Backstage

(album: Rise & Fall Of Slaughterhouse - 2022)

[Joell Ortiz:]
Yes, sir, man
One, two, three

Four of us backstage, we say a prayer
Come out one-by-one and sound off, I see it like I'm there
Every hand in the air, felt energy everywhere
Point that mic in the crowd, they go line-for-line anywhere in a song
Organically built an empire
Once that spark matched the talent on paper, I knew we'd catch fire
From red spiders to pulling up in that red spider
The sold-out shows without Joe, we tore that Best Buy up
Before Royce and Crook was sober, man, this shit was ill
We sipped Tequil'
Give poofy bitches the dick and chill
Joe ain't drink, but he partied on them prescription pills
The one video depicted how we was living for real
Backstage, man, we was like brothers (Brothers)
Nobody would fall 'cause everyone would be each other's crutches
But here's a little something you ain't know:
We split the dough
And after the tour was over, so was the show
No hanging out, no phone calls, just holiday texts
And emails from management on what's probably up next
But no amount of money is bigger than ego
Niggas doing deals on the side like Nicki and Casino
Joe, you thought you was the head gambino
Made decisions with no regard for the next man, we know (We know)
That Rollie lit up nice, it had the large dial
But you was on your ish for that ice just like you are now
Royce, we was pretty tight and you gotta round Mike
And let him sell you Joell lines at a discount price
But you know Quick, nigga, the block enforcer
Only thing you had up on me was that rocket launcher
Got guns too, we had some fun too
Mic check, one, two, so this is what it's come to
That last phone call revealed it was the last days
Man, I wish real life was like backstage

Green room bottles full as fuck
Bad bitches around that nobody else can touch
Bags full of money, choppers on the bus
The four-headed monster, who want a problem with us?
But, see, the problem was us
And a whole lotta stuff we probably shoulda discussed
But we here now, no going back, hey
At least shit was real when we was backstage

[Kxng Crooked:]
Dear God, thank you for letting me wake up
Feel like I'm in the land of Canaan
Feel like we are the sons of Jacob
Four brothers who destined to break up
But when we meet up in Egypt and make up
The snake up the tree of life who offered the apple to Eve
See, I bit the forbidden fruit, then I hit the chapel to grieve
'Cause I knew the truth, in Babylon, shackled by thieves
In the lion's den, I triumphed when Daniel believed
I was a slave to my loyalty
Measure the precious like tryna measure the deserts
Feeling lesser or lesser
Joseph never treasured my efforts
He couldn't spot a G.O.A.T., like shepherds and leopards
But I'm a king like Nebuchadnezzar (Yessir)
Bag of gold for us, I took the Zion
But the three-man story didn't fit in the Book of Ryan
I would be lying if I didn't say that rock hit me
Like the one that shocked Goliath and Giant, I dropped quickly
I was tryna organize the last supper
If Joseph is married to retirement, why we making the fans suffer?
Y'all making our path rougher
In the belly of the whale like Jonah, we eat sushi
And that's such a rap hustler for ya
I'm the Samson that y'all made
Delilah gave me a ball fade
Cut off my crown, now I'm tied to two pillars
Enemies all around
'Til God sent me the strength to bring the house of slaughter down (Word)
I died and came back as John the Elder
Wrote a book about our bad ways
A revelation 'bout our last days
Now it ain't nothing left to tell ya, this the last page
The story's over, no more backstage

I guess I thought shit was sweet
'Cause sugar and salt look the same, you know what I mean?
It wasn't real
And God gave me the signs, that's why this verse is biblical

[Joell Ortiz:]
Green room bottles full as fuck
Bad bitches around that nobody else can touch
Bags full of money, choppers on the bus
The four-headed monster, who want a problem with us?
But, see, the problem was us
And a whole lotta stuff we probably shoulda discussed
But we here now, no going back, hey
At least shit was real when we was backstage