Released: February 12, 2013
Songwriter: J. Cole
Producer: J. Cole
[Chorus]
Rise above, rise above
And you’ve got to
Rise above, rise above
[Verse 1]
She had a little daughter with her, it was cold out
She said “ah, I hate this motherfucker,” then she rolled out
He ain’t answering his phone, she yells “what the fuck?!”
Then told her daughter “buckle up, yeah, that’s for safety”
See she been stressin’ lately
‘Cause this nigga she done been with for the past two years
Is now the current reason for her last few tears
She text, he don’t text back
When she see him she be tryna sex, he don’t sex back
His heart be on jet black
She call, he don’t call back, all he say is “fall back”
A nigga just need his space, so she headed to his place
Cause she just got a call from her homegirl Rhonda
Who said he been creepin’, he been fuckin’ with Yolanda
“Yolanda? Yeah girl, Yolanda”
“Told you he ain’t shit but you ain’t listen, I was tryna” –
“Click” – hmmm, hung up that phone and hopped right up in that Honda
Headed to his crib, she said she fed up with this shit
“Thought this time this was the one, thought I got better at this shit”
“Pickin’ out Mr. Right, stick it out through the fights”
“And long nights, for what? These niggas is all alike”
She gon’ set it off, her daughter gon’ witness it all tonight, damn
[Chorus]
Rise above, rise above
And you’ve got to
Rise above, rise above
[Verse 2]
She said she just finished school, could barely pay tuition
Now she teaches 7th grade, tryna make a difference
Aye, but the kids frustrate her, say that they don’t listen
A ass like that, how the fuck they supposed to pay attention?
I’m fuckin’ with you, but for real, she say they hopeless
A class full of jokesters, creating all the obstacles, impossible to focus
Little niggas barely read, tryna give them what they need
And they don’t even try, one little boy, he caught her eye
‘Cause he look just like her brother, she be havin’ to call his mother
But she act like she don’t care – what father? He ain’t here
Now she frustrated, thinkin’ that she just made the mistake of her life
Underpaid, be havin’ to waitress at night
Six years of college down the drain, drinkin’, tryna drown her pain
Party with her girls, feeling sorry for the world
‘Cause ain’t no hope for the youth, well ain’t that the truth
When all your role models either rappin’ or they hoop, damn
[Chorus]
Rise above, rise above
And you’ve got to
Rise above, rise above
Rise above, rise above
And you’ve got to
Rise above, rise above
[Verse 1]
She had a little daughter with her, it was cold out
She said “ah, I hate this motherfucker,” then she rolled out
He ain’t answering his phone, she yells “what the fuck?!”
Then told her daughter “buckle up, yeah, that’s for safety”
See she been stressin’ lately
‘Cause this nigga she done been with for the past two years
Is now the current reason for her last few tears
She text, he don’t text back
When she see him she be tryna sex, he don’t sex back
His heart be on jet black
She call, he don’t call back, all he say is “fall back”
A nigga just need his space, so she headed to his place
Cause she just got a call from her homegirl Rhonda
Who said he been creepin’, he been fuckin’ with Yolanda
“Yolanda? Yeah girl, Yolanda”
“Told you he ain’t shit but you ain’t listen, I was tryna” –
“Click” – hmmm, hung up that phone and hopped right up in that Honda
Headed to his crib, she said she fed up with this shit
“Thought this time this was the one, thought I got better at this shit”
“Pickin’ out Mr. Right, stick it out through the fights”
“And long nights, for what? These niggas is all alike”
She gon’ set it off, her daughter gon’ witness it all tonight, damn
[Chorus]
Rise above, rise above
And you’ve got to
Rise above, rise above
[Verse 2]
She said she just finished school, could barely pay tuition
Now she teaches 7th grade, tryna make a difference
Aye, but the kids frustrate her, say that they don’t listen
A ass like that, how the fuck they supposed to pay attention?
I’m fuckin’ with you, but for real, she say they hopeless
A class full of jokesters, creating all the obstacles, impossible to focus
Little niggas barely read, tryna give them what they need
And they don’t even try, one little boy, he caught her eye
‘Cause he look just like her brother, she be havin’ to call his mother
But she act like she don’t care – what father? He ain’t here
Now she frustrated, thinkin’ that she just made the mistake of her life
Underpaid, be havin’ to waitress at night
Six years of college down the drain, drinkin’, tryna drown her pain
Party with her girls, feeling sorry for the world
‘Cause ain’t no hope for the youth, well ain’t that the truth
When all your role models either rappin’ or they hoop, damn
[Chorus]
Rise above, rise above
And you’ve got to
Rise above, rise above