Last Real Nigga Alive - Kendrick Lamar
[Hook] Lord have mercy, Jesus Christ He's just nice, he just slice like a ginnsu Look at the life that I been through We the last real niggas alive, that's official [Kendrick Lamar] Let me tell you when it all started Game dropped Documentary and made plenty enemies It was a classic album, but prior to that Guerilla Black debuted and put the city on wax A lot of Biggie comparisons, we all was aware of them But that wasn't my M.O., I just thought he was dope Can't understand why Game would say his name in that manner Many years went by, still no legitimate answer Anyway, I put out a mixtape in 12th grade Hub City threat, minor of the year, DJ Dave And his brother designed, put together the music Put it out to the people, the people said I was stupid With the flow, went to the barbershop to show off my skills Mike and Himey and some other cat said I was real Himey was Games barber, the other cat made a statement Saying that Game was his partner, so I gave him my tape Said he'd play it for him, hoping that I'd get my big break But never got a response.. anyway This nigga named ?Pop Givs? came to my school with a camera I freestyled on his DVD for a minute then after It hit the streets, I was known as K. Dot from Compton Man Hootie probably was the youngest out that was poppin' But I didn't have a home yet, Hootie had ? in me Until I met Top Dawg, told Dave that he'd like to meet Me at the studio, made me freestyle for an hour Told me come back tomorrow, but I came back in a hour Jay Rock was in the booth, recording his first mixtape Was skeptical homie at first because he knew where I stayed But we got over that, heard the beat, wrote a rap Did our first collaboration on the Nephew track He got signed months later, Warner Brothers We started on his album, he wrote his rhymes on paper Before Sidekicks became a modern day phone Same time our buzz was generated from G Malone He had a song called 200, White Lightnin, the streets loved it Said that Sony had gave him an unbelievable budget Now that's a smart nigga, I'm tryna make my raps bigger than life But not knowing how to market it right Turned on the radio Only cat he knew from the West Coast was playin' was Bishop And by then this nigga' buzz was tremendous In the lab, me and Rock tryna perfect our craft What the fuck? Next thing you know, we came across Lift Me Up It was a hit When I heard it But all we had was the instrumental and the hook But when Rock jump on it for certain, it was to smash Gave it to Julio, just to get his opinion Next thing you know, the record was Spinning That was a good look, it set the coast on fire Niggas in Garden projects presents Watts Riot Then these rappers start hating, callin' up to the station Ask why they record ain't playin', what you niggas complaining, about? Shit was funny to us tho Niggas hate to see a nigga from the bottom come up, yo In the midst of the single poppin' and niggas tryna seek and destroy I had a situation with Def Jam, premature Shit went sour after Jay-Z left but they didn't care I was glad Jay-Z gave me respect See I was young, fast forward, hot dollah had the streets on lock Far as radio play, obvious, he got a lot Beefing' with Daz Dilinger, Jay Rock spoke on it Which in my opinion, I didn't think the shit was impo'tant But that's a whole 'nother story, we hit the lab with Game And a few other names like Juice and Young, ya boy Did the cypher freestyle and everybody's like, "Wow" These Top Dawg niggas 'bout to make noise" Surely after Game took us on tour, I love you for that But right after that, we didn't see him no more G Malone came with a smash hit with Akon Mistah FAB battled Royce Nickel with napalm Then everybody start to scream out the new West And claim that West Coast legends don't want to see him at best I think that's just an excuse, because their music ain't tight Tell 'em that Ab-soul said it, they can quote him twice Then Crooked I came with Hip-Hop Weekly, killin' the internet But he been a threat since Deathrow, then Rocky came about And all I thought about was Ab-Soul 2-11-2 It finally started to look like the West was makin' moves Western Union had the whole block boomin' because of Snoop Matter fact, Bad Luck was my favorite about the group Then ?Problem? took off, another Compton native We both Compton niggas, but Compton still ain't made it By this time, Jay Rock and All My Life hit the airwaves We almost got into some major beef over Lil' Wayne That part I'mma leave out Theres certain things that the streets only should know about Shout out to Nipsey Bishop win that game, then had a fight with ? That's when I dropped C4 and had the critics mad at me Because they didn't see my views, grab the hottest album out and re-do it That's a goddamn power move stupid You foolish, don't know shit about this war shit Theres mo' shit to wanting to be the king of the coast shit [Hook x2] [Outro: Kendrick Lamar] So two weeks ago I finally run into the nigga I gave my mixtape too And said he was partners with Game The nigga finally told me what he said He said he didn't like it But the niggas like "See, see, look at you, look at you now, I tried to tell him you was tight" Nigga probably never even gave it to him and shit
Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Title: Last Real Nigga Alive