1995 somethin’, I ain’t check the calendar

Moms was fightin’ the struggle, a single-night stander

In this world of project halls, beepers and payphones

’Til the landlord call, stressin’ over the late loans

Nine months in this womb, what the hell’s the holdup?

I’m ready to exit stage left, disrupt the whole setup

Then came the main event, June 3rd, 4:02

The day that my mama’s water broke and her contractions blew

No car, no star, just a hope and a dream

She caught a gypsy cab in the pourin’ down rain

Umbilical cord was a noose around my throat

Seein’ the light, but it wasn’t the one of hope

I fought my way out, I let out a mad cry

The doctor smiled, said, "This one’s got a survivor’s eye."

I remember those days, before the platinum praise

Before the darkened ways and the public gaze

I knew that I was goin' somewhere

Let me take you back there, before I had a single care

Before the cross I had to bear, I knew that I was goin' somewhere...

Would Big L be alive if we could rewind time?

I’d trade a million streams just to see him spit one more line

With my eyes closed, I visualize the king of D.I.T.C.

His flow eternally, the pinnacle of NY MCs

If he was in Harlem, and I could just rhyme with him

In 2024, man, this shit would sound like this:

NY, 646, 347, corner bodega civil

Discussions, it’s like a ritual

Shell-toes, gold ropes, and Cazal lenses

We speak life into the ends of these Dutch-filled sessions

For you questionin’, catch a train to Brooklyn

With that raw ambition, you hype that internet shit?

Would you get clapped for a caption, a false transaction?

Tell the masses that real hip-hop is still happenin’

Out here, we speak the truth, inside the ’98 Lexus.

I remember those days, before the platinum praise

Before the darkened ways and the public gaze

I knew that I was goin' somewhere

Let me take you back there...

Now I’m fourteen, skippin’ school, writin’ raps in my notebook

Spittin’ on the corner, tryna make my name hook

By the age of sixteen, hearin’ my tape in the jeeps

Makin’ my lifetime dream, seein’ my profits leap

I mean, I wanna blow up, stack my doe up

So college, I no-showed, had to let my pops know

He said I should slow up, and check my direction

’Fore I wreck my connection, cause deep reflection

Put the rhymes on the shelf? Nah, I couldn’t believe it

Rakim, king of New York, I had to be it

Rap was elementary, bein’ heard was necessary

’Til I got a cease and desist, man, it was scary

See ’09, a cold date, set me straight

Not able to create behind a great steel gate

Time to contemplate, damn, where did I fail?

All the clout I gained, just wasn’t enough for bail.

I knew that I was goin' somewhere...

(Yeah, take it back)

Before the dollars and the dimes...

(Prophet, yeah)

I knew that I was goin' somewhere...

(Rest in peace to the legends)

Let me take you back in time...