Lyrics:

[Spoken intro: Kendrick Lamar]Nah, what you get outta, outta not writing your stuff down on paper, you get the more-you know the...expression, the feeling yourself. You know what you want to say; instead of reading a paper that sounds read, it sounds narrated. Unless you wanna do it narrated...[Hook: Kendrick Lamar]What if a dream was reality and reality was a dream?And as complicated as it seems, if things we imagined actually happened?And real life situations was artificialThey say we only living to, dieImagine if we''re already dead, waiting to live, living in hellTrying to cross over to heaven we''re confusing ourselvesPlanet earth''s like Oceans 11, we''re plottin'' for the getaway[Verse 1: Kendrick Lamar]When my childhood friends get sent away to prison on their first offenseIt''s fucked up but listen, we study God but don''t know himCriticize people that work on Sundays, two jobs just to feed their kidsWell, momma''s scratching lottery tickets knowing that it''s just a fairy taleCus'' we ain''t gonna winEvery time that she''s bubblin'' in, it feels like the devil''s holding a pen(shit)Don''t mind me I''m just thinking againThinking out loud, thinking the opposite of proudCus'' I''m disappointed at my self sometimesSelf-esteem gets lower than night strippersHard to motivate the right rhymes, inspired by true crimesIt''s not a game, it''s nothing to play withTurn it off then come back the next day, it''s here to stayStruggle that isI''m so infatuated with knowing something that''s waiting after this lifeThat means what I''m thinking is rightPunch, loop the beat for a minuteMoment of silence for J. Dilla, he on his way homeKnow he see me spillin'' my heart, hope for it soonWait a minute K. Dot! you said turn it back on, bring it backIf dreams was realityIf it was cool for you to be a casualtyThe only way that you can escape povertySay that I''m weird but obviously you didn''t get it when I said it the first timeYou''re listening too far if you hear this partI suggest you go back and press rewindI fast forward to common thoughts of a humanDeep in my thoughts like Patrick Ewing in the paintLook what I brought to my state that they can''t bring - the industry need a fixStick heroin needles inside politics, this is crack musicO-pi-um, inside the veins of them, I don''t abuse itCapture each moment like film, photo-shooting all my enemies movingDirect them to a casketGive it to ''em only if they ask for it, if they want...If they wanna see reality [haha]I''m losing you again ain''t I?Ain''t I, the perfect candidate to represent the fifty states?Black President, they don''t wanna see thatIt''s evident...pain is painWe only love to hate each other that''s striving for great-nessI swear to God that we live in a MatrixTake that blue pill then we start seeing spaceshipsKanye, west-coast niggas do it the bestBring each other down, crab in a bucket effectWe learn to live with it I guessI mean die with it, since we''re already deadTrying to cross over to heaven, that''s what I said the first timeGet it? Now little boy I gotta sit you downTeach you about the things that we live aroundMaterialistic things that we buyin'' now means nothing later when the dream kick inFade me out, fade me out, fade me out, fade me out, fade me out, fade me out, fade me out, fade me out...[Verse 2: Punch]When the dreams was reality and money was loveWhat would we do for a buzz to maintain our sanityChasing the wind, striving after this vanityTraveling, no direction, the aimless casualtyAmerican dream or Scarface fantasyKilos of coke and the arms of black familiesWe use to it, our hearts draped in stoneA mother''s dreams for her baby boy to come back homeCus'' he out pushin'' that chrome, pursuing that cashEnd another niggas dreams when the fo-fifth blastNow another mother screams picking out his casketHarsh reality, it seems like it''s simple mathematics, it''s notIt''s trigonometry (trigganometry) divided by some real lifeAnd he''ll do it again just to get a mill'' twiceThe streets mowed him, can''t make past thatIt''s not a dream it''s reality, look where it''s at [ugh]What happened in Manhattan happens all the timeIn the hood, conspiracy to cover up crimeNo nickel and dime, one shot pettinessI wrote it in my mind as a letter to the presidentWorld trade happened on the world stageSame stage look at us as some educated apesOn video stations women gyratingParading around, mind-raping the youthFade me out, fade me out, fade me out, fade me out, fade me out, fade me out, fade me out, fade me out...[Hook: Kendrick Lamar]What if a dream was reality and reality was a dream?And as complicated as it seems, if things we imagined actually happened?And real life situations was artificialThey say we only living to, dieImagine if we''re already dead, waiting to live, living in hellTrying to cross over to heaven we''re confusing ourselvesPlanet earth''s like Oceans 11, we''re plottin'' for the getaway[Outro: Denzel Washington]I''m the man up in this piece! You''ll never see the light of da..Who the fuck d''ya think you fuckin'' with? I''m the police!I run shit here, you just live here!