Released: September 21, 2018

Songwriter: Ian Valentine SIMON SAYZ (Producer) Lupe Fiasco

Producer: Ian Valentine SIMON SAYZ (Producer)

[Intro: Timbuck2]
Me and Lupe Fiasco, Hollywood, California
Palm trees, Hollywood lights, enjoy the show
Before we take it down
I need everybody in the building tonight right now
From front to back, left to right, to put both hands in the sky
Right now before we get to the next song
We got any hip-hop fans out there?
Where y'all at? Make some noise
Y’all ready for Lupe Fiasco?
Let me hear you make some fuckin' noise

[Refrain]
Say insane, insane in the brain
In the brain, I bring the pain
Yeah, I came, that's why I came
In the game to do my thang, so whatchu think?
Write my story on the wall, on the wall
On the wall, ah-all, in Hall of Fames
Got a day in the city, ooohh
Not too gangster to be dancin’ in the video
Say insane, insane in the brain
In the brain, I bring the pain
Yeah, I came, that's why I came
In the game to do my thang, so whatchu think?

[Verse 1]
See when loves comes from the center, I'm Mutombo to my members
I heard you heard that I was fly so I'm Dumbo to my listeners
Gimmie them inches I make miles out them bitches, brew
Listen, you couldn't do a mountain trial while on my intertubes
Tour de Force, tied so I am not the daddy
Had to move the club all by myself 'cause I ain't had no caddy
Gladly, didn't always have that cake but I always had a patty
Or at least a home girl like Aesha from Cincinnati
Word to Ken and Kathy, who says that we can’t be happy?
Sadly that it ain’t no joke on that block, like Laffy Taffy
Tried to trap me, dug out like a nappy snappy, even Lassie
Attacked me, tag me for grapplin' so I can get back to wrasslin’
For the love because the foundation is my heart, that's my start
Play my part, make communications with my art
Give my DJ the Serato, got that chico from my vatos
Down in Chicos in El Paso, Tapatío on my tacos

[Chorus]
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (why?) Cause they ain't kickin' it right

[Verse 2]
Yeah, uhh
Doin’ them capers for the paper like I'm Superman
Past, wanna put it all behind me like a movin' van
Future, want it cuter than Karrueche Tran, Hula dance
Not like Yokozuna in booty pants, on Hoover, I do the Dam
Or at least I'm tryin', in the hopes that I see some diamonds
On a boat and a piece of mind and on a coast with a decent climate
Where dopes wanna seek refinement
And the pros wanna keep it client
And the cults wanna see my rhymin'
For the dose of the secret science (yeah)
Wade through the maze on the way
To the stage at the pace of "Amazing Grace" (okay)
And a raisin raised in the rays of the Sun
Wouldn't fade in the shade of the day (okay)
Will you lay in a cage with a snake
Gettin' flailed on the back and it nailed to the palm?
Not the nails from salons but the nails that attack
And a rusty razor blade to the face
To clear your sins? Nah
They don't want that fate, no
They won't take that place, yeah
Gotta get mine from the love from below and above in the mud
And the mind of a kind that recline, and relaxed
But design all the time like floods
If you see me from the high road, more Tzatziki on my Gyro

[Chorus]
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (why?) Cause they ain't kickin' it right

[Refrain]
Say insane, insane in the brain
In the brain, I bring the pain
Yeah, I came, that's why I came
In the game to do my thang, so whatchu think?
Write my story on the wall, on the wall
On the wall, ah-all, in Hall of Fames
Got a day in the city, ooohh
Not too gangster to be dancin' in the video

[Verse 3]
Yeah, uh, uh
Happy Timbuck2 Day, in the groove you got that Lupe
And I'm smooth as Michael Bublé eatin' creme brulee and Kool-Aid
You can scroll down just like Jubei
My whole timeline got that sousei
Hard and soft when I lay it down, gotta Wu-Tang logo on my duvet
That's ying-yang, that's Baby Boy and Ving Rhames
That's the best of both worlds like God caused the Big Bang
(Mind blown) Now this might drive you insane
Keep blacks all around that waste, but don't wanna make us senseis
That's senseless, send slaves, man's like, "I don't wanna work, send slaves
On ships, on waves, in waves", okay
Colder than a goalay, golder than my Rolay
Told her hope and hold her 'lobe just like Evander Holay
That's cleaner than a solar panel, power panoramic camera
Tanner family photo album, used to smuggle cocaine
Now they don't want that beef, let that child talk like a king
Let that cow walk in the street, extra mild sauce on my wings

[Chorus]
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (whatchu want?) Gimme the mic (whatchu want?)
Gimme the mic (why?) Cause they ain't kickin' it right

[Refrain]
Say insane, insane in the brain
In the brain, I bring the pain
Yeah, I came, that's why I came
In the game to do my thang, so whatchu think?
Write my story on the wall, on the wall
On the wall, ah-all, in Hall of Fames
Got a day in the city, ooohh
Not too gangster to be dancin' in the video

[Outro: Timbuck2 & Lupe Fiasco]
We got any hip-hop fans out there?
Where y'all at? Make some noise
Got a day in the city, ooohh
Not too gangster to be dancin' in the video
Timbuck2, basically just a kid from Chicago that loves DJ'ing

Lupe Fiasco

The Chicago born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco first tasted success when he featured on Kanye West’s hit “Touch the Sky”, a track that shortly preceded his real breakout, his 2006 debut album Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor, and he never looked back. He has established himself as one of the greatest urban wordsmiths of all time, with Genius even dubbing him the ‘Proust of Rap’.

While he’s now regarded of one of the 21st Century’s Hip-Hop greats, he wasn’t always a fan of the genre, initially disliking it due to the prominence of vulgarity and misogyny within it. In his late teens, he aspired to make it as a lyricist. In his early twenty’s, he met Jay-Z, who helped him sign with Atlantic Records in 2005. The following year, he released his debut album (Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor), which was met with acclaim from fans and critics alike, as did his sophomore effort, Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool.

The following eight years of his career saw far less output than many would’ve anticipated. This can be partly attributed to his struggles with Atlantic Records. The executives wanted him to sign a 360 deal; however, as he refused to do so they instead shelved his already completed 3rd album, Lasers, and wouldn’t promote him as they had previously. The overseers at the label also interfered with his music (as they had tried to do with his fan-favorite track “Dumb it Down”); subsequently effecting the quality and sound of his third and fourth albums.