[Intro: Beyoncé]
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Deliver me from my enemies, o God
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Defend me from all that rise up against me
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Deliver me from the work of iniquity
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And save me from the Bloody Men
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[Verse 1: Jay-Z]
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Look, mind state of a gangster from the 40s
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Meets the business mind of Motowns Berry Gordy
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Turned crack rock into a chain of 40/40s
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Sorry, my jewelrys so gaudy
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Slid into the party with my new pair of Mauris
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America, meet the gangster Shawn Corey
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“Hey, Young World,” wanna hear a story?
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Close your eyes and you can pretend youre me
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Im cut from the cloth of the Kennedys
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Frank Sinatra, having dinner with the Genovese
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This is the genesis of a nemesis
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Mother Americas not witnessed since
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The Harlem Renaissance birthed Black businesses
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This is the tale of lost innocence
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As the incense burn
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And the turntables turn and that Al Green plays
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I see my mothers afro
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As Mama taps her toes, as she rolls her Js
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And my papa just left the house
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In search of the killer of my Uncle Ray
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And shes trying to calm her nerves
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As I observe, this is just one day
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And what tomorrow has in store, we can never be sure
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So all we can do is pray
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[Break: Beyoncé]
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Because of your strength
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While I walked upon thee
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For God is my defense
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Pray for me!
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[Verse 2: Jay-Z]
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As I head to my homeroom
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I observe the ruins, dope needles on the ground
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I hear a car go, “Vroom”
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Drug dealer in the BM with the top down
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As the girls start to giggle
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I ask, “Why you laugh?” They say, “Youre too little”
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“One day, youll understand when you become a man
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About things you have to get you”
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Fast-forward, freeze-frame on my pistol
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Fistful of dollars, ignorance is so blissful
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I didnt choose this life, this life chose me
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Around here, its the shit that you just do
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I just left school
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The same BM is pulled over by the boys dressed blue
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They had their guns drawn, screaming, “Just move!” (“Dont move!”)
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“Or is there something else you suggest we can do?”
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He made his way to the trunk, opened it like, “Huh?”
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A treasure chest was removed
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Cops said hell be back next month
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What we call corrupt, he calls paying dues
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Now, when the rules is blurred—
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As they is and were—what am I to do, but pray?
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Pray the Lord forgive me
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Pray He guides me by for what Im bout to go through
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Pray
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[Break: Beyoncé]
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Deliver me in thy righteousness
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And cause me to escape
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And climb thine air unto me
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Save me, thine Lord
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Pray for me!
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[Verse 3: Jay-Z]
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Gyeah…
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Anywhere theres oppression
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The drug profession flourishes like beverages, refreshing
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Ahh! Sweet taste of sin
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Everything I seen made me everything I am
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Bad drug dealer or victim, I beg
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What came first? Moving chickens or the egg?
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This is why I be so fresh
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Im tryna beat life, cause I cant cheat death
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Treat shame with shamelessness
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Aim stainlesses at anuses
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You know the game this is?
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Move coke like Pepsi, dont matter what the brand name is
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I stand behind mine
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Everything I do, Im a man behind mine
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Im not an angel, Im sure
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But every night before I lay, I drop my knees to the floor
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And I pray
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[Outro: Beyoncé]
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The name shall endure forever
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The name shall be continued as long as the sun
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Pray for me!
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Men shall be blessed in Him
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All nations shall call Him blessed
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In Your name, I pray
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Pray for me!
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Lord bless us
