Dead Horse

[Verse 1] Yo, I first met Hop back in two-thousand-and-nine I reached out when my homie Lo Key found him online He blew my mind with his rhymes, he sounded sublime He showed me I wasn't the only one down for the grind We kept in touch and grew closer as the time went on Till we became best friends and the bind was strong Sittin' up and just straight talkin' like from nine to dawn Our mutual struggle to be heard defined our bond He was the only one who understood what it was like The struggle and strife to make a name jugglin' life Trying to become something bigger than some regular guys Like eagles with our wings pinned trying to spread 'em and fly We kept our friendship secret as a joke and a plot That we'd reveal it in his new video that I shot But when the video dropped, and I saw he cut all my parts It felt like I had a damn dagger stuck in my heart [Hook] But it's a dead horse now, can we all just move on But it's a dead horse now, it's really been too long But it's a dead horse now, I'm thinking that it's time that we all just leave it alone I'm telling you But it's a dead horse now, and it's already been said But it's a dead horse now, it's gone and it's been dead But it's a dead horse now, feeling like it's time that we all just leave it alone [Verse 2] Now Strange Music fans, listen, I have to oblige Tech N9ne is straight one of the dopest rappers alive I won't lie, some of them crazy delivery patterns are fly And on a personal level he ain't that bad of a guy I was a big fan of him right out of the gate I first heard Tech spit in two thousand and eight (2008) Flippin' through MySpace I came across Night and Day from Everready Played it and was like "Wow, that was great!" He had the rhymes, had the speed, had the harmony down And Rob Rebeck on the mix, with the barbarous sound His stage show was straight nuts, no matter the spot So as a rapper you could imagine how happy I got When I got invited to meet him in Santa Barbara that day And then drove like eight hundred miles at eighty dollars a tank And spent my whole check to show Tech a couple of songs But got kicked off of the bus cause the game was on [Hook] [Verse 3] So that's the gist of what happened with Funk Volume and Strange But looking back my perspective wasn't all that pertained I've done a lot of growing up in the past two years So as a man here's a couple things I ask you hear All I ever really wanted was the love of a friend Who could relate to my struggle, and thus was akin Along with the validation from professional peers To whom I looked up to justify the stress and my tears So when I felt Hop betrayed me, it cut me deep And getting kicked off of the bus hurt enough to weep So when my situation got bleak, I hatched me a ploy To throw a fit and lash out like a sad little boy It wasn't Tech's fault his manager treated me bad But I dissed him for the buzz that I seen that he had And in the process I flipped off a legend of rap And made a horrible impression I could never get back Now with my homie, Hop, it was even deeper than that The bond we shared, I should've worked to keep it intact But instead, I let my anger overcome me and snapped And ripped a gash in between us too rugged to patch But it wasn't just that, I trashed every one of his acts And hit SwizZz with elaborate redundant attacks And used my whole platform as a big bullhorn That turned a once-pure friendship ugly and black And even though I might have felt validated inside I wasn't gracious, I reacted out of anger and pride And at the same time stigmatized my name And defamed the notoriety I tried to gain And tried to blame other people for a course of events I could've stopped from even happening before it commenced And ever since, have lost fans, lost respect Lost any chance to ever do a song with Tech Lost a best friend, pissed off loads of his fans Lost potential opportunities to grow and advance And I was speaking on God, while diggin' a grave In a vast misappropriation of the gifts that he gave I was blind with the justice and redemption I craved But I never stopped to think about the picture displayed I made myself look small as an infant and paved A trail of my own destruction with the bricks that I laid So listen, to Dame, Hop, Tech, SwizZz and the gang Hoppa, Benton, Krizz Kaliko and Dizzy the same I'm ashamed of all the dirt that I kicked on your names I was hurt and lashed out, and you were fit for the blame So I apologize. Simple and plain There's no excuse for it I was sinful and vain I acted out my bitter anger as a vent for the pain And ignored the same message I was sent to proclaim And to the fans, listen, all that I ask Is if you're in the same position don't follow my path Any punk can start swinging when the gauntlet is cast But it takes a real man to sit back and swallow the wrath And even if you don't deserve it, just take it and chill Cause people hurt you as a symptom of the pain that they feel And probably from somebody hurting them the way they did you Then the cycle will continue till the hatred is through So if you got somebody out there and you know who they are You really cared about, who left you heartbroken and scarred It might be time to swallow that pride and punch in a call And put an end to that sick cycle once and for all And even if it feels like it's beyond repair Fixing your half's the only thing you're called to bear But unless you try, you'll never know, and who could be mad? One day you two could look back like "Yeah, it used to be bad but..." [Hook] [Outro] Regardless of what happens, we should always take that first step to make it right. Holding on to anger and hatred is cancerous, and understanding and forgiveness is the only cure