[Intro: J. Cole, Ari Lennox, & J. Cole & Ari Lennox]
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Boy, ooh
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My intuition is telling me therell be better days, yeah (Mmm, mmm)
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My intuition is telling me therell be better days
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I like this tone (Ooh, ooh)
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[Verse 1: J. Cole, Ari Lennox, & J. Cole & Ari Lennox]
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Yeah, my intuition is telling me therell be better days
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I sit in silence and find whenever I meditate
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My fears alleviate, my tears evaporate (Mmm)
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My faith dont deviate, ideas dont have a date
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But see, Im growing and getting stronger with every breath (Mmm)
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Bringing me closer to Heavens doors with every step (Mmm)
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As we speak, Im at peace, no longer scared to die
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Most niggas dont believe in God and so they terrified
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Its either that or they be fearing they gon go to Hell
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Asking the Father for forgiveness got em overwhelmed
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(Mmm, “Please, God, I want to go to Heaven”)
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As if Hes spiteful like them white folks that control the jail (Mmm)
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See, I believe if God is real, Hed never judge a man
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Because He knows us all and therefore He would understand (Mmm)
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The ignorance that make a nigga take his brother life
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The bitterness and pain that got him beating on his wife (Mmm), like
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[Chorus: J. Cole, J. Cole & Ari Lennox, & Ari Lennox]
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I know you desperate for a change, let the pen glide
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But the only real change come from inside
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But the only real change come from inside
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But the only real change come from— (Ooh)
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In cemeteries or in chains I see men cry
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But the only real change come from inside
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But the only real change come from inside
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But the only real change come from— (Ooh, oh, woah)
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[Verse 2: J. Cole & Ari Lennox]
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Yeah, my
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Chosen religion, Jesus piece frozen from sinnin
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Doin dirt, hoping to God, He know my intentions (Mmm)
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To see a million ‘fore I see a casket
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I got a baby on the way, know he gon be a bastard (Mmm)
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Im living fast like Im in a drag race, how that cash taste
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When I was a senior, I was ballin on my classmates (Mmm)
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Niggas put three bullets in my car, one hit the gas tank
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Know I got a angel, cause Im supposed to have a halo (Mmm)
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Right now, my lifestyle destined for a federal facility
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For my ability to make them birds fly (Mmm)
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Fiends wan get higher than a birds eye view
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And who am I to tell a nigga what to do? I just supply
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Its economics, my business aint got the suit and tie (Oh, wait)
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Keep a pistol at all times, niggas want whats mine (Oh, wait)
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I cant oblige, dawg, I work too hard
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So reach for it, get referred to God, Im going hard, nigga, huh (Mmm)
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[Chorus: J. Cole, J. Cole & Ari Lennox, & Ari Lennox]
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I know you desperate for a change, let the pen glide
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But the only real change come from inside
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But the only real change come from inside
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But the only real change come from— (Oh, hey)
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In cemeteries or in chains I see men cry
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But the only real change come from inside (Come from the inside)
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But the only real change come from inside
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But the only real change come from— (Yeah)
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[Verse 3: J. Cole & Ari Lennox]
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Prodigal son, got a new gun, this one
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Dont run out of ammo, lately been working on my handles
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Can I ball, become a star, and remain myself?
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If I fall, dust it off and regain myself
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Fuck them all, they dont know all the pain I felt
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Im in awe, after all the fame I felt, I evolved (Ooh)
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I no longer bury demons
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I be a vessel for the truth until Im barely breathing, Im singing (Ooh)
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[Bridge: Ari Lennox & J. Cole, J. Cole, & Ari Lennox]
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Life is all about the evolution
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I give up, I give in, I move back a little
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I live up, I look up, now Im back for more, yeah, yeah (I, I, yeah)
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You can dream but dont neglect the execution
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I give up, I give in, I move back a little (Oh, no)
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I live up, I look up, now Im back for more (Oh, oh, no)
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“Time is short,” thats what somebody told me (Told me, oh)
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I give up, I give in, I move back a little
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I live up, I look up, now Im back for more
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Ayy, now Im back for more
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Too short to keep following your homies
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I give up, I give in, I move back a little
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I live up, I look up, now Im back for more
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[Bridge: J. Cole & Ari Lennox]
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I reminisce back to a time where niggas threw they hands (Ooh)
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All of a sudden, niggas poppin trunk and then we scram (Mmm)
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Finger on trigger make a little nigga understand
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What its like to finally be the motherfuckin man (Ooh, yeah)
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Eyes wide, thats from the power that the coward feels
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Niggas die over bitches, disrespect, and dollar bills (Ooh)
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Bloodshed done turned the city to a battlefield (Mmm)
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I call it poison, you call it real, thats how you feel?
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(Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop)
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[Verse 4: J. Cole]
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Pistols be poppin and niggas drop in a heartbeat
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Scattered like roaches, a body laid on the concrete
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(Lets go, lets go, lets go, lets go) Body laid on the concrete
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Look, somebody laid on the concrete
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No time for that, aint no lookin back, cause Im running too
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I made it home, I woke up and turned on the morning news
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Overcame with a feeling I cant explain
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‘Cause that was my nigga James that was slain, he was twenty-two
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(Last night at around 7:45) He was twenty-two
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(Twenty-two year old black male, suspect, reporting on the news)
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[Outro: J. Cole]
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(I swear to God, bruh, no)
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Were gathered here today…
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(I swear to God)
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To mourn the life of James McMillan Jr. (No)
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(I swear to God—nigga, Ima kill them niggas, man)
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A tragedy, another tragedy in the black community
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(I promise you, bro)
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We got to do better, people
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Twenty-two years old, this boy was too young (Oh my God)
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(I promise you, bro, Ima kill them niggas)
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Our condolences go to his family, our prayers
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(Ima kill them niggas myself)
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We know hes in a better place
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We know hes in a better place
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But this has got to end, ladies and gentlemen
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Weve got to come together, this is—this is beyond words (Ima kill them niggas)
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Now Id like to open this ceremony with a verse from—
