Trouble On My Mind

[Blueprint]
 Yeah... ah-hah
 Yeah... ah-ha! What?
 [Chorus]
 I got so much trouble on my mind, refuse, to lose!
 Since I brought you up to speed in '99, my name's been news
 Got my label off the ground, put on, my folks
 Dropped some classic but right now, we're all, still broke
 [Blueprint]
 And everybody's still lookin at me - because I took the lead
 And taught 'em to believe, tried to maximize what my crew could be
 A wise man once said... with great power comes great responsibility
 Sometimes I wish it was somebody else instead but I took it on willingly
 My mom showed me the path to follow, how to be a role model
 Now I can't do a show without hittin the bottle
 Come home and pass out like my father would do
 Up at 9 A.M. load up a van, drive to another city do it again
 Sell a couple CD's, get a couple more fans
 Watch people criticize me like they know who I am
 Blueprint you spit too slow, your vocals are mixed too low
 The basslines in your beats be makin my speakers blow
 Aesop put you on track, RJ got you on his back
 Stick to production, stop tryin to rap
 Another good album with bad distribution
 Another 100 magazines my music's not reviewed in
 By the time the fans impressed, realize I'm the best doin it
 I'll be makin shitty music
 [Chorus]
 [Blueprint]
 Too many people got their hands out, feel like I've been takin inventory
 Not too many livin off of hip-hop, all I hear is hard luck stories
 You're either too depressed to make a record, or way too broke to put it out
 Or too proud to get up off your ass, and go the independent route
 I used to wanna be signed, I don't think it's meant to be
 Most signed cats I know got less money than me
 Checkin they mailbox for checks they never see
 Might as well be puttin they records for free!
 When they wanna sign you, they'll put anything you ask for in the contract
 But when the same cats owe you money - they never call you back
 All the fans you had from day one start to reject you when your shows get packed
 They say you're sellout cause you got more fans
 And they never did like you and thought you was whack
 Damned if you do damned if you don't
 I'll be damned if it don't feel just like a setup
 But my suggestion box is closed
 And I wish I could make everybody just shut up
 The first thing I learned about this rap game
 Is sometimes it's best to be quiet and listen
 There's a whole lot at stake
 So don't be a bigmouth that makes bad decisions
 Don't get caught up in the hype
 Talk numbers before your music is sent in
 Sometimes the numbers ain't right
 So when you get a bum deal send it back with revisions
 Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrop!