[Verse]
They say hip-hop need new leaders, what we leadin' 'em to?
I think you mean lead 'em to you
Like gather 'round, y'all, my boss wanna give you somethin' cheap to consume
And sell your info to the companies whom they be in cahoots
This the type of verse could get me silenced, yeah
Affect your purse or wallet, but that risk, that's what leaders do
'Tween me and you, this could be 'tween me and you
That corporate megastar shit is not needed, dude
And if you need the truth
We been settin' the tone from the bottom up
Every money tree needs its roots
The soil where the culture's seeded you and me
Get envied by big artists 'cause they ain't be what they was meanin' to
They find reasons to delete the proof
Of stealin' from the underground just to make it less believable
Like for me, it's how I look or it could be how you booked
Or if you refuse to give 'em a piece of you
I've grossed millions off streamin' too
But 'cause I's me, the looked on like, "You don't got no heat on you"
Denied me every vehicle, fuck it, I'll walk, fam
The future is the people, fuck what y'all got planned
Industry dudes got police vibes, y'all Roxannes
Rollouts remind me of cats who talked loud 'til they got dropped
Guess y'all albums don't got hands
We got a real community of people that's locked in
Yeah, so I lead by example
Not lead 'em to get trampled, ain't tryna off-ramp you
Could lead 'em to the knowledge, but can't make 'em think
Like you could lead a horse to water, but can't make him—
If I's leadin', I'd take you back to yourself
Your passion, your presence, your spirit, your health
Puttin' time in the sublime so you can hear it yourself
'Fore you commodifyin' your mind and in fear of yourself
Yeah, but it feel like the goods is back
We outside, the neighborhood is back
So if they rank me lil' lower, guess I'm good with that
'Cause that applause had to be twice as good for that
For twice as long, in fact
But my legacy, legacy ain't about how many see
It's 'bout the depth that it goes in souls that it get to reach
Promise that I ain't as good as I'll ever be
And I birthed a lot of rappers, think it's time y'all take a look at the registry
But I know in due time, I'll get what's meant for me
Plus the craft bigger than me, especially me
So if they never let me lead, I guess that's how I get to lead, yeah
New leaders that we'll never need