The Rules (Remix)

[Verse 1: Solo]
The school of life has but three rules for certain: death, tax
And the fact that you wanna get your work out, gotta put the work in
So don't sweat the techniques if you see us in person
Pumping iron like Putin did when he lifted the curtain
The crew that trains together reigns together
Used to bomb trains together, wandered the trains, now we catch planes together
Four MCs in One Day, when we put brains together
See out the storm under the same umbrella, as hella
Seasons change, mad things rearrange
Cannot wait to meet your maker? Well, then that can be arranged
Come and see me in a decade when you learn the rules of the pen game
How it gets played and emerge unscathed and underanged (It's drastic)
Plastic shrink-wrap suffocating humanity
Commodity, somewhere between a comedy and tragedy
We in the lab giving out lobotomies to wannabes
Wide-eyed pupils just starting out at the academy
Gold plaques hanging on walls in the rogues' gallery
The foldbacks full blast, banging out the anarchy
Uh, no cure in sight for the malady
This our new normality, our only defence: to plead insanity

[Chorus 1: Jimmy Nice, Sample, Jimmy Nice & Solo]
The rules
The rules
The rules to the game are simple, win
“The wind get the ashes in the end, bro”
The rules
The rules
The rules to the game are simple, win
“The wind get the ashes in the end, bro”

[Verse 2: Nick Lupi, Jimmy Nice]
(Whoop whoop) It's fuckin' Lupiano back up in the saddle
A cold-blooded mammal, manoeuvre through the gravel
We made it look like we were salmon shooting in a barrel
How we flooded every channel, the news travel (Syndicate, Syndicate)
Uh, struggle rappers in a losing battle
Ha, but I'm in the mood for doing damage (Done know)
If we talkin' food and beverage, well, that's Lupi language (Yeah)
When I'm in here pulling rabbits make your crew vanish
My boy a Wickr, business booming like he moving magic
(He moving magic) I said, "Make sure you manifest them taxes"
It's sort of like mayo' how we play the role
Tryna see paper long and old like Judean Scrolls
But don't it take its toll, they say it's our truest axis
Make the world go round, but do it make you truly happy?
The pursuit of anything can have you movin' backwards
That's why I'm onto greener pastures for the newest chapter (Yes)
I'll take some paper from the majors, I ain't switchin' sides
It's better outcomes for all if we can get inside
But I'm with Jimmy with the windows tinted in the ride
Schemin' on the next mad idea we'll bring to life

[Interlude: C-Dub Ent TV]
"He got some hood in him. I can tell he do, man. Ah, well, I don't know if he from the hood, but he be in the hood, you know what I'm saying? Real recognise real, always remember that."

[Verse 3: Kai]
Yeah, yeah, yeah
The darkest hours where I get my power from
Stick of dynamite with the flames surrounding 'em
Even if the dough sour you know in the outcome
I flip that bread, flip ya city on its head, we out, son
Nationwide, One Dayers, you know the name, right?
Give you nights you replay throughout your days, right?
With them words, hit them curbs without no brake lights
Bottle of Monkey Shoulder, shit, I'm 'bout to take flight
I had them clappin' since the days I learned to speak Pig Latin
Shed a tear for the couple of kids I made quit rappin'
Only smiles for the ones who went and bit my styles
They smilin' back but body language is shook, that's wild
It's always bubblin', I just make moves when I want
Know when an A&R tell me jump, I can't even front
Casper holdin' your pen, that's why your body be slumped
When you gotta do those songs, they high rotate for one month
Then get lost in the sands of time; I handle mine correctly
The ones threatened by me, damn right, they still respect me
How the rap nerd do them words so sexy? Yeah
Stick around and find out, yo, baby, check me, the rules

[Verse 4: Jimmy Nice]
Syndicate, Syndicate, Syndicate
Yeah, mad rhymers, mainliners
(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) Look
Heaven knows I had a hell of a run
Seven albums, three tapes and only ten laps around the sun
Put pen to paper till a paper plane flew out the slums
From alpha to beta, made the jewels run without a gun
Witness the twisted thought that's caught between a dream and MK-Ultra
Mr Minolta captured the rhythm and shifted the culture
I mourned my mother a month after I hit the altar
If you rep this shit with honour kid then I can't fault ya
Was eighteen and wide-eyed standin' outside of Richmond Station
Waiting for Trem to show up, I play my position
A god of the game, he gave me some wisdom:
"Don't let their profits or their promises shape your decision"
In the midst of the lead showers, endless pledges for power
The sixtieth minute in our planet's final hour
When the clocks strikes none and our time is done
Watch the blimp read: 'Janet's Son, the Miraculous One', One