Song Title: 1985
Artist: J. Cole
Record Label: Interscope Records/Roc Nation/Dreamville Records
Produced By: J. Cole
Released: 2018
[Verse]
1985, I arrived
33 years, d--n, I’m grateful I survived
We wasn’t s’posed to get past 25
Jokes on you m----------r, we alive
All these n----s popping now is young
Everybody say the music that they make is dumb
I remember I was 18
Money, p---y, parties, I was on the same thing
You gotta give a boy a chance to grow some
Everybody talking like they know something these days
N----s acting woke, but they broke, umm
I respect the struggle but you all fronting these days
Man, they barely old enough to drive
To tell them what they should do, who the f--k am I?
I heard one of em’ diss me, I’m suprised
I ain’t tripping, listen good to my reply
Come here lil’ man, let me talk with ya’
See if I can paint for you the larger picture
Congrats ’cause you made it out your mama’s house
I hope you make enough to buy your mom a house
I see your watch icy and your whip foreign
I got some good advice, never quit touring
‘Cause that’s the way we eat here in this rap game
I’m f-----g with your funky lil’ rap name
I hear your music and I know that rap’s changed
A bunch of folks would say that that’s a bad thing
‘Cause everything’s commercial and it’s pop now
Trap drums is the s--t that’s hot now
See, I’ve been on a quest for the next wave
But never mind, that was just a segue
I must say, by your songs I’m unimpressed, hey
But I love to see a Black man get paid
And plus, you having fun and I respect that
But have you ever thought about your impact?
These white kids love that you don’t give a f--k
‘Cause that’s exactly what’s expected when your skin black
They wanna see you dab, they wanna see you pop a pill
They wanna see you tatted from your face to your heels
And somewhere deep down, f--k it, I gotta keep it real
They wanna be black and think your song is how it feels
So when you turn up, you see them turning up too
You hit the next city, collect your money when it’s due
You getting that paper, swimming in b-----s, I don’t blame you
You ain’t thinking ’bout the people that’s looking like me and you
True, you got better s--t to do
You coulda bought a crib with all that bread that you done blew
I know you think this type of revenue is never ending
But I wanna take a minute just to tell you that ain’t true
One day, them kids that’s listening gon’ grow up
And get too old for that s--t that made you blow up
Now your show’s looking light cause they don’t show up
Which unfortunately means the money slow up
Now you scrambling and hoping to get hot again
But you forgot you only popped ’cause you was riding trends
Now you old news and you going through regrets
‘Cause you never bought that house, but you got a Benz
And a bunch of jewels and a bunch of shoes
And a bunch of fake friends, I ain’t judging you
I’m just telling you what’s probably gon’ happen when you rapping
‘Bout the type of s--t you rapping ’bout
It’s a faster route to the bottom
I wish you good luck
I’m hoping for your sake that you ain’t dumb as you look
But if it’s really true what people saying
And you call yourself playing with my name
Then I really know you f----d, trust
I’ll be around forever ’cause my skills is tip-top
To any a-----r n----s that wanna get rocked
Just remember what I told you when your s--t flop
In five years you gon’ be on Love & Hip-Hop, n---a