When the Smoke Clears

Intro

Yeah... they call me a menace, call me a demon

Ain't nobody ever ask what they made me

Only God can judge me... so I'ma speak my last words

Verse 1

Curtains pulled tight in this big empty mansion

Flinch at car doors, safety off, nine fully loaded

Phone keep ringin', snakes and fake cousins

Singin' "love you" like family, beggin' me to front 'em

Twenty-five years old, damn near out of time

Look in the mirror, don't recognize the eyes

Half of me a saint, half of me a killer

Caught between the revolution and the drug dealer

One half wanna build, feed the babies in the hood

Other half ready for war, wish a nigga would

God know I'm sick of this bulletproof life

Checkin' every corner, screamin' in my sleep at night

Smile for the cameras while the feds draw near

Go home and ask God why I'm still here

Chorus

When the smoke clear... where the fuck do I go?

Nowhere to run when the whole world know your name

When the smoke clear... will my soul find peace?

Or just another body in they dirty game?

Everybody love the fire 'til it burn 'em alive

They love the shine... until the night

When the smoke clear... who still by my side?

Nobody... just me and the spirits

Verse 2

They killed Malcolm, murdered Martin, caged the Panthers

Now they scared when a young Black man read the answers

Mama in the kitchen, singin' off-key

Burnt the grits, laughed, said "Baby, you gon' be somebody"

Now I'm somebody, and I'd trade every plaque

To sit at that table and hear her laugh like that

Now they scream Makaveli like a nigga can't bleed

Truth is I'm haunted, can't sleep, can't breathe

Million-dollar price on a heart full of holes

Still that same young nigga... fightin' for my soul

Chorus

When the smoke clear... where the fuck do I go?

Nowhere to run when the whole world know your name

When the smoke clear... will my soul find peace?

Or just another body in they dirty game?

Everybody love the fire 'til it burn 'em alive

They love the shine... until the night

When the smoke clear... who still by my side?

Nobody... just me and the spirits

Verse 3

Little homies on the block lookin' at me like Christ

Copy my walk, ready to die overnight

If I could grab they shoulders I'd tell 'em the truth

Don't trade your soul for no ice and no coupe

This fame is a coffin, this life is a cell

Everybody know the name, nobody know the hell

If I don't see thirty, if they finish the plot

Remember the message... not the guns that I got

They can riddle my body, they can shatter the bone

But my words keep on breathin' when I'm gone

Thirty years from now when they all turn to dust

Press play in the darkness... the grave can't hold us