Smile

Album: 4:44 (2017)
Charted: 56
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  • Good morn' or evening, friends
    Smile, you recordin'?

    Slammin' Bentley doors like we invented doors
    Twenty years ago we drove Bentley Azures
    We drinkin' Cristal in, yeah
    Kept the trey on me like Chris Paulin'
    Drinkin' Ace of Spade like it's codeine now
    Tryna put a million on the whole team now
    Push through the pain so we can see new life
    So all the ladies havin' babies, see a sacrifice
    Mama had four kids, but she's a lesbian
    Had to pretend so long that she's a thespian
    Had to hide in the closet, so she medicate
    Society shame and the pain was too much to take
    Cried tears of joy when you fell in love
    Don't matter to me if it's a him or her
    I just wanna see you smile through all the hate
    Marie Antoinette, baby, let 'em eat cake

    Bad times turn to good memories, smile
    Even when I'm gone and you remember me, smile
    Good times never fade away, smile
    Even if I'm not with you here today, smile
    Good morn' or evening, friends (smile)
    Here's your friendly announcer (smile)

    Far as draft picks, my name did not get called
    Bet before I go, I put a billion on the board
    Hall of Fame Hov, I did it all without a pen
    Y'all knew that was comin', I had to remind y'all again, huh?
    Flyin' paper planes through the projects
    Now the whole project's on my jet
    Now you see the real in the front row
    In every one of y'all televised shows
    Super facts
    Niggas switched sides, traded pride, we don't do all that
    A loss ain't a loss, it's a lesson
    Appreciate the pain, it's a blessin'

    Bad times turn to good memories, smile
    Even when I'm gone and you remember me, smile
    Good times never fade away, smile
    Even if I'm not with you here today, smile
    Good morn' or evening, friends

    I mastered my aesthetics
    I know you often heard me wax poetic
    'Bout bein' back in the Lexus
    But trust me, that was nothin'
    A nigga up in the hundreds of millions
    I have no ceilings, ah, this that feelin', I'm that boy
    Anita Baker's "You Bring Me Joy"
    Slappin' out of the toy, the separation is clear
    In my rear-view mirror, objects is further than they appear
    Oh yeah, I was born with a pair
    Playin' for high stakes
    Norman Cake, he looked up and out of the Lear
    How niggas can't relate?
    Fuck a slice of the apple pie, want my own cake
    Chargin' my own fate
    Respect Jimmy Iovine
    But he gotta respect the Elohim as a whole new regime
    And niggas playin' for power, huh
    So our music is ours
    Niggas only own houses
    Ours was, "Fuck you, pay me"
    Now it's, "Fuck payin' me, I pay you
    Put the rest away for Blue"
    That blood money, I giggle at it
    Can't even support my missus' habit
    Jewelry shoppin' in Paris
    All y'all jewelers should be embarrassed, huh
    Blood diamonds drippin', we cute
    I still ain't trippin', that's life, winners and losers, huh
    Drug dealers and abusers, America like me ruthless
    My therapist said I relapsed
    I said, "Prehaps I Freudian slipped in European whips"
    God sent me to break the chain
    I'm the true and livin'
    God in the flesh, the rest of these niggas is vain
    A stain on the white suit, inferior IQ
    Niggas'll rip your shit off TIDAL just to spite you
    Ahhhh, what did I do?
    'Cept try to free you
    Niggas'll love you but hate you 'cause they can't be you
    Dump 'em all in the bayou, uh
    Everybody wave bye to the guy you thought you can lie to
    This was meant to be a haiku, huh
    But my story's too wide to fit inside the line
    And too old, these that drugs
    Heroin flow, I spaz on the stove
    This is Hov, no flex zone, nigga, who lied to you?
    Look, you a pedestrian
    Don't ever question the security I provided you
    Oh y'all thought I was washed?
    I'm at the cleaners
    Launderin' dirty money like the teamsters, huh
    Shout out to Hoffa back home, he in the church
    When I heard you got booked, that shit hurt
    Fear for you, bro, we know the system don't work
    Take a young nigga freedom over some dirt
    Yet it's legal in Colorado
    Yeah, we deny
    Black entrepreneurs, free enterprise
    That's why it's a black market, that's why it's called the trap
    That's why it's called the project 'cause it's exactly that
    All these people was gon' kill me, heh
    'Cause the more I reveal me, the more they 'fraid of the real me
    Welcome back Carter, smile

    Living in the shadow
    Can you imagine what kind of life it is to live?
    In the shadows people see you as happy and free
    Because that's what you want them to see
    Living two lives, happy, but not free
    You live in the shadows for fear of someone hurting your family or the person you love
    The world is changing and they say it's time to be free
    But you live with the fear of just being me
    Living in the shadow feels like the safe place to be
    No harm for them, no harm for me
    But life is short, and it's time to be free
    Love who you love, because life isn't guaranteed
    Smile Writer/s: Ernest Dion Wilson, Shawn Carter, Stevie Wonder
    Publisher: BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

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