KENDRICK LAMAR - Mortal Man lyrics
rate me(Hook)
The ghost of Mandela, hope my flows they propel it
Let these words be yo earth & moon ya consume every message
As I lead this army make room fo' mistakes & depression
And with that bein' said my nigga, let me ask this question:
(Interlude)
When shit hit the fan, is ya still a fan?
When shit hit the fan (1 2 , 1 2)
When shit hit the fan, is ya still a fan?
When shit hit the fan, is ya still a fan?
(Hook)
(Interlude)
When shit hit the fan, is ya still a fan?
When shit hit the fan, is ya still a fan?
Want ya look to yo left & right, ask ya friends
When shit hit the fan, is ya still a fan?
(Verse)
Do ya believe in me? Are ya deceivin' me?
Could I let ya down easily, is yo heart where it need to be?
Is yo smile on permanent? Is yo vow on lifetime?
Would ya know where the sermon is if I died in this next line?
If I’m tried in a court of law, if the industry cut me off
If the government want me dead, plant cocaine in my car
Would ya judge me a drug kid or see me as K. Lamar
Or question my character & degrade me on every blog
Want ya to love me like Nelson, want ya to hug me like Nelson
I freed ya from being a slave in yo mind, you’re very welcome
Ya tell me my song is mo' than a song, it’s surely a blessin'
But a prophet ain’t a prophet til they ask ya this question
(Pre-Hook)
When shit hit the fan, is ya still a fan?
When shit hit the fan, is ya still a fan?
Want ya look to yo left & right, make sure ya ask ya friends
When shit hit the fan, is ya still a fan?
(Hook)
The ghost of Mandela, hope my flows they propel it
Let these words be yo earth & moon ya consume every message
As I lead this army make room fo' mistakes & depression
& if ya riding wit me
(Verse 2)
Do ya believe in me? How much ya believe in her?
Ya think she gon’ stick around if them twenty five years occur?
Ya think he can hold ya down when ya down behind bars hurt?
Ya think y’all on common ground if ya promise to be the first?
Can ya be immortalized without yo life bein' expired?
Even tho' ya shed the same blood is it worth the time?
Like who got yo best interest? Like how much are ya dependin'?
How clutch are the people that say they luv ya & who pretendin'?
How tough is yo skin when they turn ya in, do ya show forgiveness?
What brush do ya bend when dustin yo shoulders from bein offended
What kind of den did they put ya in when the lions start hissin
What kind of bridge did they burn, revenge or yo mind when it’s mentioned?
Ya wanna love like Nelson, ya wanna be like Nelson
Ya wanna walk in his shoes but ya peace makin' seldom
Ya wanna be remembered that delivered the message
That considered the blessin' of everyone, this yo lesson fo' everyone, say
(Pre-Hook)
(Hook)
The ghost of Mandela, hope my flows they propel it
Let these words be yo earth & moon ya consume every message
As I lead this army make room fo' mistakes & depression
& if ya riding wit me
(Verse 3)
I been wrote off befo', I got abandonment issues
I hold grudges like bad judges, don’t let me resent ya
That’s not Nelson-like, want ya to love me like Nelson
I went to Robbin’s Island analyzin', that’s where his cell is
So I could find clarity, like how much ya cherish me
Is this relationship a fake or real is the heavens be?
See I gotta question it all, family, friends, fans, cats, dogs
Trees, plants, grass, how the wind blow
Murphy’s Law, generation X, will I eva be yo ex?
Floss off a baby step, mobbed by the mouth a bit
Pause, put me under stress
Crawled under rocks, duckin' y’all, it’s respect
But then tomorrow, put my back against the wall
How many leaders ya said ya needed then left em fo' dead?
Is it Moses, is it Huey Newton or Detroit Red?
Is it Martin Luther, JFK, shooter ya assassin
Is it Jackie, is it Jesse, oh I know, it’s Michael Jackson, oh
(Interlude)
When shit hit the fan, is ya still a fan?
When shit hit the fan, is ya still a fan?
That nigga gave us Billie Jean, ya say he touched those kids?
When shit hit the fan, is ya still a fan?
(Hook)
The ghost of Mandela, hope my flows they propel it
Let my word be yo earth & moon ya consume every message
As I lead this army make room fo' mistakes & depression
And if ya ridin' wit me nigga, let me ask this question nigga
(Outro)
I remember ya was conflicted, misusin' yo influence
Sumetimes I did the same, abusin' my power, full of resentment
Resentment that turned into a deep depression
Found myself screamin' in the hotel room
I didn’t wanna self destruct
The evils of Lucy was all around me
So I went runnin' fo' answers
Until I came home, but that didn’t stop survivor’s guilt
Goin' back & forth tryna convince myself the stripes I earned
Or maybe how A1 my foundation was
But while my loved ones was fightin' the continuous war
Back in the city, I was enterin' a new 1
A war that was based on apartheid & discrimination
Made me wanna go back to the city & tell the homies what I learned
The word was respect, just becuz ya wore a different gang colour than mines
Doesn’t mean I can’t respect ya as a black man
Forgettin' all the pain & hurt we caused each otha in these streets
If I respect ya, we unify & stop the enemy from killin' us
But I don’t know, I’m no mortal man, maybe I’m just anotha nigga
Shit & that’s all I wrote
I was gonna call anotha nigga but, it ain’t really a poem
I just felt like it’s sumethin' ya probably could relate to
Otha than that, now that I finally got a chance to holla at ya
I always wanted to ask ya about a certain situation
About a metaphor actually, ya spoke on the ground
What ya mean bout that, what the ground represent?
