Sunday Morning Testimonial - Charles Hamilton

No friends, selective family

All for the goal of collecting Grammys

Plenty of stress, a mess I can’t see

Blessed to stand, I won’t accept the plan B

Or am I left to take a breath as a man?

Mom wasn’t happy, didn’t respect my damn dreams

So what, I made lots of new shit?

She’d rather me stop and do gospel music

But in my defense, your honor

I couldn’t vent in the midst of playing shit behind bishop honor

Traded my organ days in for more days

Of more pain but in more ways I’m patient

My saving grace was a instrumental tape

In which I’d break my pencil tip to say shit

Though I do get offended with hate shit

I made it, now you can’t say shit

Can’t nobody make you a man or a woman

So you always gotta do what you can

And if you get tired and you don’t understand, just keep in mind

(Hip-hop has saved my life)

Maybe you can make it alive, till then

Just pray that you’ll be safe through the night

Just be real with your heart inside, look in my eyes

(Hip-hop has saved my life)

Two black eyes, broken nose

Jumped going home, wishing I was holding chrome

Close to overdose from poking holes in my flesh

Nowhere close to home

Don’t you know that in a city where the streets are nowhere close to gold

I would roam, perfecting my 'I'm just joking' flow

So I don’t care what you rappers tell me

I had some help from Marshall Mathers LP

A little bit of Pac, and of course Rak

And the Roc man, «Oh, Jay’s shit?

God damn»

To be the best in the mess I was presented

I played DMX and the stress would get diminished

Big L died before his time

But he could understand the afterlife more than I

So I rhyme to keep sane, Believe that

Thanks to Andre Young, and 3 stacks

When 'Ye hit the scene, I was excited

Finally, someone spits the shit that I spit

Sometimes, I feel he only spits shit that I get

For my approval, like, «Here Charles, do you like it?»

As far as Wasalu, I salute

Do what you gotta do, Mohammad’s watching you

But sometimes I gotta fit in, so I get reckless

'Cuz reckless shit is all that gets respected

So to the kids crying, wishing they was dying

You ain’t gotta be like them to get where I am

I keep looking down with a smile

As the best thing coming from H-town in awhile

Please don’t give up, I almost died chasing this dream with my angry 16s

The age of 16, the grave had missed me

So I swear on it all, I’m making history