Released: March 15, 2011
Songwriter: J. Cole
Producer: Alex Haldi
[Verse 1]
Momma, I just killed a man
My body still trembling, can you feel my hand?
Don’t shed no tears, it won’t be long before they find out it was me, Momma
This may be the last time you see me free, Ma, don't spend it crying
You did your best, me, I was blessed, know you were stressed trying
To keep me out the streets, me, ducking police
Trying not to make a peep to wake you up out your sleep
A drunk and high fool
Skipping class, flunking high school
I know you taught me better, somehow I never learned
Said I was playing with fire, somehow I never burned
You tried to set me straight, somehow I never permed
You tried to show me right, but somehow I never turned
Lost in a cloud of marijuana, are you 'shamed of me?
Dry your face off, Mommy, you're not to blame for me
See, I’m a man, I gotta take whatever came for me
At times I wonder ’bout my father, would it change for me if he was around?
Would I still be running 'round with the lowlifes?
Bum ass niggas no jobs, no life
Seen them niggas kill for no price
I watched his life flash before his eyes like a strobe light
I pulled the trigger, Momma
Tryna be hard, I ain't mean to kill the nigga, Momma
But what’s done is done
I’m on the run, I live my life like a movie now it’s way too realer
Who would've thought your baby boy would've grew up to be a killer?
[Chorus]
Yeah, now I’m a killer
Guess I’m a killer
They got me in here with the killers
Yeah, I mean the killers
[Interlude: Richard Pryor]
"I mean—murderers! Do you hear me? Real live murderers!
I thought black people killed people by accident!
Nah, these motherfuckers was murderers."
[Verse 2]
Yeah
Yeah, I wonder what's in store for me, lately been stressing
Pray for blessings, hope that there’s more for me than just a simple life
Niggas that I used to hoop with is doing triple life
Gave up the jump shot, worked on the gunshot
Who woulda thought? I used to block this nigga's lay-ups
Now he’s in a cell layed up
I wish you well, stay up like insomniacs
This life can make a nigga fold like a laundry mat, uh
I sip this cognac, though
To ease my brain from all this pain and so that I react slow
In this fast world, slow niggas, fast girls
Ho's give up ass while these ho niggas hold triggers
Blast on ‘em, hold up that old checker flag for ‘em
Chalk lines by the do not walk sign, it’s deep
All these cold hearted niggas holding heat
I’d rather blast before they steal a nigga
Tell ‘em now boy, don’t make me turn into a killer, nigga
[Chorus]
Yeah, into a killer
Don’t make me turn into a killer
Yeah, to a killer, yeah yeah
[Interlude: Richard Pryor]
"Triple life... How do you do triple life?
That mean if he die and come back... He gotta go to penitentiary!
Right there, he said "Fuck kindergarten. Get your little ass on in the penitentiary, motherfucker. You know what you did last time."
[Verse 3]
To those who had love for me in the past
Who woulda ever thought that time would fly by so fast
I remember back in class we used to make believe
Like it was draft day, swore that we would make the league and be rich
Saturday morning had to rake the leaves, aw shit
Watch how they pile up, seem like a mile up
I washed the blisters on my hands and then I'd dial up
My best friend, skating rink is where we headed at night
And if a nigga disrespect, oh yes, we ready to fight
In retrospect that shit seem petty, at the time the shit was heavy
'Cause life was all about your name
You had to scrap with any nigga that would call you lame
Ashamed no doubt, so many niggas got their brains blowed out
Snatch a niggas chain and he got his name wrote out
In obituaries, another body in a cemetery
Another young nigga in the penitentiary
And he don’t give a fuck: no missionary
Rap visionary, paint a picture, nigga: Pictionary
Tell you what it is, I’m a dictionary
I knew a nigga threw his dick in e'ry chick in e'ry
City that he went to, went hard like the rent due
'Til he met the wrong bitch
Her man just came home, ex-convict
And he stay on with that Thriller
Shit, fucking around with them killers
[Outro]
Yeah, with them killers
Fucking around with them killers
Say I’m a killer
Momma, I just killed a man
My body still trembling, can you feel my hand?
