Howard’s End

[Verse: Bender & Osa]
Yo, you ever heard of Howard? This emcee I used to know
Let me tell you a little story 'bout when Howard used to flow
A small-town rap nerd, worshipped the early masters
Taught himself to rhyme from the tracks he burned off Napster
Now Howard was a cat with his head hung with regrets
Most things that he uttered stayed muttered under his breath
He lacked love and respect, but felt that with those raps he wrote
He was sure to turn the tables at the local talent show
Practiced all month in the confines of his home
Now he was, nice with his writtens pretty tight off the dome
So when the big day came he said 'Bring on the competition
I'll make sure there's no remainders like proper long division'
But when it came time, for him to spit his verse
He froze, complete silence, you could hear the crickets chirp
They smirked at first, but then the crowd was laughing
And sure enough they booed him off the stage, so now Howard sat at home for days
Ashamed to show his face in open space, closed the drapes
To hide the world that he had grown to hate
He chose the shade 'cause the solar rays just failed to motivate
And slowly paced, with a stoic rage behind his poker face
Thought to himself "I'm a joke, and the only way they'll know my name is if I blow my brains out with a loaded gauge"
He overcame though and wrote a page, of some fat rhymes
Promised that's the last time he would choke on stage
So he played his only tape of beats on repeat while he said his lines to memorize each and every rhyme
Till the moment came to go and take that heat, to the street
Just to get these guys to recognize that he was next in line
Took in a deep breath and opened his door
Boombox on his shoulder, he strolled to the store
Saw some heads chilling out front, filling a blunt
Looking rougher than Attila the Hun, dealing out drugs
He kicked that verse full force watched their jaws drop
They said "Son, you the illest, you just set a bomb off"
He knew it though, he was set to take the world on
Went to his dresser, threw his Karl Kani shirt on
Figured this new confidence was all that he needed
Only fueled by those fools who would call him conceited
He was going to a place he'd only read of in books
Where he could make a fan with every step that he took
It's in the big city, he could get some gigs if he tried
And his future seemed brighter with every swig off the rye (Whiskey)
He got busy, found some Preemo instrumentals
Cut a demo tape to show some people his credentials
Figured now or never, left before he change his mind
Caught a bus to the city where the towers scrape the sky
Upon arrival looked up at the buildings feeling vertigo
And got jumped for all his shit before he even left the terminal