Kembe X enlists the help of TDE members Zacari, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock on “Raised a Fool.” On the track, the artists discuss their privileged lifestyles while also reflecting on their difficult upbringings.
This track marks the first time that all four artists have collaborated together.
[Chorus: Zacari]
Feels good to be alive, don't it?
I’d rather die than work a nine to five
Put this on my gravestone that there's no one realer
Put that on my mama, I'ma go in with my chin up, grinnin’
Yeah, I'm a go-getter, a smooth killer
Yeah, I do what it do
Ayy, yo, pops, you done raised a fool, you done raised a fool
[Verse 1: Kembe X]
My whole family love the earth, we came from the dirt
Where the raisins burn, best thing they can do is stay alert, uh
Daddy used to push a Caddy off of pushing work
I'm like why you tell this story while we on the way to church? Uh
Dad went up in smoke, shit, his daddy name was Blunt
Got hooked on the stones, rehabbed for a month
By the time that I was 5, my mama was traumatized
'Cause her husband ballin' but he don't be showin' up
Probably where I got my affinity for the trinity
A love triangle, experimenting with chemistry
I'ma need both, boy, fuck it, surrendering
Want a queen for each side, I just love the symmetry
When I drop my tape, people gon’ go ape
Keep that ho up on repeat like, "Where the fuck is the B side?"
Feel like I’m fishin', I’m killin' niggas with each line
I be usin' all three eyes so I see fine
[Chorus: Zacari]
Yeah, I'm a go-getter, a smooth killer
Yeah, I do what it do
Ayy, yo, pops, you done raised a fool, you done raised a fool
[Verse 2: Jay Rock]
I come from a place, got no choice, you gotta stand up
When shit get real on the field, you better man up
No time for no two-three zone, walk slow, think fast, hit hard
Shout out to my goons on them yards goin’ hard
My OG's talk, I listen, my young rattlesnakes with strong ass venom
When they talk, I listen
'Cause back then, I was doin' the same shit, champ
Really wasn't nothin' different, now listen
Me and my clique were small as a grain of salt
Wonder how we all became close brothers, because we fought
We never let no pussy lips come between the covenent
Now we goin' hamburger and all the bitches lovin' it
Might go to Hamburg, Germany for the fuck of it
Spend a couple hundred thousand dollars on some other shit
Then ride the money train back home
My pops raised a fool, that's why I relive him all through my songs, woo
[Chorus: Zacari]
Feels good to be alive, don't it?
I'd rather die than work a nine to five
Put this on my gravestone that there's no one realer
Put that on my mama, I'ma go in with my chin up, grinnin'
Yeah, I'm a go-getter, a smooth killer
Yeah, I do what it do
Ayy, yo, pops, you done raised a fool, you done raised a fool
[Verse 3: Ab-Soul]
Ayy, look
What's your life about? Enlighten me
Is you gon' live on your knees or die on your feet?
Stand up and face the music or run and meet your defeat?
I am to the microphone what the sun is to heat (Hot)
Hence all the fans you see wavin' at me
All of the debatin', all of the scrapes masturbatin' to me
That's why they buy a ticket to pay attention to me
I'm making cents making sense, bitch, life is but a dream
Smooth criminal, sexy like Mike on Thriller album (Soulo)
Everything I do is intentional, listen
We feel a threat, we don't fret, we just send 'em at 'em
Yeah, like God did in Genesis, nigga (Get it?)
I couldn't triumph until I stopped trying (Hey)
I couldn't be top tier until I stopped cryin'
My mama is an angel, my pop was shot in the head and
That's why I'm brain dead and promised a spot in heaven, and it...
[Chorus: Zacari & Ab-Soul]
Feels good to be alive, don't it? (Soul)
I'd rather die than work a nine to five
Put this on my gravestone that there's no one realer
Put that on my mama, I'ma go in with my chin up, grinnin'
Yeah, I'm a go-getter, a smooth killer
Yeah, I do what it do
Ayy, yo, pops, you done raised a fool, you done raised a fool
[Instrumental Interlude]
[Chorus: Zacari]
Feels good to be alive, don't it?
I'd rather die than work a nine to five
Put this on my gravestone that there's no one realer
Put that on my mama, I'ma go in with my chin up, grinnin'
Yeah, I'm a go-getter, a smooth killer
Yeah, I do what it do
Ayy, yo, pops, you done raised a fool, you done raised a fool
Raised a Fool was produced by Juice of All Trades.
Kembe X released Raised a Fool on Wed Jun 05 2019.