Play For Keeps

(album: Strange Clouds - 2012)

How much must I repeat?
We only play for keeps
No time-outs, no free throws
No refs, no penalties
No handouts, no pit stops
No cheat codes, no sleep
But the drinks are on us
If you with it then pull up a seat

When you're roaming through the jungle
Talk is nothing, talk is cheap
Time is money, money is power
Power corrupts eventually, damn
So what are the options?
What are the choices left for me?
What other rule there's left to break
I guess my faith is a quest for me
Man got a dog and ain't got no leash
Man got a crib, it ain't got no lease
Man got a flow that got no brain
But I still get brain, no hands, no teeth, uhh
Nowadays, niggas the killas on the beat, uh
But where I was raised all of the killas was down the street
Better do your research
Feeling like I fell out of the sky and landed feet first
My squad go hard, my squad go concrete, watch my team work
Hell yea, you can tell that a boy finna eat cause I took my seat first
3 course meal, full entrée, refills and I want my dessert
So why not make a toast? Tomorrow could always be worst
Now keep them bottles coming by the kiloliter
And get that Ana off your chest, try to keep a clean shirt
I'm so grand hustle, you ain't even in my league sir
What's up with these nerds?
They be out here, getting their salad's tossed, getting their leaves turned
The game just ain't what it used to be, the quality is blurred
But a dying breed survived and a dynasty emerged
So put it in the air if you entirely concur
She call me hippie cause I live without any concern
Up on this green earth, I'm on them green herbs
Yea yea yea, I stay in them trees like the keblers
And they say that I look higher in person
As a kid I played in the yard, but now I'm astro turfing
I lived the actual version of the fantasies they utter
Made up stories of threesomes, they must just be seeing double
Run for cover, here comes trouble
My heart is growing cold so I gotta sleep with warmer covers
Polar bear pimping, solar flare spitting
Somebody tell 'em that this is professional stunting and don't attempt it
Society is twisted, they tryna take us under
So when you see them folks, don't forget to warn a brother
I made it out alive but still the battle is a struggle
Veni, vidi, vici, I came, I saw, I conquered
They mad cause I murdered the game
And their name wasn't in the will
You see, most of these haters are mad rappers who's just still waiting on a deal
And they jealous of my success cause my shoes cost more than their bill
But I'll never sit down at another table unless I'm invited to the meal
To some it's like conquering mountains, to me it's like stepping on hills
Remember the images in your mirror can be bigger than they appear
And the truth can be hard to swallow, depending the size of the pill
And by the looks it's about the time that you had your prescription filled
My life, full-length feature presentation
There are no intermissions, no time for commercial breaking
A fighter in his prime, a legend in the making
There's no debating when you let your numbers make the statement

How much must I repeat?
We only play for keeps
No time-outs, no free throws
No refs, no penalties
No handouts, no pit stops
No cheat codes, no sleep
But the drinks are on us
If you with it then pull up a seat