Released: June 26, 2001
Songwriter: Kanye West Beanie Sigel
Producer: Kanye West
[Intro]
I'm just a picture in a frame
I paint word pictures on the canvas of life
But I don't control the colors
[Verse 1]
Yo, I'm ten steps ahead of niggas, that shit scary
Sometimes I feel ahead of myself
I hear this voice in the back of my mind
Like "Mack maintain, just grind, dog, better yourself"
So what I do? I take heed and pick up the pace
Can't explain it when I pick up my son and look at my face
I'm like a black rose growin' in the concrete crackin' the pavement
There that voice go again "Mack practice for greatness
Get paid for them immaculate statements"
Keep thinkin' of them hot lines, like a physic, I can't explain it
There's no pen when I write it, it's nothing like it
[Interlude]
Goddamn, what you want from me
What you want me to tell you huh?
Niggas thought that I would stutter huh, thought I was dumb
[Verse 2]
But I ain't used to use my mind, I used to just use my 9
And run wild with my boys, in the streets wild with these wars
Now the Qur'an and 48 laws, they polish my flaws
I'm movin' niggas like puppets with no strings attached
It's nothin' for Beans, so you know it ain't a thing for Mack
To look in your eyes, see through your heart, know what you fearin'
Pick you apart, like you niggas is transparent
(I see right through you niggas)
It's like Mack was born with advanced parents
I'm like the Sun shinin' at night
Imagine it dog, I know you wanna see me gradually fall
But I'm walkin' on air, breakin' every gravity law
It's nothin' like it, I swear
I spit words that skip through air
Let the words of a true thug hit your ear
It change colors like blue blood when it hit the air
It's nothin' like it
[Interlude]
Goddamn, shit, I can't explain it
Fuck y'all niggas
[Verse 3]
I changed my whole life in about 9 months, just like sperm in a womb
These young niggas never learn 'til they doomed
Try to tell them "you can burn young punk without smellin' the fumes"
Make you shiver in the middle of June
Paint a picture so vivid, you can hang it up in your room
Shine bright like a prism, displayin' colors like Crayola
Think of the prisons with straight soldiers
Think about the niggas who fucked us and played over us
Think about the mothers who suffered and prayed over us
Just look at the the picture I'm paintin', it's so perfect
Open your eyes motherfuckers, you can't duck us
No survivors every soul shall suffer
I'm loadin' up revolvers every shell shall touch ya
I promise it's like jihad with these mags, I'ma bust ya
[Outro]
Goddamn it's nothin' like it, I'm serious
Can't explain how I write it
I'm just a picture in a frame
I paint word pictures on the canvas of life
But I don't control the colors
[Verse 1]
Yo, I'm ten steps ahead of niggas, that shit scary
Sometimes I feel ahead of myself
I hear this voice in the back of my mind
Like "Mack maintain, just grind, dog, better yourself"
So what I do? I take heed and pick up the pace
Can't explain it when I pick up my son and look at my face
I'm like a black rose growin' in the concrete crackin' the pavement
There that voice go again "Mack practice for greatness
Get paid for them immaculate statements"
Keep thinkin' of them hot lines, like a physic, I can't explain it
There's no pen when I write it, it's nothing like it
[Interlude]
Goddamn, what you want from me
What you want me to tell you huh?
Niggas thought that I would stutter huh, thought I was dumb
[Verse 2]
But I ain't used to use my mind, I used to just use my 9
And run wild with my boys, in the streets wild with these wars
Now the Qur'an and 48 laws, they polish my flaws
I'm movin' niggas like puppets with no strings attached
It's nothin' for Beans, so you know it ain't a thing for Mack
To look in your eyes, see through your heart, know what you fearin'
Pick you apart, like you niggas is transparent
(I see right through you niggas)
It's like Mack was born with advanced parents
I'm like the Sun shinin' at night
Imagine it dog, I know you wanna see me gradually fall
But I'm walkin' on air, breakin' every gravity law
It's nothin' like it, I swear
I spit words that skip through air
Let the words of a true thug hit your ear
It change colors like blue blood when it hit the air
It's nothin' like it
[Interlude]
Goddamn, shit, I can't explain it
Fuck y'all niggas
[Verse 3]
I changed my whole life in about 9 months, just like sperm in a womb
These young niggas never learn 'til they doomed
Try to tell them "you can burn young punk without smellin' the fumes"
Make you shiver in the middle of June
Paint a picture so vivid, you can hang it up in your room
Shine bright like a prism, displayin' colors like Crayola
Think of the prisons with straight soldiers
Think about the niggas who fucked us and played over us
Think about the mothers who suffered and prayed over us
Just look at the the picture I'm paintin', it's so perfect
Open your eyes motherfuckers, you can't duck us
No survivors every soul shall suffer
I'm loadin' up revolvers every shell shall touch ya
I promise it's like jihad with these mags, I'ma bust ya
[Outro]
Goddamn it's nothin' like it, I'm serious
Can't explain how I write it