to

Lay up, lay back, in my room with a view

Wanna handle my biz on the low, keep it respectable

Make my music, keep it professional

I know you hate it, what the fuck else is new?

[Chorus:]

Oh - they say it's in the music

People turn they backs and your friends won't do shit

Feel like a nigga can't win for losing

But they still can't stop the movement

Hey! They say it's in the music

People turn they backs and your friends won't do shit

Feel like a nigga can't win for losing

But they still can't stop the stop

They can't stop the stop

They can't stop the - oh!

[Rapper Big Pooh:]

I had to sit and assess

Why all my favorite groups is a mess

Then I'm like they probably split for the best

They had to make room for the rest

Now we on the brink of success

Niggaz gettin praised by the press

Niggaz gettin backed by Qwest, LB is the new conquest

Throwback sound that's fresh, oh yes!

Everybody's hitched to the wagon, best kept secret

Somebody leaked it, inked with a major

Watch how they freak it, gotta show the people we can keep it - tight

Deep down though felt somethin wasn't right

Gotta keep pushin despite

That everybody changed overnight

When them numbers came back light

Now we outta mind, outta sight

Me and 'Te still doin it RIGHT~!

[Chorus]

[Outro:]

Yeah! The great Sam Cooke sang to the world

"A change is gon' come"

I believe a change is here

The change is right now

I wanna give a shout out, to my people that, helped me weather the storm

Y'knahmsayin, my man Pretty Tony, Uncle Joc, O-Dash

We ride together forever my niggaz

Yeah... [fades out]