Songwriter: Lupe Fiasco

Producer: Salaam Remi

[Talking]
Uh, uh, uh, uh, 1-5 who's more crooked than One-Time?
Say 1-5 who's more crooked than One-Time?
Yeah, yeah check is my mic on? As I twilight zone?

[Pre-verse]
My mindstate rewinds wakes
And fast-forwards bullets makin'a B-line for my face
My mindstate
My mindstate

My mindstate rewinds wakes
And fast-forwards bullets makin'a B-line for my face

1-5 who's more crooked than One-Time?
Say 1-5 who's more crooked than One-Time?
Check it, is my mic on, as I twilight zone?

[Verse:]
My mindstate rewinds wakes
And fast-forwards bullets makin'a B-line for my face
Then they stop like Neo
Laugh at me throw some cash at me then fly pass me
But one ricochets off the wall to come back and ask me
Am I scared of him or the "nigga that blast me"
Or maybe just the hammer that goes to be a hole in an innocent bystander
My eye's a camera my ear's a microphone
My mind is Pro Tools my head is a stool
Whats recorded in my dome gets reported when I zone
My mouth is a speaker I'm anchoring the misery
There's no friends the enemy of my enemy is my enemy
Beakers and test tubes full of memories
In my labatory I create stories
Doze off then wake up surrounded by Forties
Wit Glocks tucked in they labels
And they caps is baseball hats
Playin poker at a table
Cigarettes massage they shoulders in belly tops showin off they navels
A dime sack side bets, a tech is runnin' for president
Jesus pieces walk around with niggas hangin' from they necks
Monopoly is playin' chess
I just picked up an obituary of a bullet proof vest
Put the headphone on my mouth speak into my ears
Yea microphone check, check, check, check, check
Check, a pair of Air Forces told me Rims've been extinct for years
Been ethnic cleansed by Jersey's tryna take over the set
And Television is on deathrow for killing BET and MTV over a dice game
And paralyizing CNN by knifing him in the neck
I hear Clear Channel's been fightin' him in the rec
Who's in for givin' grape Kool-Aid laced with strychnine to mixtapes and arm robbin' cassettes
Dope told me Weed was a crack fiend but Crack told me that Dope was a base head
Hi-hats told police he was just a soldier he did what the Bass said
The Snare and the Kick didn't make it out alive
The Sample made it out with some money but he died in the ride
The 808 got caught wit some work (He ain't never comin' home)
So the MPC's and the MP3's is fightin over his turf
Sean Don just gave birth
But she's thinkin' bout leavin it on the doorstep of a church
Cristal can't have kids she plottin' to kidnap it that she orchestrated with a purse
But Gucci told Fendi and Fendi turned and around and told Henny
And Henny is Moets baby's father
But she tried it anyway disguised as a nurse
In the newspapers it says "Hip-Hop called Rock n Roll racist"
The Six ripped the Five and the Maybach taped it
A Hundred dollar bill just signed a record deal
But he blew all his money on the Braceletes
And givin' the Gold Dollar a face lift
A Button Up just drove by in a 6-4 Impalla
All the Rolex's is hatin' you see the smirks on they faces
The Havatampas is defending the Dutchess they keep catchin cases
But the judge is a Swisha he just give em iBonds and community service with the Papers
So the Newport's is gettin mad at the ZigZags then out come the razors
See the Kool's is killers on the creep
Rush up on the Philly, leave his guts spillin on the street
Some Gold Grills burned down the building of some teeth
Some Sharpened Tooth Brushes is holding the trampoline cuz some children finna to leap
I just seen Rocawear rock Sean John to sleep with the same heat that Baby Phat carried
Sprint is pimpin Nextel she just gave head to a Black Berry
I heard she go two-ways
But he was skeetin on her face as it was beepin on my waist
This is the mind of Lupe
Just make sure my mic's on when I Twilight Zone, Zone, Zone, Zone

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.