Maintain

[prince poetry]

I'm sitting at the edge of my bed and I'm fed

Up with negative thoughts running straight through my head

Life's ready and I can't make moves, it's hard

And I thought it would have been nice to buy papa dukes some shoes

Niggas try to get over, pressure on my shoulders

Dropped the fat lp in '91 of october

Now that I'm older and my man pops is gone

My focus is stronger, mom pick up your head, gotta move on

Do you remember mr. j used to say the beats was fat

But when it comes to business, nigga don't play

I look beyond all this stress to seek fate

Mad homicides, unemployment rates sky high

Shorty busting caps, cops caught him out there

Daytime drama and his mama didn't care

That's why I should be rapping and packing pistols on the bully

But niggas be stressing me and I ain't paid in fully

So I'm dropping something fatter, not for props

We're respecting the matter, hops

I'm fat, check my stats, prince drops data for me and my man pops

Rolls-royce and myself are always getting mad harassed by the cops

So now I'm in the chop shop creating masterpieces

So it don't matter money what my funny label releases

Thanks to the streets and my peeps that made me

And the la-la-lee, la-la-lee

We gotta maintain (repeat 8x)

[pharoahe monch]

Now it's been saaaaaaaaaaid, a grown man ain't supposed to cry

So whyyyyyy, are there tears inside my eyes?

I wake up in the morning, get some new problem

I just can't solve 'em

Yo, extreme kid, I'm telling you man, I'm on the brink of ? ? ?

Who's that man in the mirror? ha!

The picture's getting clearer and clearer, ha!

The end is coming nearer and nearer, ha!

Take a good look at what you fear, ha!

Time marches on and it's a new song

It's a new morning, it's a new dawn

Feet don't fail me now, I got to make it to the studio someway somehow

But I need a little bit of nourishment first

I stop at the store to quench my thirst

Why are they watching me buy my juice?

Why must they clock my buy my juice?

Just give me my change and please put my change in my hand

Man would you listen to me if I didn't have a tan?

All you have to do is show some decency

But you want to bring out the beast in me

Papa always told me...be all you can be

And maintain, gotta maintain

(ad-libs to end)