(Outro 2: 2Pac)
The ground is gonna open up & swallow the evil
That’s how I see it, my word is bond
I see & the ground is the symbol fo' the poor people
The poor people is gonna open up this whole world & swallow up the rich people
Cuz the rich people gonna be so fat, they gonna be so appetizin'
Ya know what I’m sayin', wealthy, appetizin'
The poor gonna be so poor & hungry, ya know what I’m sayin' it’s gonna be like
There might be sum' cannibalism out this mother, they might eat the rich
(Interlude)
Aight so let me ask ya this then, do ya see yoself
As sumebody that’s rich or sumebody that made the best of their own opportunities?
(Outro: 2Pac)
I see myself as a natural born hustler, a true hustler in every sense of the word
I took nothing, I took the opportunities
I worked at the most menial & degradin' job & built myself up
So I could get it to where I owned it
I went from having sumebody mange me to me hirin' the person that works my management company
I changed everythin' I realised my destiny in a matter of five years
Yanahwimsayn? I made myself a millionaire
I made millions fo' a lot of people now it’s time to make millions fo' myself
Yanahwimsayn? I made millions fo' the record companies
I made millions fo' these movie companies, now I make millions fo' us
(Interlude)
And thru' yo different avenues of success
How would ya say ya managed to keep a level of sanity?
(Outro: 2Pac)
By my faith in God, by my faith in the game
And by my faith in all good things come to those that stay true
Ya know what I’m sayin', and it was happenin' to me fo' a reason
Ya know what I’m sayin' I was noticin'
I was punchin' the right buttons and it was happening
So it’s no problem, ya know I mean it’s a problem
But I’m not finna let them know. I’m finna go straight thru'
(Interlude)
Would ya consider yoself a fighter at heart
Or sumebody that only reacts when they back is against the wall?
(Outro: 2Pac)
I like to think that at every opportunity I’ve eva been threatened
Wit resistance it’s been met wit resistance
And not only me but it goes down my family tree
Ya know what I’m sayin', it’s in my veins to fight back
(Interlude)
Aight well, how long ya think it take befo' niggas be like
We fightin' a war, I’m fightin' a war I can’t win and I wanna lay it all down
(Outro: 2Pac)
In this country a black man only have like five years
We can exhibit maximum strength, and that’s right now while ya a teenager
While ya still strong or while ya still wanna lift weights
While ya still wanna shoot back
Cuz one ya turn thirty it’s like they take the heart
And soul out of a man, out of a black man in this country
And ya don’t wanna fight no mo'
And if ya don’t believe me ya can look around
Ya don’t see no loud mouth thirty year ole muthafuckas
(Interlude)
That’s crazy, becuz me bein' one of yo offsprings of the legacy
Ya left behind I can truly tell ya that there’s nothin'
But turmoil going on so I wanted to ask ya
What ya think is the future fo' me and my generation today?
(Outro: 2Pac)
I think that niggas is tired-a grabbing
Shit out the stores and next time it’s a riot there’s gonna be bloodshed fo' real
I don’t think America can know that
I think American think we was just playin'
And it’s gonna be sum' mo' playin'
But it ain’t gonna be no playin'
It’s gonna be murder, yanahwimsayn?
It’s gonna be like Nat Turner, 1831
Up in this muthafucka, yanahwimsayn?
It’s gonna happen
(Interlude)
That’s crazy man, in my opinion
Only hope that we kind of have left this music and vibrations
Lot of people don’t understand how important it is
Sumetimes I be like, get behind a mike
And I don’t know what type of energy I’mma push out
Or where it comes from, it trip me out sumetimes
(Outro: 2Pac)
Becuz the spirits, we ain’t really rapping
We just lettin' our dead homies tell stories for us
I wanted to read one last thing to ya
It’s actually sumethin' a good friend had wrote describin' my world
It says that the caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it
Its only job is to eat or consume everythin' around it, in order to protect itself from this mad city
While consumin' its environment the caterpillar begins to notice ways to survive
1 thing it noticed is how much the world shuns him, but praises the butterfly
The butterfly represents the talent, the thoughtfulness, and the beauty within the caterpillar
But havin' a harsh outlook on life the caterpillar sees the butterfly as weak and figures out a way to pimp it to his own benefits
Already surrounded by this mad city the caterpillar goes to work on the cocoon which institutionalizes him
He can no longer see past his own thoughts
He’s trapped
When trapped inside these walls certain ideas start to take roots, such as goin' home, and bringing back new concepts to this mad city
The result?
Wings begin to emerge, breakin' the cycle of feelin' stagnant
Finally free, the butterfly sheds light on situations that the caterpillar neva considered, endin' the eternal struggle
Altho' the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different
They are 1 and the same. What’s yo perspective on that?
(Pac, Pac, Pac)
