Smoke and Mirrors - Lloyd Banks

You don’t remind me nothin' of family, why would I call you that?

Judas done finally find my phone number, why would I call you back?

I shot up quick, hope my fate gets along with all these stats

He got all the tools, fuck is takin' so long for shorty snap

This is remindin me of the first time you doubted me

Wonderful timin', here I go bringin' my black aura in this colourful climate

Niggas’ll set up shop, run from the fact that I’ve designed it

Don’t ever think forgiveness takes away from the fact that you tried it

There ain’t gon' be no malfunctions the way I’m wired

Pain takes a toll on ya body, truth is I’m tired

Grew a disdain for some people I once admired

Accepted the absence and fell in love with the triumph

Gotta be solid, don’t cower when bein' confronted

My nigga, if you could let others divide us, we ain’t one hunnid

Naturally built to survive, it’s trauma we stomach

Fuck around and have a dance with a demon, probably become it

Havin' a heart took a piece of me, I was always givin'

Won’t be allowed at my funeral, hated on me livin'

Shoulda stayed the course, switchin' lanes was a wrong decision

Tryna run away from fame, only prolonged collision

This is for all y’all, no need for the song suspicion

By the time you see me I made the cut, never saw the incision

Doctor stapled me back up, was gifted with third eye vision

I gotta argue experience, they don’t deserve the wisdom

Hard to enjoy excitement, too busy duckin' indictment

First time I went to a psychic, she told me I wouldn’t like it

Skin colour can be ya vice grip, hopin' it’s just a night stick

Regular traffic stop, pussy copper’ll flick off ya light switch

And I’m a father, the thought of it makes me proud

My biggest fear is lettin' one of my babies down

Product of rabies, Lord knows the 80s was foul

It’ll tear me up as a ghost, let you suckers come lay me down

Filter us out, you studio gangsters are agin'

Y’all wanna talk analytics, check my engagement

What’s ya criteria?

'Cause I should still be ya favorite

I lost ya vote along the way, fuck do I have to do to change it?

'Fore you quit, make sure you sure, can be only few rhymes away

'Fore I leave gotta look both ways, still pray up two times a day

Either ya born a leader or not, won’t depend on who finds a way

Lucky you get a pass, ain’t no coupons for pray

Went from havin' everything you could think of to losin' everything

Still chasin' the happiness federal notes could never bring

But it’s aight though, I’ll get it all back with interest

You ain’t never walk a footstep to judge me, don’t blur the sentence

The clock is tickin', don’t fuck off your time, you can’t replace it

Don’t come from the bottom, won’t know what it’s like to really make it

You lit up the bridge to our honor, figured you’d fake it

Twenty crooks in one corner, runnin' adjacent

Yo, and we might be fallin' in place, feel like it’s out of a dream

Gotta stay silent dog, some shit you can’t redeem

Things ain’t always what they, seem…

You claim to be family, stay that way, don’t give a fuck’s inbetween

Don’t know what you out there lookin' for, they put me here to be king

Gotta be more than a shoulder for you to lean

Things ain’t always what they, seem…

You claim to be family, stay that way, don’t give a fuck’s inbetween

Queens!