Can It Be (Half a Million Dollars and 18 Months Later)

It's been two years, man

Of, of, of waitin'

Man

"Can it be I stayed away too long"

From my supporters and my fans, man, I know y'all been waitin'

Now it's finally here and

Thank you for your patience

The world's gone crazy

Since we last spoke

Bloodshed and war

The absence of hope

Shootin' after school

Economy's a joke

Homies on heroine

Homies on coke

But can you even blame 'em when they only tryin' to cope (Damn)

"Can it be I stayed away too long"

All these rappers wanna talk about is guns and dope

Don't they realize, we all at the end of our rope

The future all depends on the power of our quotes

The power of a pen

The power of a vote

The power of your words

The power of your voice

The power of America's the freedom of choice

We choose to do nothin'

We lose and we sufferin'

"Can it be"

That it's time to do somethin'

It's not socialism

It's not communism

It's lovin' each other, realize there's no difference

It's positive movement

Gradual improvement

When no one else does

Believe you can do it

My heart is a speaker

I bleed this music

The beat's in my blood

I must transfuse it

If it wasn't for this

Yeah, I just might lose it (Damn)

"Can it be I stayed away too long"

My god daughters Nadia, Simone

Diana know when not, our father's ever comin' home

Claim by the streets with them other warzone

Tears in my eyes as I'm writin' this song

Mommy workin' two jobs, tryin' to do it on her own

No matter where I go

Or how far I roam

Know that I love and you'll never be alone

"Can it be" Damn, y'all so grown

And a, and a wise man told me, man, like ("You don't have to worry cause I'm coming")

Life is like a table

Full of like glasses of water ("Back to where I should have always stayed")

And your job is to keep 'em all full

You know what I'm sayin'

So everyone's happy ("And now, I've heard the maybe to your story")

But

At the same time, you gotta keep your pitcher full of water

So you could fill everybody else up ("And it's enough love")

And it's like ("For me to stay")

Damn!

"Can it be I stayed away too long"

From the independent hip hop scene

Now they talkin' like

How I'm not a hip hop fiend

Needle in my arm, can't they see I'm O.D.'in

You'll never take the strife from this triple O.G. in

I blaze trails

Created festivals

Lost fifty G's on Paid Dues, is that acceptable

What? I'm not down for the cause

"Can it be" (Hold on, Mike) I'm a need a few bars

I could've done the Nas and scream, "Hip Hop Is Dead"

I got up off my ass and I did somethin' instead

Signed with the devil, brought the scene up a level

Killed the beast from within, I'm a born again rebel

Tryin' to save the youth

From the way of the gun

And if I only save one, then my job is done

So you can say what you will, but you should judge me none

"Can it be I stayed away too long"

From my God, from my faith, as I move place to place

Times I thought, "If I could just die, it'd be great"

Drop on the spot, man, I didn't even care

I stopped talkin' to you, I stopped sayin' prayers

Numb from the liquor and the anti-depressants

Pressure from the label, studio stressin'

Almost lost my passion to persue this profession

"Can it be I stayed away too long"

From myself, from my soul, when I'm out on the road

I give so much shout to these kids, I don't know

I thought I lost you, with no one to talk to

But you're the one that open up these doors that I walk through

I can't fault you, only forgive you

I'm the only one that seen the pain that you been through

The drama, the struggle that built all your issues

"Can it be I stayed away too long"

The drama, the struggle, that built all these issues

Is all just to make sure they never forget you

"Did I leave your mind when I was gone

It's not my thing trying to get back

But this time, let me tell you where I'm at"