Royce da 5'9"

Released: May 4, 2018

Featuring: Robert Glasper Marsha Ambrosius

Songwriter: dEnAun Keyon Harrold Robert Glasper Royce da 5'9" Marsha Ambrosius

Producer: dEnAun

[Intro: Royce's son & Royce Da 5'9"]
I was also gon' ask about your fear as an individual
You know, it's plenty of people
Feel a sense of security around you and kinda lean on you
You ever feel like a certain amount of pressure from that?
Do you ever get afraid?
Of course I do, I mean everybody gets afraid sometimes
What possibly could make you afraid?
What are you afraid of? (afraid of, afraid of)

[Verse 1: Royce Da 5'9"]
I'm afraid, I'm afraid
Sometimes I'm even afraid to admit
I'm afraid, I'm afraid of the weight of my problems
Haters workin' overtime, 8 or 9 jobs worth
All these wanted ski masks niggas
Old basketball shorts under jean ass niggas
Need to know, I'm a product of a dead poet rhyming at his low
Equals Maya Angelou, my emphatic flow can rise the status quo
Lying on the padded floor, addict at it's best
Eradicated from the fabricated
Afraid of the thought of releasing music that's indicative
Of where I'm at in life, will they like? Will they hate?
The better question is if they hate it, is you down to pay the price?
I'll look you right in your eyes and say, "You motherfuckin' right"
Don't bother me with adversity
I conquered more ground than King Kong could
All I think about these days is mom good
'Cause she diabetic, my daddy just had a cancer scare
And do he still work at the post office? The answer's yeah
I'm introverted, knowing that it's not about Oz
Bigger problems outside

[Chorus: Marsha Ambrosius]
There's a war going on outside
That no man is safe from
You see you can smile
But that won't change the color of your skin
But I'm the sinner (I'm the sinner)
Yet you kick me, punch me, say don't trust me
Shoot me down like I'm up to something
Fuck with me and say I've deceived you
But how's that legal?
Am I that evil? Why do you hate me?

[Verse 2: Royce Da 5'9"]
I'm afraid of you going to college and not acknowledgin'
I'm your father 'cause you not proud enough
But I fought hard to make sure you never see certain things that I'm a product of
It's easy to confuse being a father
With being a provider but all we got is us and I'm afraid to lose you
You the coolest kid I ever saw, she did a good job with you
Sometimes I hesitate to take credit for raisin' you too 'cause all I did was discipline
I never taught you to ride a bike but we still a lot alike
And you makin' music now? I wonder what made you wanna give this a spin
You know what I'm about to say next, right? I'm afraid of you drinkin'
Though I never taught you to swim, I'm afraid of you sinkin'
I know I taught you to fight, you ain't in condition to win this
You wired different
You just ain't the nigga you friends is, it's scientific
Not my opinion so you know you genetically predisposed
To more than just eating soul food, so I'm afraid of you to try to risk it
You in a gene pool with a lot of sick fish
And I'm the sickest of them all, alcoholics die when they stop from the symptoms of withdrawal
Look out the window, tell me what you see
Police shootin' brothers the color of you and me
And they actin' like they hate us so you may just wanna love yourself enough to compensate it
If I can say this, say this one thing, this one thing non-related

[Outro: Royce Da 5'9" & Royce's son]
You were never, ever, ever, better than me in basketball
Pffft, hahaha! Yeah right, sure

Royce da 5'9", real name Ryan Daniel Montgomery, is undoubtedly one of the underground rap kings of Detroit. The Michigan MC is a long-time collaborator of Eminem’s, meeting him in December 1997, and is noted as one of the greatest lyricists in hip-hop’s history (in 2012, The Source ranked him as the 48th greatest lyricist of all time in their top 50, this questionable ranking unsurprisingly being scrutinized by many as a gross misjudgment).

Although critics have previously cast shade on his ability to create a well-rounded body of work, many, critics included, considered his sophomore effort, Death is Certain (2004), to be a strong album. To learn more in-depth about his solo discography, read this page (the page listed is old, so it is not updated).

Royce is the Bad half of Bad Meets Evil (with Eminem), ¼ of Slaughterhouse (alongside Crooked I KXNG CROOKED, Joe Budden and Joell Ortiz), and ½ of PRhyme (with DJ Premier). Royce currently operates a independent record label, Bad Half Entertainment.

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