Let It Live

When will the calls stop I can’t sleep Sallie Mae’s my alarm clock Yet I’m still here, still real, still hurt and fear, still love And I been out of work for years They say greatness comes with perseverance That our best and worst is to find out what our purpose here is That’s everyday for twenty-eight If my love is labor I feel I’m underpaid Don’t really want to be yall, rather be unafraid See I ain’t in the ghetto but I suffer it’s rage Young colored boys coming of age stuck in these cages Shuffling in chains, shucking for change and education One of these days my college degree will mean something Other than slavery, other than leading this country Other than pay me, other than maybe Something then wakes me It’s a dream There is no escaping, save me Do they love me? Or do they understand? They keep telling me they love me I just need them to understand So when I tell it I tell them to dream big Then let it live It is what it is So let it live When I tell it I tell them to dream big But let it live It is what it is Said it is what it is It’s winter, 6:06am Up trying to make end for FAM I got a wife who feels slighted every time that I’m away And I’m reminded all the time I’m from a line of great men So I know who you think I am but I aint them I’ve gone to great distances to prove that London, Côte d’Ivoire, the Carribean to prove that There just aren’t many men who do that So you rap, I came to bring the blues back A dream deferred, unseen, unheard I’m bringing Langston Hughes back So if it ever do matter that’s one master, two doctors, two bachelors Do they love me? Or do they understand? I’m not sure that I need them to love me I just need them to understand So when I tell it I tell them to dream big Then let it live It is what it is So let it live And when I tell it I tell them to dream big But let it live It is what it is Said it is what it is I hate that I slept this long Dreamt so hard til all that’s left is gone I could be up writing better songs I could be up getting ready for em I could be up in that echelon The World at my beck and call I’m so afraid of being Dave, Eddie, or worse Lamar I wasn’t sent here to be a star I was just meant to work really hard and see where the cards would fall So excel as I exhale Survived and failed and now I finally get Chappelle In order to live my life and live it well I gotta give up something So might as well give em hell Let it live So when I tell it I tell them to dream big Then let it live It is what it is So let it live When I tell it I tell them to dream big But let it live It is what it is Said it is what it is Egypt to Elizabeth to prove that You rap I came to bring the blues back