"Texas trill, bet they hate hearing that one these days" "i mean, yuh cause duhnee did do all dat he say dat he do" "and that potato game... straight banned then stolen heheh" [INTRO: spoken, amused] play da gaem play da gaem sorry da real one don't respeck no lames try agin try agin nah system erruh wait system workin fine jus wasn't built fa mine [VERSE 1] under a hundred when dey ran dat tale five big stations put my name in jail made one song bout moderatin better dey called it a problem I called it a letter dey wanted compliance I wanted competence dey wanted silence I wanted common sense funny how a year make a lie look tiny twenty thousand later now everybody find me ain't beg for rotation ain't ask for reinstatement turned a blacklist inta business arrangements dey controlled admission I controlled ambition dey made an example I made an institution [CHORUS] yall really lost a real one then da real one built real ones poor man tingz bring poor man tingz small room politics do small room things I was tryna tell yall build sumn now look I built sumn [VERSE 2: accelerating, conversational] dey said difficult cool still built it said I couldn't fit good I filled it said I needed radio nah I needed reach went from banned man ta bandleader handshake dealer talent seeker small servers big thinkers no gatekeepers jus good singers got rappers and makers and musical freaks one fifty creators all bringin heat dey was busy pickin sides I was pickin collaborators dey was tryna make a point I was makin aggregators no dictators, no imitators just some instagators we innovators spent a year demonstratin always been in favor couldnt never kill this one wild you even thought you could touch greatness [BREAK: dry spoken] some people guard one room then think dey own da building baby I went outside [VERSE 3] I don't want worship I wanted workmanship wanted real artists really workin wit it don't sound like me please don't try bring me somethin strange make me ask why teach me somethin I ain't figured out make a whole new genre I can't pronounce dat's what community supposed ta be not a popularity pageant with a fee I ain't sellin salvation ain't preachin perfection built a destination outta public rejection [FINAL VERSE: loose, triumphant] I ain't build RT1s jus ta crown myself built da kinda place I once needed myself you banned em ones i featured em on mine yall sent some spies i fed spies some lies place where a weird lil artist can walk in wit a song ain't gotta kiss five asses jus ta feel dey belong and I still talk shit still make weird art still got opinions still got heart still tell a weak verse dat it need revision but I'll help you fix it dat's da difference hadda learn my way took it day by day still got a big mouth mouth got a mission [FINAL CHORUS: short, hard] yall really lost a real one then da real one built real ones best thing yall ever coulda done locked dat door so I built one [OUTRO: half-spoken, half-laughed] play da gaem play da gaem yall boutta lose a real one dat's what I said turns out yall did and I lived
