Living a Lie

[ VERSE 1 ] I wake up, 3 in the morning, I'm tired But for some reason I got inspired To write a rhyme, I suggest myself To express myself, maybe impress myself Now it struck me odd that sisters and brothers Would ever have riff with one another And some of us live out of a pipe or a bottle When what we need are positive role models Can't you see we need to make the switch Because a smart man po' will beat a dumb man rich Yo, dollars don't make you, they can only enhance And without intelligence, you know you don't stand a chance With money, you can save it, borrow it, lend it Without a brain, man, you can't even spend it Yeah, you can play the role like you're gettin by But if you do, you're just livin a lie [ Chorus ] Living a lie, who are you fooling? Living a lie, who are you fooling? Living a lie, who are you fooling? Living a lie, cause Young is cooling [ VERSE 2 ] 'My record's comin out next week', that's your motto Before you have a record, you will probably hit the lotto Livin that lie for years and years The closest thing you have to wax is what you find in your ears You talk about girls like a have a whole harem Look at yourself, yo, you know that you scare em And it's unfortunate that you have to lie To a fine young lady just to catch her eye Yo, ain't it kinda wild how some girls be trippin? Quiet now, and next minute they're lippin Want all your money, and when you go broke Leave you cold like it ain't no joke The lie that you're livin in this, is quite simple Fallin for a big butt and dimples Homegirl's with it when the balance is high But then it turns out that you're livin a lie [ Chorus ] [ VERSE 3 ] You live, you learn, you work, you earn Do good, you go to heaven, do bad, you burn So I try to tell people doin bad today That somewhere down the line there'll be a price to pay Don't hurt that woman, or beat that child Or do something stupid cause your friends are wild Cause when you've got a lot, friends love to share But when it's time to pay, you know there's nobody there You live the fast life, walk around high-strung But then you know if you live fast, you die young You're lookin in the mirror, say, it can't be true But when it comes down to it, homeboy, you're blue Look back on your life, and what have you done? You spent all your life makin sure you had fun And as you reflect, you begin to cry Because you know deep down you was livin a lie [ Chorus ]