7ELEVEN Lyrics by Kenny Mason
I seen god back in ’09, with my own eyes
After school at this one spot, for kids with no rides
At first I thought it couldn’t be real, I said it just my own mind
’till the faces from my own kind, said it was no lie
Appearin’ right before my four eyes, but after four lines
That I had wrote in my alone time, but chose to show now
“You only sharin’ with yourself”, I’m sayin’ to myself
Ain’t know if I was good or bad, guess I’m ’bout to know now
I ain’t telekinetic but, I can tell it connected
It wouldn’t be the final time I seen the crowd go wild
I asked God why he was here and then he whispered back
“To give a gift” and then I asked, “Is the gift the rap?”
“Nope, It’s the feelin’ that fill up after that
The feelin’ of dodgin’ death row, yes it’s the aftermath
If I could put it in perspective you might get the message
What’s the feelin you feel now?” I said I feel accepted
I seen the devil 2022, without a question
In many places but the worst, was the comment section
See I been shot, punched, starved for days without lunch
But being called a flop, bruh? All them bitches come in second
The thief of joy cut my feet before I leap for joy
I’m reachin’ points where I would rather let the reaper score
You thought you wasn’t gettin’ sleep before?
It’s like I fall into a deeper void the more I’m not the people’s choice
I rip my heart outta my chest and then I offered it
A week later n—s ask, “When you gon’ drop again?”
It’s like I’m stabbed in my esophagus
So I considered makin’ pacts within the darkness just to stop this shit
He told me, “Most just want the money, cars, fame, glory
But see you different, yes, your eyes, they tell a strange story
This how you grow your power:
You change the whole sound, dumb the flow down, the love from everyone will surely shower
The penmanship and creative experiments can wait
People don’t wanna be awake, they wanna stay sedate
To beat the snakes you gotta play a snake
To see the cake you gotta play it safe”
I took the bait and made some hooks I never shoulda made
Some lyrics I regretted
Shifted my mindset to start to mirror my aesthetics
I stopped expressin’ how I felt and started writin’ records
Later he asked me how I felt, I said, “I feel accepted”
I seen myself, 2039, inside a vision
My eyes depicted me on top of rhyming’s Mount Olympus
I sat with kings, matched the stacks of teens while capturing
Disciples of the paths I teach kiss my hands and feet
This vision gave me passion, the love of music gave me light in places it was absent, replacin’ inner sadness
I started formin’ my identity around success
I told myself the only other choice around was death
The feelin’ that this great depiction gave became addiction
And made me hate the many faces that would claim it’s fiction
Fuck ’em
I sell my soul to prove my rivals wrong, to take my idol’s throne
Do I feel a form of worship when you like a song?
Just like in psalms, on the road to tryna be someone
Who have I become?
Should any other version of myself be crucified?
Should I finish off this note to quote my suicide?
Nah – I take my power back from lettin’ you decide
A bulldawg, I can’t be euthanized I move the line
Can’t take them hours back I spent abusin’ time
But I can exercise the way I feel through usin’ rhymes
To get their moment I seen people turn their spirit over
They god-given gifts, they let the devil rip ’em open
Myself included, but today I start to shift my motive
I’ll walk away from all this shit before I give my soul up
It took a while but now I finally get it
Detachin’ from an outcome, it might be how you get it
I ask myself a question, “Album finished, how you feelin’?”
Now that you gave me acceptance, I don’t need it really