[Hook]

Nothing really changed round here
I tried to stay the same round here
We been lookin' up to the stars (right?)
We the real stars round here

[Verse 1]

Learn for yourself, don't trust what they discussin'
Like: I had to read to learn Uncle Tom wasn't
2nd grade portrait, black was the wrong color
Art teacher turned her eyes, guess the truth was too awkward

Swore I was the man for at least two summers
Invites to bat mitzvahs, yarmulkes made custom
A titans I clashed cultures, coming of age wondrous
Black girls I wanted fronted, seen these white girl numbers

On my phone, Same as mike, who we buried before diplomas
Oscar nominees, learned to smile while we was hurtin'
Earning superlatives while dad was at the corner
Like a boxer, not a dealer dealing with round 2 of lymphoma

Is it over, is it over? Too faded to watch the fight
Catchin Sportscenter highlights after living my nights
I guess it must why I like Simba and Batman
We was all kids prepping for life without dad

[Hook]

Nothing really changed round here
I tried to stay the same round here
We been lookin' up to the stars (right?)
We the real stars round here

[Verse 2]

V2
(It be like)
Star light, star bright
The first star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might!
Have the wish I wish tonight

Let me see some stars tonight, make sure that my bars are tight
Make sure that my flow is finer than the china I can't buy
Who knows, maybe I'll get signed
Pay for my studio time
Ghost write for my favorite artists, trust me homie I won't mind
Cuz Im sick, and I'm tired, wanna start before retiring

I got bars, I be rhyming, switch it up like Dennis Rodman
Took my first steps out in gotham
Nobody wants to be Robin
By myself, one man mob
Ton of thorns like billy bob
Looking up I see the stars, but these days they just seem so far

For a... Son of a foreigner
Who was the seed of a farmer
Peaceful guy, wouldn't harm a
Fly, but these times are harder

Scar tissue forming that i can't runaway from
Never been a liar, been too honest from my day one
Scared to be a father cuz i wasn't such a great son

[Hook]

Nothing really changed round here
I tried to stay the same round here
We been lookin' up to the stars (right?)
We the real stars round here

[Verse 2]

V3
Tell me bout the stars you seein' from city buildings
When every dream is billed, and all you see are your limits
Me and my affiliates we came to a consensus
We ain't like the safe route, we do it a lil different

You doin' this for riches or doin it for the women?
I need to know your motives before we gettin' to business
Cuz the weak fold like cards when doubts get in their crevice
Cuz I'm not wasting bars on drinkers who don't know limits

Im all about my lyrics, you know it by what I'm spitting
Im sinning in every step but I'm movin' towards redemption
This isn't my best, but snippets of whats to come
Too smart for my own good, wishin' that i was dumb

Nas album is done, he told me start a label
I did it with all my brothers, my middle name is Abel
So far from stable, they thinkin' I'd be embarrassed
Why you always lookin' up? Cuz I'm lookin' for Polaris
















[Outro]

They ask me how I'm doin, "surviving" is my recent answer/
I got a college degree and dad's got cancer/
You see, something always stops you when you couldn't get happier
So all things considered, my recent answer is a decent answer


Surviving...

Death coming quick, so I'm trying to live faster
Lookin' at my past, remindin' myself I'm past it
Heart on my sleeve, hope that still in fashion
Cuz I have no time to change, and nothing else to match it

No rest for the weary
And everyone's aware what the other person's wearing
It seems clear my seams ain't Milan or Paris/
But based on my apparel, my nonchalance is apparent

These days, I fear becoming my own parents
Growing up's an art, one that I've already mastered

There's pain in my paintbrush there's passion in my pastels
Didn't invent honesty, but i got the patents
Far from superficial but, tell me where the cash is
Cuz right now I'm so po(or), call me kung fu panda