[Esoteric] Yo Friday night, feelin right, fuckin with this bad chick Gats click, now I'm hit, shit, watch the blood spit I fall face down, background is H-Town Needle drag, music stops, people call the cops For a rap cat, shot dead in the back Over a dame, for some reason of which I cannot explain My name was little known at this time 'less we use the Boston, Mass. as the measuring line My crime bein waxed, redirects, people's TV's set Maybe you're seein the checks, or see 'em as threats My fam cries at the wake, some guys do steaks With their eyes on my tape, realizin my surprisin fate Ten-to-five covered, then from five-to-eight Now the average rap fan starts to gravitate to the Ese-Esoteric, to see if they were sleepin on a dope MC whose skills need peepin
[Chorus: Esoteric] + {*7L*} It's tough stayin underground when you're six feet deep And major labels profit off of that, but then there's freak {"It's Esoteric"}, {"Rest in peace"} And now everybody's checkin for my posthumous release {*scratched twice*} "Death is a final step!" - RZA "You know dead rappers get better promotion" - Jadakiss "Death is a final step!"
[Esoteric] Check.. now as I look down, it's kinda tough swallowin the fact that I'm a dead rapper with a cult followin Legions of fans got their hands on my old jams And new fans, they were sayin "Oh damn!" at every punchline, and now the rumors break and hit Cause everybody knew that I was workin on some new shit Cats askin, "Who's on it? Who produced it?" Straight up, just ask deceased, let the man {"rest in peace"} All my old friends are now sayin that's a spiritual My mother wants my material Girlfriends sayin that I'm lyrical, fightin over rights Sellin R.I.P. t-shirts at open mics Fans thought the East/West was comin to South Got the Source van in front of my house XXL and Elemental runnin their mouth Got my dad depressed, he's bout to flip, put a gun in his mouth
[Chorus]
[Esoteric] Now majors havin bidding wars, and deals on the table Labels unstable cause my face is on cable Even underground critics say that I'm the best that did it Even though they shitted on my last hit-it I don't get it, Sony pimped me up in a week And now my acapella's flowin over wack commercial beats They shot my video, with an Esoteric stunt double in a Lex bubble, sayin it was footage from the night before the trouble No red tape, just sample clearances and mad guest appearances (Like who?) A lot of guys whom I never authorized As my mother looks into the skies to apologize Although I'm dead mom, my soul remains undaunted Now you can actually afford the things you wish you flaunted And even though every studio will be haunted I finally got the major label budget that I wanted