You Want a Piece of Me?

The oldest of 3 kids from an immigrant house Navigating 2 cultural norms trying to figure things out North American mindset, West African roots Society built on excess but taught to stash away loot For a rainy day, was taught to live within my means But as I grew into adulthood, it's harder than it seems I mean, once you earn it then its gone in a flash All depends on your discipline when it comes to the cash Financially illiterate when you think about it it's ridiculous Hard escaping the trap when you're in the thick of it Climbing out of debt and I'm building my wealth Got feelers in the universe instead of feeling myself Investing in stocks and myself with maturation long term The journey supersedes the path as far as I'm concerned Though I strive for the finish taking the path less traveled Optimistic about the future as it unravels Battling out of jams with my back against the wall I brawl, get back on my feet right after I fall For every time I hit the floor, I picked myself back up This life forever testing my mettle with the force of a mack truck But I'm resilient, rebound nothing short of brilliant I make obstacles fade away into oblivion Testament to my upbringing, kudos to mom and pop dukes They supplied the keys to the doors that I walk through You want a piece of me? These soundbytes reflect a bit of who I seem to be A bit of my background incase you didn't know it Over the beat, my inner me is who I'm showing You want a piece of me? These soundbytes reflect a bit of who I seem to be A bit of my background incase you didn't know it Over the beat my inner me is who I'm showing Battling racism as immigrants in the 80s The will to fight against the odds subconsciously got engrained in me As a youngin seeing the effort and the sacrifice My parents made, they pushed for better grades to help me pass at life Role models, big sneakers to fill Either fight for what you want in life or proceed to be nil Either way, nil ain't an option, call it pride or reputation African culture is all about the drive in education My parents were educators, so the bar was the highest Me doing pole vault in high jump was equal to trying Training the mental to excel, the opposite of fail Indebted but paid the tab to them in life by doing well From grade school to high school, undergrad to grad school From adolescent to adult, married and had youths Now I'm wearing dad shoes and it all makes sense Role reversal, next generation of kings to raise next Black boys, more endangered than rare species Gotta teach them there's no limit to where their peaks be That's my frame of mind as I live my true purpose My true worth is my legacy left on this earth As a piece of me, just the notion of puts me at piece Peace of mind, meets the grind of achieving the feat I'm succeeding at least and that's the current state For now, more important than winning medals is running the race You want a piece of me? These soundbytes reflect a bit of who I seem to be A bit of my background incase you didn't know it Over the beat, my inner me is who I'm showing You want a piece of me? These soundbytes reflect a bit of who I seem to be A bit of my background incase you didn't know it Over the beat, my inner me is who I'm showing