No Guarantees

[Verse 1] I can flow with the best of 'em Do shows with the rest of 'em Mos Def, Kweli, Kanye West and 'em But when it comes to doin' a gig Down where I live, man the shit is ri-dic-u-lous I did a show at the Colonial Center But the crowd was real cold like the snow in the winter Damn! It must've been the lyrics I spit Cause 'round here, they don't wanna hear no spiritual shit Ain't nothin' worse than lookin' up at a (dead-eyed crowd) And if I jumped into the audience, I bet I'd drown Cause I'm about one song, maybe two or three Maybe four songs away from the crowd booing me Feel like a failure when the crowd gets shady Man this shit'll drive you (crazy) I'm a product of the eighties So I sit in my Mercedes, after a show Then I cry like a baby but don't let nobody know [Hook] "I can turn it on But I'm holdin' back the guarantee" I get excited every time that I recite it I can put it down but I can't make you like it "I can turn it on But I'm holdin' back the guarantee" (Jay-Z: "All I need is the love of my crew The whole industry can hate me, I'll thug my way through") [Verse 2] It ain't the same when I perform in a different state Up in Wisconsin they be feedin' me fish and steak Don't get me wrong now, I love the Metro And the Metro got love for me But it's hard for me, to bring a new kind of sound When all they wanna hear from me is "Second Time Around" Damn! There's more to Columbia than thugs And drugs, and studs and dubs and wylin' in the club, what I got booed at a show downtown But at the afterparty all I ever got was pounds And daps; this one cat said "I like your raps But could you talk about guns? That'd be kinda phat" Dude I'll be right back...I took a stroll outside And gave my head another blow to the bike rack Now I ain't gotta rap about havin' guns, but instead I can tell everybody I be bustin' heads, take 'em to the house [Hook] [Verse 3] All I ever do is rock a show and hope for the best I told a Seinfeld joke and it went over their head And I ain't even tryin' to be the Dennis Miller of rap I'm tryin' to get the crowd jumpin' 'til the ceiling collapse Cause on the mic +I Try+ hard like Macy Gray And when the DJ puts on "Stay Away" The whole crowd wyles out, and starts riots But when he puts on "Talk To You" the whole room get quiet Now I could get frustrated and forget the game But that shit would be (crazy), yo I'd miss the fame Catchin' flights to Korea, takin' trips to Spain It'd take a whole lot of money to convince my brain So until then, I'mma do what I does It ain't the fame or the money, it's the music I love ...and if I ever get desperate I'll fuck around and put Lil' Jon on a record, say I won't do it [Hook] - 2X