Released: February 10, 2017

Featuring: Ty Dolla $ign

Songwriter: Sam Gumbley Lupe Fiasco

Producer: S-X

[Intro: Lupe Fiasco]
Niggas wanna win
These niggas wanna win
These niggas wanna win
Everybody wanna be a mothafuckin' winner
That ain't how it work though, yeah

[Verse 1: Lupe Fiasco & Ty Dolla $ign]
Ayy, ayy, disproportionate convictions
Especially when it come to our case (our case)
You seen the movie, they killed the nigga
Why you still wanna be like Scarface? (Scarface)
That's why niggas gon' lose (these niggas gon' lose, ooh yeah)
Yeah, I said it, niggas gon' lose (these niggas gon' lose, ooh)
Yeah, and you can have a friend and you can have a Benz
One's sittin' down, the other's traffickin' (traffickin')
If you get the car then your friend dies
Havin' one keeps the other one from happenin'
I hope a nigga don't lose (nigga don't lose, ooh)
Fuck that car nigga, niggas gon' lose, uh-huh (niggas gon' lose, yeah)

[Verse 2: Lupe Fiasco & Ty Dolla $ign]
And she want love, you only want sex
You got yours, she didn't get hers (get hers)
She got no respect, y'all had a son (oh)
She like, "Fuck you", she only want a check
That lil' nigga gon' lose (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Mothafucka, niggas gon' lose (niggas gon' lose, oh)
Yeah, and these rap niggas talkin' 'bout the hood
Like we all lames and they seen it (seen it)
It's entertainin', it's cool as hell
That beat dope, that don't mean shit (mean shit)
That's why niggas gon' lose (niggas gon' lose, woah)
Fuck you talkin'? Niggas gon' lose (niggas gon' lose, yeah)
Yeah, if they legalize that whole thing
They doin' weed, next cocaine (cocaine)
Niggas ain't gon' have no jobs
And Wall Street gon' run the dope game (woah)
What a nigga gon' do? Huh? (nigga gon' do, oh yeah)
You niggas gon' lose (you niggas gon' lose, woah)

[Verse 3: Lupe Fiasco & Ty Dolla $ign]
And when you see me you don't see yourself
That's why I got no problem shootin' me (yeah yeah yeah)
Willie Lynch set the shit up beautifully
One of the reasons niggas ain't got unity
That's why niggas gon' lose (you niggas gon' lose, oh yeah)
Ayy fuck that shit, ayy, niggas gon' lose, yeah (niggas gon' lose, oh, yeah)
And most hood niggas is good niggas
In a heartbeat, I'll shed blood for him (blood for him)
But he too stupid, he won't sit down
That nigga too hot, I got love for him (whoa)
That nigga gon' lose (nigga gon' lose, aw yeah)
On my mama, that nigga gon' lose, yeah (nigga gon' lose, aw)
And you did it cause your daddy did it (and you did it cause your daddy did it)
But he locked up in there and ain't happy with it (oh yeah)
Do the same thing, get the same results
If your brain work then what's the matter with it? (lose)
You knew you was gon' lose (you was gon' lose, aw yeah)
They told you, nigga (you was gon' lose, yeah, yeah, yeah)

[Verse 4: Lupe Fiasco & Ty Dolla $ign]
Uh, I never met a saint, from no color (from no color)
From nowhere, from no other (from no other)
From no castle, from no gutter (no gutter)
It ain't nobody that don't suffer (it ain't nobody that don't suffer)
Some niggas gon' lose (niggas gon' lose, oh)
Yeah, yeah, yeah (some niggas gon' lose, aw)
Promised land, I don't believe that
Had a dream and I don't need that (need that)
Please God, send us some jobs
Cause my niggas really really need that (cause my niggas really really need that)
Or niggas gon' lose (or niggas gon' lose)
That's right, niggas gon' lose, yeah (niggas gon' lose, oh)
And we sell dope then we turn around
And give the white people all our profits (oh)
Take a percentage of that, set it to the side
And send these lil' niggas off to college (oh)
So niggas don't lose (yeah)
Yeah, niggas don't lose, uhh, yeah (niggas don't lose, oh)
And if they offer somethin', just take it
Then work hard, don't waste it (waste it)
Every castle started at the basement (basement)
Yeah, your manager a racist (racist)
But you're the one that's gon' lose (you're the one that's gon' lose, lose)
That's right, niggas gon' lose (lose)

[Outro: Ty Dolla $ign & Lupe Fiasco]
And these niggas gon' lose, oh-whoa, I said
I said everybody wanna be a winner, everybody wanna be a winner
Be a mothafuckin' winner, never gotta worry 'bout nothin'
But some niggas gon' lose
Yeah, so niggas don't lose
And it's fucked up, some niggas gon' lose
Ayy, you wake up 'cause you hear shots
Mean another nigga got his tear drops
And you call his phone and ain't pickin' up
And your stomach hurtin', that fear drops
I hope a nigga ain't lose

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.