Released: November 1, 2011

Songwriter: Nipsey Hussle

[Verse 1]
Look, somehow I escaped the fate of this life I lead
Divorced the street, she tried to kill me and my wife to be
Black widow, silk sheets and a satin pillow
This California king loved you like a sack of indo
Empty patron bottles and a pack of Mentos
Master suite frigerator full of incidentals
Every day we have a ball like the blond bimbo
Talk to her like a shrink and fuck her like a nympho
And it can be as simple as it seems
If you never doubt yourself and learn from everything you see
No wishing on a star can turn your life into a dream
You could walk on water just don't look down at your feet
Look
Told this world I was a star I'm gon' need a stage
Cause life is short and talk is cheap so fuck what people say
When I was 12 a crazy lady told me lead the way
I shed a tear cause it was real and swore to never stray
Now every second is a classic, when nothing last
Gotta take a moment and appreciate the fact that
This world is turning faster and faster
Once you found the the real it's hard to tolerate the plastic

[Chorus]
I ain't no Christian, ain't no Catholic but I believe
God gonna shine his light on everyone that never had shit
I need some answers to these questions that I'm asking
We used to be connected, who detached us
We used to be respected, now they laughin'
We've turned into possessions with no passion
How we go from the best to less then average
We used to be connected, who detached us

With no collective identity, it's every man for himself
We need a black mafia

[Verse 2]
Ruthless Crip on some stupid shit
To valeting at Ruth Chris in some roofless shit
I think too much TV is what ruins kids
When homosexual actors is their influences
We need community centers that teach the music biz
That way we learn to retain ownership on some Jewish shit
Don't take your hand out, you build it it's more lucrative
And now everything that I spoke is the truest shit
You get abused long enough, you start abusing shit
She flipped the script and now your woman calling you a bitch
You got some problems in the house that only you can fix
And if you was a kid that grew up with it even you would split
He told the world he was a star and he gonna need a stage
Cause life is short and talk is cheap so fuck what people say
When he was 12 a crazy lady told him lead the way
He shed a tear cause it was real and swore to never stray
Now every second is a classic, when nothing last
Gotta take a moment and appreciate the fact that
This world is turning faster and faster
Once you found the real it's hard to tolerate the plastic

[Chorus]
I ain't no christian, ain't no catholic but
I believe god gonna shine his light on everyone that never had shit
I need some answers to these questions that I'm asking
We used to be connected, who detached us

[Interlude: Steve Jobs]
Death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it
And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life
It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new
Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life
Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking
Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice
And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish
It was their farewell message as they signed off
And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish

Nipsey Hussle

Ermias Joseph Asghedom (August 15, 1985 – March 31, 2019), better known as Nipsey Hussle, was a Grammy-award winning hip-hop artist and mogul from the Crenshaw district of South Central Los Angeles, California.

With a name inspired by actor Nipsey Russell, Nipsey Hussle released his first project, Slauson Boy Volume 1, in 2005, and he was featured in XXL’s 2010 Freshman Class alongside J. Cole, Big Sean, Freddie Gibbs, Wiz Khalifa, and Jay Rock among others. Nipsey gained national headlines in 2013 as he sold copies of his Crenshaw mixtape for $100 each. One customer was JAY-Z, who purchased 100 copies in support of Nipsey’s hustle. He then charged $1,000 per copy of his Mailbox Money mixtape in 2014 to continue his #Proud2Pay campaign.

After a decade of releasing several mixtapes and singles, Nipsey released his long-awaited debut album Victory Lap in 2018. The album was nominated in the Best Rap Album category at the 2019 Grammy Awards.