Released: October 8, 2014

Featuring: Crooked I

Songwriter: Crooked I Joe Budden

Producer: 8 Bars Darknight

[Bridge: Novel]
Last night I heard a voice say I've been getting in my own way
I think I'm falling off the deep end so I haven't been sleepin'
Last night I heard a voice in my head
Said it's an emergency, said he had some work for me

[Verse 1: Joe Budden]
He said fuck the world or maybe he said it in jest
I told him that I already did multiple times
Truthfully I wasn't never impressed
But to contradict that matter again
To the point where nothing matters again
More money, more problems, more cases, more lawyers involved
And more fame just means more paranoia involved
I done made friends, lost friends, same hour
Tried to use my truths as a means to gain power
Uh, same tricks, same cowards
Why I be like fuck any nigga that ain't ours
Never slipping, never threatened
I think they forgetting for a second non-fiction ain't a weapon
Thoughts could be hypnotic, nah, just neurotic
Called oft psychotic, flawed by off logic, but I got this

[Chorus: Joe Budden]
Last night I saw the devil sitting in my room
And we greeted with a smile
Said that he'd been there for a while
Last night I heard the devil talking in my head
Said this an emergency
Said he had some words for me
He said

[Verse 2: Joe Budden]
He said
He said one day your friends gon' be your demise
Said a few of 'em is me in disguise
Deceit in his eyes, said I like the teaching me wise
But the leeches I don't need in my life, please be advised
Real coy, listening, still annoyed
Said these hoes fill a void of holes you still avoid
Said you searching, you don't know what to do
You thinking you fucking 'em when really they fucking you
Look, said they see you and feast
Said you give the love to the ones that need it the least
But wait, you can't put me on trial for my errors
I learned, trial and error, the how I couldn't tell ya
You talking to the realest, nah, just a realist
Nah, you just a nigga don't recognize what the real is
Thoughts could be hypnotic, thoughts get out of pocket
You'll be powerless, get lost, you try to stop it, I got this

[Chorus: Joe Budden]
Last night I saw the devil sitting in my room
And we greeted with a smile
Said that he'd been there for a while
Last night I heard the devil talking in my head
Said this an emergency
Said he had some words for me
He said

[Verse 3: Crooked I]
He said, "What you doin' this music for?
I got news for ya
If you don't sell your soul to me then you just gon' ruin your future, bruh
See, I just cracked open this Goose
And I mixed that elixir with juice then I was introduced to Lucifer
In a dark room, his tongue sharp as a harpoon
We started discussin' things
He told me 'bout his minions and his underlings
Told me that he was Geppetto of the ghetto
Had snake niggas on his puppet strings, taught him betrayal and other schemes
He ain't new to this, he true to this
Said he been doin' this since Jesus was crossed
For thirty pieces of silver and he sealed the deal with a Judas kiss
When Caesar was stabbed in the back
He was the one who placed the knife in Brutus fist
Now he got his hands in our music biz (he said)
Told me to ignore the war on the poor
Aim my music more towards the whores and drug lords
And the fans'll pour through the doors
Sell out my tours, get awards galore
I told him I just wanted to be the modern day Marvin Gaye
He said, "You might wanna rethink that
'Cause I know where your father stay, I'll possess him
To pick up the chrome, pop you in your dome for tryna tell the people what's goin' on"
He said, "That's where you goin' wrong
There's more demons than angels in this biz, you on your own
Wanna hit the big screen? Switch your sixteens
Get some slim jeans, forget your big dreams, I'll make your wrist gleam
Get your big cream, hope you're lis'ning"
I just had to switch to his team, uh, it was tempting
The contract was in blood
He said, "I know you sick of trafficking drugs - sign it"
"Nah, I got this"

[Chorus: Joe Budden]
Last night I saw the devil sitting in my room
And we greeted with a smile
Said that he'd been there for a while
Last night I heard the devil talking in my head
Said this an emergency
Said he had some words for me
He said

[Bridge: Novel]
Last night I heard a voice say I've been getting in my own way
I think I'm falling off the deep end so I haven't been sleepin'
Last night I heard a voice in my head
Said it's an emergency, said he had some work for me

[Outro]
I think the weed started fucking with a nigga

Joe Budden

Joe Budden is from Jersey City, New Jersey. He was born in Spanish Harlem but lived in Queens until he was 12 and from there moved to Jersey City, New Jersey. Budden is one of five boys (one older brother and three younger brothers – two are twin brothers). Budden heard music in his home (his father is a multi-instrumentalist) and on the streets while he grew up.

He is also one quarter of Slaughterhouse, alongside fellow rappers Royce da 5’9”, Joell Ortiz, and Crooked I.