Oxygen (Breathe)

[Scratch Hook] "I breathe oxygen" [Verse One] When I smoke with my brethren I conjure thoughts that could open the Heavens Envision capers to get more paper than Ocean's 11 These smoldering sessions got me quietly reflecting On this great paper chase dawg and it's time to count these blessings To be paid Heavenly It's steadily becoming more aggressively What drives me to rhyme has now become necessity A way of this 9 to 5 debauchery white guys in ties mocking me Knowing deep down they wish to copy me My pockets be the same as niggas that's unemployed I'm still young, gotta make noise before I am destroyed Internally, burning these candles on both ends I feel I won't win This battle of good verse evil and I don't know if It's ever going to change and the stress is never stopping I need oxygen Breathe with me niggas [Scratch Hook] [Verse Two] Dear mama your boy's about a day From straying away from the wisdom you used to relay Live legit and be honest I try to flow with the waters but it was filled with piranhas Who hate me more? Uncle Sam or that damn Uncle Thomas Trying to get me fired Brother you should be trying to get me hired That's why I'm steady smoking, hoping to get higher Escaping my reality Altering my surroundings Knowing that my mind combining rhymes could move mountains Days turn into weeks on these streets but who's counting? Niggas keep on moving with or without you I figured out truth is what you make it Who you are is reduced to your possessions And what you make in your skills could elevate the masses But instead I'm debating on staying at work or taking classes That is of course if this album doesn't do nothing I try to tell myself, "Reef you don't have to prove nothing To no one." But in my brain the fact remains That it's never gonna change And the stress is never stopping I need oxygen Breathe with me niggas [Scratch Hook] [Verse Three] This rap game is such politics The road to riches and dollars Is built on a path of lies, they want me to follow it But not I I will spit what comes naturally No man aside from God will tell me who I have to be Sometimes they love you but often times it will be the opposite Sometimes they give you your props often times they don't acknowledge it The problem is, they smile in your face You know they ain't feeling you So you smile back but inside your pride is killing you But what it taught me niggas is forever gon' be salty I must be doing something right Cause man these critics can't ignore me If you saw me I guarantee you feel me when I perform These cats got underground mentalities I'm thinking much beyond But it ain't gonna change and the stress is never stopping I need oxygen Breathe with me niggas [Scratch Hook] [Verse Four] If the sky's the limit, I think I'm going way past it What I speak is not rapping It is poetry and passion I'm hatching a plan to escape with those I illustrate I will take this scenery and a perfect picture I paint The mic is my brush I use my voice to stroke the canvas A scholar with more power than any professor on your campus Schooled by niggas with bullet wounds and hands that built houses My grandfather's knowledge, don't know if I'd be here without it Whether I sell drugs or remain a working nigga Get my own distribution Or sign with J jerking niggas Remain humble when I speak Create a breeze like when the train rumbles past you From day one though This young soul has been observant Witness the cultural murder I know I insert the pipe a way to deal with it The hood is way wild Instead of Dough Boy and Ricky, I'm more like Trey Styles Made it out by the skin of my teeth The Cauze is still Lost But this here is the beginning of Reef Gladiator Oxygen, breathe with me niggas