Refuse To Lose

(Album: Turn Off The Radio: The Mixtape Vol. 3: Pulse Of The People - 2009)

[Chorus]
I got so much trouble on my mind
refuse to lose
refuse to lose
(it's just energy man)
I got so much trouble on my mind
refuse to lose
refuse to lose
(it's electric)

I'm caught up in this untouchable mentality
as a man thinkin it becomes his reality
I used to let stress build up until I learned
that stress'll eat your insides up like worms
see worry is the cousin of death
thinkin negative you might as well go ahead and bury yourself
I was taught by the struggles of life to be strong
like ian, you hafta have the heart of a lion
I been through my share of this hell, but still I rise
many days didn't know what to do
but we survived
every struggle is a test, a lesson
you just gotta figure out how to overcome and catch the blessin
they want us to turn to dope and lose all hope
spirit broke and confused
but I refuse to lose
through fear, through pain, through loss
I can't stop
won't stop
till we make it to the tip top
this is hip hop

[Chorus]
I got so much trouble on my mind
refuse to lose
I refuse to lose
(I, I will not lose)
I got so much trouble on my mind
refuse to lose
I refuse to lose
(I, I will not lose)

ay yo, failure ain't an option it's a death sentence
you can't survive without no food that ain't no sustenance
plus when it's crunch time
back on the wall
life on the line
before you lose your balance and fall
you will find that it's an instinct
act first and then think
second law of nature, self preservation
move without reservation
no hesitation when it comes to me and mine
do you come from that design or do your compass need alignment?
I'm mercernary
My assignment?
kill or be killed, a sin or a skill?
however you define it
a sa siembra victoria
revolutionary propaghanda intended to raise warriors
ain't nothin like this world crisis
the price of life is measured by the lifeless
it's brutal but I fight this
supply, demand, inflation rises
we can't afford the rice
there's nothing to eat
I know it's hard to digest

[Chorus]
I got so much trouble on my mind
refuse to lose
I refuse to lose
(I, I will not lose)
I got so much trouble on my mind
refuse to lose
I refuse to lose
(I, I will not lose)

they say the best revenge: success and living well
no more throwin them coins down in that wishing well
go out and get your own
we all reap what we sow
the end is all on you
what you gonna do?

I got bass strong enough to cut through a coal mine
hold a goal in my mind till I reach the gold mine
overtime grind
with no days off
but ain't nothin like the feelin when it all pays off
all it take is the thought of my son for motivation
long as I'm alive you can't break my dedication
family first
everything real in the field
it's a cold game
life don giva fuck how you feel
we live in a material world or so it seems
but I ain't got nothin to lose but bad dreams
when I woke up I was already 17
but I was determined to break the cycles I'd seen
when I learned that the blood in my veins came from kings
it curdled, when I looked at the present day scene
but the same pressure that turned my brother to a fiend
I face it, embrace it and convert it into steam

[Chorus]
I got so much trouble on my mind
refuse to lose
I refuse to lose
(I, I will not lose)
I got so much trouble on my mind
refuse to lose
I refuse to lose
(I, I will)
(I, I will not)