Man Up Above - J. Cole

Never would have made it

Never could have made it without You

Without You

Uh

Whole lotta O's gettin' sold on the block

Don't go outside a lot, ain't tryna get popped

12 bustin' in while we scrapin' out the pot

We runnin' out the spot, we runnin' out the spot

Singin', "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got"

Somebody's gettin' knocked while the bodies gettin' dropped

I used to have a little, now a nigga got a lot

I pray the Lord watch, I pray the Lord watch

Another year goes by, another nigga slayed

At the West Indian Day Parade when perpetrators sprayed

You got the nerve to ask why I stay in the house more

Get paid for goin' in, the fuck I'm goin' out for?

When niggas stretchin' shit like a new school power forward

Naz Reid range, but when these boys are shootin', niggas start breathin' strange

Heartbeat is faint, now it's auf weidersehen

I'm not German, but the wheels currently turnin' on my mama's automobiles

Certain of y'all while y'all prefer to be hard

Memories of my dog's wake, it's hurtin' me, y'all

The windows to it so closed, saw its curtains be drawn

Innocent as a child, but weren't we all?

Before the hoes and the smoke that arose from the Black and Mild cigarellos

Triggers lift the biggest fellows, put seven on his torso and turned him into

Melo

But no midrange iso, back to the basket

The streets raised him a bastard, wrapped in a casket

Best beware, don't you dare go laugh at the tragic passing of somebody's son by

somebody's gun

Give a fuck if you opps, when dissin' the dead, the karma tends to come at you

hot

I promise you pray for forgiveness, the Lord's wrath can astonish you

I'd rather admonish you on this record than impress with perceptions of a

designer shoe

Fuck Gucci, fuck Louis, fuck Chanel, fuck Balenciaga, how we gon' excel?

Soon as niggas make it out, they turnin' Hollywood as hell

I knew buddy caught that body, but hell, I probably shouldn't tell

Or else I

Never would have made it

I mean, I

Never could have made it without You (Yeah)

Got a soft spot for the man up above

Eastside, Westside, show me love (Without You)

Niggas duck shots and some niggas catch slugs

Northside, Southside, show me love

Whole lotta O's gettin' sold on the block

Don't go outside a lot, ain't tryna get popped

12 bustin' in while we scrapin' out the pot

We runnin' out the spot, we runnin' out the spot

Singin', "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got"

Somebody's gettin' knocked while the bodies gettin' dropped

I used to have a little, now a nigga got a lot

I pray the Lord watch, I pray the Lord watch, uh

Someone that's close to me is facin' time

My mind's racin' for some way to find, hope that he may be fine

He got a son the same age as mine

I can't imagine spendin' days in a cage not raisin' mine

These are the years with our kids where we strengthen bonds

I paid his bond, but the trial's comin'

The rain or shine, I know his child love him

But he's too young to understand it if the outcome is incarceration and charges

facin'

Bring the possibility of long vacations and complications with his baby mom

She daily cryin', sayin' her heart is vacant

He tryna make it work, he wanna fake it for the sake of family

But she keep throwin' old shit right in his face apparently

Remindin' him 'bout how he tried to make her take a plan B and abort the seed

Threatenin' him with child support so that the court can seize and garnish wages

And all this was before he caught this case that's brought the latest

Pile of stress to add to all this mess, it's hard to face it

His thoughts deflated, somewhere 'long the way, he lost his faith

But now he reads the Bible hopin' God'll see him contemplative

Never would have made it

He prayin' now, he even threw some gospel on his playlist

Never could have made it without You

Tears fallin', Marvin Sapp, "Never Would Have Made It"

Man up above

Eastside, Westside, show me love (Without You)

Niggas duck shots and some niggas catch slugs

Northside, Southside, show me love

Whole lotta O's gettin' sold on the block

Don't go outside a lot, ain't tryna get popped

12 bustin' in while we scrapin' out the pot

We runnin' out the spot, we runnin' out the spot

Singin', "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got"

Somebody's gettin' knocked while the bodies gettin' dropped

I used to have a little, now a nigga got a lot

I pray the Lord watch, I pray the Lord watch

For me

(Never would have made it)

Oh, I never could have made it

(Never could have made it without You)

Without You