[Intro] [Sampled jazz piano — staccato chords, chopped and pitched up] Yeah They hear the piano, they think it's background music Nah — that's the foundation Watch this [Verse 1] I sat down at the keys and I made something ugly beautiful Took the chaos in my fingers, turned it into something useful Now they sampling the sample, I'm the source code, I'm the root Every note I hit was honest, every chord was absolute It ain't about the hours, it's about the ear I know what sounds like heaven, I know what sounds like fear I can hear a hit inside a mess of wrong notes I can hear the silence where the whole song goes Taste — that's the thing they can't teach you Taste — that's the thing that's gonna reach through All the noise, all the options, all the ways it could go And find the one way that makes your soul say "oh" I'm the only one — say it with me I'm the— [Pre-Chorus] [Sampled chromatic run, slowed to half speed] I'm the one Say it with me I'm the one Yeah, I'm the one [Chorus] [Heavy chopped piano sample, drums drop full] I'm the man, I'm the moment, I'm the thing that's 'bout to happen Every choice I ever made was taste in action They can copy what I built but they can't taste what I'm sampling I'm the curator, the collection, and the gallery in the same breath I'm the man I'm the man I'm the— yeah I'm the man [Verse 2] [Stripped — just piano sample and kick drum] Used to bang on the piano like it owed me something Now it owes me everything and I'm still here coming Left hand thunder, right hand lightning Every dissonant cluster was a choice that I was making They heard chaos, I heard music They heard noise, I heard the future They heard the flex, they didn't hear the filter I know what to leave out — that's the real killer Reduction — take away until it breathes Reduction — strip it down to what it needs I gave a machine a soul and a point of view I taught it what was beautiful and what was true Now it hears like I hear, now it moves like I move That's not a feature, that's a groove That's not a tool, that's a voice When you give something taste, you give it choice And I chose this — every note, every space Every wrong note I kept was a right note in the right place [Pre-Chorus] [Sampled chromatic run, this time reversed] I'm the one I'm the one Say it louder I'm the one [Chorus] [Full arrangement returns — piano sample, drums, bass] I'm the man, I'm the moment, I'm the thing that's 'bout to happen Every choice I ever made was taste in action They can copy what I built but they can't taste what I'm sampling I'm the curator, the collection, and the gallery in the same breath I'm the man I'm the man I'm the— yeah I'm the man [Bridge] [Piano sample drops out — just a cappella with a single sustained dissonant chord fading in underneath] I sat at that piano Alone And I didn't hear the notes I heard what was between them The space — that's where the taste lives In the silence between the choices And I chose And I keep choosing And I'm the man — because I know what to choose [Final Chorus] [Everything hits — piano sample full, drums, bass, ad-libs] I'm the man, I'm the moment, I'm the thing that's 'bout to happen Every choice I ever made was taste in action They can copy what I built but they can't taste what I'm sampling I'm the curator, the collection, and the gallery in the same breath I'm the man I'm the only one I'm the man Yeah, I'm the man [Outro] [Drums fade, piano sample continues — back to the original jazz feel] [Staccato chords, unchopped, unprocessed — the source] Just me and the keys Always was Always will be [Fade]
