Hip-Hop Saved My Life

[Intro: Lupe Fiasco]
Dedicate, dedicate
This one right here goes out
To my homie with the dream, nah mean?

[Verse 1: Lupe Fiasco]
He said: "I write what I see
Write to make it right, don't like where I be
I'd like to make it like the sights on TV
Quite the great life, so nice and easy."
See, now you can still die from that
But it's better than not being alive from straps
Agreed, a Mead notebook
And a Bic that click when it's pushed, and a wack-ass beat
That's a track that's weak that he got last week
‘Cause everybody in the stu' was like, "That's that heat!"
A bass-heavy medley with a sample from the 70s
With a screwed-up hook that went "stack that cheese"
Somethin' somethin' somethin', "stack that cheese"
Mother, sister, cousin, "stack that cheese"
He couldn't think of nothin', "stack that cheese"
He turns down the beat, writer's block impedes
Crying from the next room, a baby in need
Of some Pampers and some food and place to sleep
That, plus a black Cadillac on Ds
Is what keep him on track to be a great MC.

[Hook: Nikki Jean]
One you never heard of, I
Push it harder, further, the
Grind might feel like murder, but
Hip-Hop, you saved me
One you never heard of, I
Push it harder, further, the
Grind might feel like murder, but
Hip-Hop, you saved my life.

[Verse 2: Lupe Fiasco]
Reps North-side, so he rocks them braids
1100 friends on his MySpace page
"Stack That Cheese" got 700 plays
Producer made him take it down, said he had to pay
Open mic champ two weeks in a row
Ex d-boy with a b-boy flow
Glow like Leroy, you should see the boy go
Got a daddy serving life and a brother on the Row
Best homie in the grave, tatted up while in the cage
Minute Maid got his momma working like a slave
Down baby mama who he really had to honor
‘Cause she was his biggest fan, even let him use her Honda
To drive up to Dallas, went to open up for amateurs
Let him keep a debit card so he could put gas in it
Told her when he get on he gon' take her to the Galleria
And buy everything but the mannequins, ya dig?

[Hook: Nikki Jean]
One you never heard of, I
Push it harder, further, the
Grind might feel like murder, but
Hip-Hop, you saved me
One you never heard of, I
Push it harder, further, the
Grind might feel like murder, but
Hip-Hop, you saved my life.

[Verse 3: Lupe Fiasco]
His man called, said: "Your time might be now
They played your freestyle over 'Wipe Me Down'
They played it two times, said it might be crowned
As the best thing out the H-town in a while."
He picked up his son with a great big smile
Rapped every single word to the newborn child
Then he put him down and went back to the kitchen
And put on another beat and got back to the mission
Of get his momma out the hood
Put her somewhere in the woods
Keep his lady looking good
Have her rolling like she should
Show his homies there's a way other than that flippin' yay
Bail his homie out of jail, put a lawyer on his case
Throw a concert for the school
Show the shorties that it's cool
Throw some candy on the Caddy
Chuck the deuce and act a fool
Man, it feels good when it happens like that
Two days from going back to selling crack, yessir.

[Hook: Nikki Jean]
One you never heard of, I
Push it harder, further, the
Grind might feel like murder, but
Hip-Hop, you saved me
One you never heard of, I
Push it harder, further, the
Grind might feel like murder, but
Hip-Hop, you saved my life.