Rankofa X - Pressure

The ultimate measure of a man
Is not where he stands
In moments of comfort and convenience
But where he stands at times
Of challenge and controversy
Without struggle it ain't no progress
If it don't make sense
Then it don't make dollars
Money can't buy happiness
Especially when bad company follows
Daily mergers holla worthless
Hollow merchants try to jerk us
Some are workers others stockholders
Let a fight break out
The whole block show up
Til the cops roll up in swat patrol trucks
Riot gear to control us
All we got is us to hold us up
Hyper attentive
24/7 on p's and q's a leading root of hypertension
That and one's food might I mention
My breakfast club ain't got a appetite for detention
On the sunny side of carpe diem
Speaking parfait and freedom
A layered approach
Few find fame in passion
Exchanged glances with a savage
The caption: can you cope or
Do you hope to tame that madness
Sometimes the changes so elaborate
They carry a pain disastrous
But you cain't shame me 'cause I'm a blacksmith
Turnin raw wrought iron to the sharpest axe
I swear the temperatures rising, havoc
The cries of the crisis the price of uprising
Under pressure
Despite the turmoil
Sometimes I run barefoot through the grass
Reconnect with the soil
Grateful for this small patch, I'm native
This concrete jungle crumbling
Under the weight of a struggle
Some people always grumbling
'Cause roses have thorns but me?
I'm kinda glad they got em, humbled
Discovered new jewels when I dropped gems
Here's a secret
The game is free finder's keepers
Grounded in the lost and found
'Cause life is a croc of shit
Get that ass bit
With four thousand pounds of force per square inch
The pressure's intense
Is it possible to appreciate the positive
On opposite poles? precisely
Negativity get rolled out on a stretcher
'Cause that pressure don't last forever
And only refines the diamond
The mine blinded by the mastermind
Primetime surviving the Chi
Make salat on schedule at night
I'm trying to go 5 for 5
Double or nothin
Even though what you did was wrong
Fuck it, all is forgiven
Because you took the time for repentance
And the roc will still be in the building
Upon it lay your low bucket
I can't fold, Beans told me get that dough
Hov told me brush myself off
Be sure to knock the dirt off my clothes
Fa sho
I never felt much like pimping
I'm losing interest
The Imam said the root of fitna
Is to burn the dross off the gold
I'm Faust in a new era fitted and choir robe
That's why we gotta be kind to each other cuz folks
Going through stuff we can't see
And that they prolly ain't finna talk about
That's why my unc used to walk it out
A life coach can study the tape
But it's up to me to chalk the plays out
With Xs and Os and pointed arrows
A birdcatcher can't check on the sparrow
I wish I got paid more to check on Little Daryl
I need a bigger check for fresh apparel
I hope we both recording these lessons correctly
Under pressure applying the recipe

Written by:
Abdus-Salam DeVaul

Publisher:
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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