[Intro] And they say they know me... Get the fuck outta here Only God knows what I've been through, man So if you wanna talk, get your facts straight first And if you really wanna know, let me ask you something... [Verse 1] Have you ever walked in the shoes of a giant? Or had to fill the position of a boss before you were even a client? It's no wonder growing up under the roof of a tyrant that I would be the poster boy for defiance Now I'm the voice of the silence Fuck being quiet I've seen twenty years worth of violence I'm tired, it's a burden for me to open my eyelids Not an undercover cop but it's safe to say that I'm wired I can't even get a grip on my life with pliers I'm fucked up in the head Close my eyes cause I see demons around my bed So depressed, open them up hoping I'm dead Thought the fame would make it better but it only fucked me over Never used to touch a bottle, now I'm hardly ever sober People want to be my friend But where the fuck were y'all when I was ten Eleven or twelve getting bullied and beat up in the gym? I couldn't never get a girl, now all the sudden I'm the man Students try to get back cool with me again, fuck 'em all Because guess where they're gon' be when my record stops playing? Gone with the wind, off in the record shop saying that "Kells fell off" I knew it would happen, stop hating, cause a month ago you was all over my jock saying That I'm "that mu'fucker" But now I'm whack, mu'fucker? Opinions change, but you cannot change facts mu'fucker If you want bullet points then call me a gat mu'fucker I'll lay my whole life out like a mat mu'fucker Man, I've experienced some things that would stop you from eating My schizophrenic cousin tried to end my life while I'm sleepin My bummy uncle wanna call now that he sees me succeeding My momma left me for a teacher, lost my dad to the preaching Half my friends are buried six feet, all the rest in the precinct Literally watched my Grandmother die from Diabetes I guess my prayers were answered when my Aunt got Cancer and beat it Now I want to get her out a job, give her the garden of Eden I did a lot of bad shit, God got even But for the price I had to pay, I wish I'd stopped breathing My girl sat in the bathtub, eight hours bleeding Hearing the doctor tell us our child's heart stopped beating Fuck a million, I wouldn't take a dollar for a life But I will do what's in my heart, and trade this dollar for a mic I wrote this song in hopes that it could help someone get through the night With no intentions of getting paid, I'm just doing what is right I do it for the fans, no, the real fans Who stuck with me through the storm cause they understand That there's a genuine pain behind the words I'm saying And they embrace me, so I thank y'all for staying Ain't it crazy, that passion is my achilles heel? Either that or keeping it way too real But they don't know how it feels, to feed off the energy of a crowd Step on stage and they get loud Dad, I'm gonna make you proud I know we don't speak right now but I think turning new leaves is what we need right now I love you And you may not see right now but I'm begging for forgiveness, I'm on my knees right now You saw your son as a dropout Stuck around when I ran Saw your son as a felon Now see your son as a man See your son be a father, to a beautiful child Or just see your son Dad, see me smile Who would have thought what started at the bottom would someday grow? From three people in the crowd, unpaid shows Six people in the room, one meal a day Another opening act where no one knows my name Saw the demos that I passed out laying on the ground Saw the rappers I befriended copying my style Saw opportunities pass while these fakes got rich Now I can't stop speeding like my breaks ain't shit For six months I went through hell and back Right at the height of my success all of the sudden doctors said I couldn't rap I had a polyp on my vocal chords Left with a choice, stop now or possibly lose my voice But I woke up and recorded every morning till my throat swole shut Coughed blood after every show because it hurt that much I went weeks without even saying a word to myself No health insurance so doctor bills piled on the shelf But for my daughter and my fam, and every single fan I pushed through it, now I'm back for y'all again As for my competition, this is the beginning of the end But right now this is my return, amen Kells [Outro] And they say they know me Get the fuck outta here