Don’t shed no tears, it won’t be long before they find out it was me, Momma
This may be the last time you see me free, Ma, don't spend it crying
You did your best, me, I was blessed, know you were stressed trying
To keep me out the streets, me, ducking police
Trying not to make a peep to wake you up out your sleep
A drunk and high fool
Skipping class, flunking high school
I know you taught me better, somehow I never learned
Said I was playing with fire, somehow I never burned
You tried to set me straight, somehow I never permed
You tried to show me right, but somehow I never turned
Lost in a cloud of marijuana, are you 'shamed of me?
Dry your face off, Mommy, you're not to blame for me
See, I’m a man, I gotta take whatever came for me
At times I wonder ’bout my father, would it change for me if he was around?
Would I still be running 'round with the lowlifes?
Bum ass niggas no jobs, no life
Seen them niggas kill for no price
I watched his life flash before his eyes like a strobe light
I pulled the trigger, Momma
Tryna be hard, I ain't mean to kill the nigga, Momma
But what’s done is done
I’m on the run, I live my life like a movie now it’s way too realer
Who would've thought your baby boy would've grew up to be a killer?
[Chorus]
Yeah, now I’m a killer
Guess I’m a killer
They got me in here with the killers
Yeah, I mean the killers
[Interlude: Richard Pryor]
"I mean—murderers! Do you hear me? Real live murderers!
I thought black people killed people by accident!
Nah, these motherfuckers was murderers."
[Verse 2]
Yeah
Yeah, I wonder what's in store for me, lately been stressing
Pray for blessings, hope that there’s more for me than just a simple life
Niggas that I used to hoop with is doing triple life
Gave up the jump shot, worked on the gunshot
Who woulda thought? I used to block this nigga's lay-ups
Now he’s in a cell layed up
I wish you well, stay up like insomniacs
This life can make a nigga fold like a laundry mat, uh
I sip this cognac, though
To ease my brain from all this pain and so that I react slow
In this fast world, slow niggas, fast girls
Ho's give up ass while these ho niggas hold triggers
Blast on ‘em, hold up that old checker flag for ‘em
Chalk lines by the do not walk sign, it’s deep
All these cold hearted niggas holding heat
I’d rather blast before they steal a nigga
Tell ‘em now boy, don’t make me turn into a killer, nigga
[Chorus]
Yeah, into a killer
Don’t make me turn into a killer
Yeah, to a killer, yeah yeah
[Interlude: Richard Pryor]
"Triple life... How do you do triple life?
That mean if he die and come back... He gotta go to penitentiary!
Right there, he said "Fuck kindergarten. Get your little ass on in the penitentiary, motherfucker. You know what you did last time."
[Verse 3]
To those who had love for me in the past
Who woulda ever thought that time would fly by so fast
I remember back in class we used to make believe
Like it was draft day, swore that we would make the league and be rich
Saturday morning had to rake the leaves, aw shit
Watch how they pile up, seem like a mile up
I washed the blisters on my hands and then I'd dial up
My best friend, skating rink is where we headed at night
And if a nigga disrespect, oh yes, we ready to fight
In retrospect that shit seem petty, at the time the shit was heavy
'Cause life was all about your name
You had to scrap with any nigga that would call you lame
Ashamed no doubt, so many niggas got their brains blowed out
Snatch a niggas chain and he got his name wrote out
In obituaries, another body in a cemetery
Another young nigga in the penitentiary
And he don’t give a fuck: no missionary
Rap visionary, paint a picture, nigga: Pictionary
Tell you what it is, I’m a dictionary
I knew a nigga threw his dick in e'ry chick in e'ry
City that he went to, went hard like the rent due
'Til he met the wrong bitch
Her man just came home, ex-convict
And he stay on with that Thriller
Shit, fucking around with them killers
[Outro]
Yeah, with them killers
Fucking around with them killers
Say I’m a killer
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