Just the Beginning

[PART 1]

[Intro]
Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah
I've been working way too hard for me to not be winning
Just have to remind myself this is just the beginning

[Verse 1]
Lately I've been feeling way too stressed
My parents tell me I should try to do less
But I got too many people to impress, I guess
That’s why I switch it up on you stupid fuckers & you best
Believe I got the crowd screaming—
Cos OE ain’t nobody & nothing to fuck with
Don’t you see that I’m the one coming up, it’s
Funny, with this MC, you can’t touch this
You rappers out on Sesame Street, you just puppets
This for folks back home, yeah, I hope they gasping
& for people lookin at me now & asking
“Is he a writer, an actor, a beatboxer or a rapper?”
All of the above, boy, & this is my new chapter
Uh
With this flow boy I’m locking it in, chopping at skin
You locked the door, but I’m knocking it in
Mocking your top 10, homie, I could top all of them
I got these blond locks & the opposite skin
To most people in this genre, but I’m not gonna spend
Time talking bout that, it’s obnoxious when
Rappers act like being white is some accomplishment
All you gotta know about me is I’m not gonna bend
Yeah

[Hook]
I've been working way too hard for me to not be winning
Just have to remind myself this is just the beginning
I’ve been told to survive in this game will mean me sinning
Just have to remind myself this is just the beginning
Yeah

[Verse 2]
Who the fuck you know who been doing as much as me
& still getting straight A’s?
Now, look, I ain’t sayin that grades are everything
But who the fuck you know writing 8 plays
Getting published in 6 places
Working for 3 publications, & still making
Time for 2 jobs, Society, & my classes
& all that in the past year and a half? It’s
A lot to balance, I know, & believe me
Ain’t nobody fucking with O, so please keep
Your distance, my only wish is that you hit repeat
My ambition is something bigger than someone’s retweet
I guess I’m just working harder than y’all
& Barbara told me “The bigger you are, the harder you fall”
I hardly listen though, cos at heart of it all
When you’re working this hard, boy, it’s hard not to ball
Woo!
Come fuck with me
If you on the other side of this divide & you gon try to pick a fight
Then you unlucky
It’s gon get ugly
When I’m finished with my list you better hope you’re not on it
Because it’s not the type you write in time for Christmas
I don’t give a shit about your wishes
Every time I get a mic I know I gotta rip it
& yeah it’s plain
Everybody in this game is gonna know my name
Uh

[Hook]
I've been working way too hard for me to not be winning
Just have to remind myself this is just the beginning
I’ve been told to survive in this game will mean me sinning
Just have to remind myself this is just the beginning
Yeah

[PART 2]

[Verse 3]
Yeah, yeah
Uh
Whole lotta shit’s gone down recently
It hasn’t been easy
Dealing with all the indecency & beef peacefully
Feels like all these people want a piece of me
& please believe
I’m pleased with what we’ve achieved
But I’ve never been good at keeping speeches brief
Went from writing to beats in secrecy
To playing 3 gigs in one evening, sweet
J Free tryna to teach me how to succeed
& Sailboat’s saying we’ve only got 3 weeks
To complete this shit before he needs to leave
& Mom & Dad saying that I need more sleep
Reed saying he wants features from me & Dani
& I keep telling her that she should seek her dreams
Can’t wait for y’all to see her gleam
Meanwhile I’m just as terrified to release this EP
Terrified by the speed I maintain to compete
& make a name in a game I probly won’t beat
Still scared of being seen as a freak
Or being a repeat of every MC before me
What makes me unique?
What if people hear this, misread what I mean, & ask me to leave?
Or worse, what if I’m well-received, & start receiving green?
What if I get trapped in a machine
Defined by greed, from which I won’t be released?
At least I got the lease renewed
Got past my finals, another year is through
Thinking bout my future, what I need to do
The hard part about starting is revealing who
You are, to yourself as much as everyone else
They say it’s good for your health, but is it even true?
Haven’t been eating enough, what’s eating you?
I keep rewriting this verse, going for a redo
It’s like an overdue book I want to renew
But I’ve run out of time, still I try to revise
Re-record & ignore that I can’t afford to
Too many avenues I want to pursue
They tell me you have to choose one, but it feels like I lose
A part of myself whenever I do
Truth is, I just got too much to prove

[Outro]
& I’ve been working way too hard & still I’m just not winning
They ask me “Are you okay?”
I say, “Yeah” & keep on grinning
Keep on going, never fall, but still I’m not admitting
That what’s scariest of all is that this is just the beginning
Oh
Oh
Yeah