My Shot

I am not throwing away my, shot
I am not throwing away my, shot
Eyo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy an' hungry
And I'm not throwing away my shot

I'mma get a scholarship to King's College
I probably shouldn't brag but dawg I amaze and astonish
The problem is I got a lot o' brains but no polish
Gotta holler just to be heard
With every word, I drop knowledge

I'm a diamond in the rough, a shining piece o' coal
Tryna reach my goal, my power of speech; unimpeachable
Only nineteen, but my mind is older
These New York streets get colder, I shoulder
Every burden, every disadvantage
I've learned to manage
I don't have a gun to brandish
I walk these streets famished

The plan is to fan this spark into a flame
But damn it's getting dark so let me spell out the name
I am the
A-L, E-X, A-N, D! E-R, we are, meant to be!

A colony that runs independently
Meanwhile Britain keeps shittin' on us endlessly
Essentially, they tax us relentlessly
Then King George turns around, runs a spending spree
He ain't ever gonna set his descendants free
So there will be a revolution in this century
Enter me! (He says in parenthesis)
Don't be shocked when your history book mentions me
I will lay down my life if it sets us free
Eventually, you'll see my ascendancy

And I am not throwing away my, shot
I am not throwing away my, shot
Eyo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwing away my shot

I am not throwing away my, shot
I am not throwing away my, shot
Eyo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwing away my shot

It's time to take a shot!

I dream of life without a monarchy
The unrest in France will lead to onarchy
Onarchy? How you say, how you say?
Oh-- anarchy!
When I fight I make the other side panicky
With my shot!

Yo I'm a tailor's apprentice
And I got y'all knuckleheads in loco parentis
I'm joining the rebellion
'Cause I know it's my chance
To socially advance
Instead of sowing some pants
I'm gon' take a shot!

Ey but we'll never be truly free
Until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me
You and I, do or die
Wait 'til I sally in on a stallion
With the first black battalion
Have another shot!

Geniuses, lower your voices
You keep out of trouble and you double your choices
I'm with you, but the situation is fraught
You've got to be carefully taught
If you talk, you're gonna get shot

Burr, check what we got
Mr Lafayette, hard-rock like Lancelot
I think your pants look hot
Laurens I like you a lot
Let's hatch a plot blacker than the kettle calling the pot
What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot?
Pah, put a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not
A bunch of revolutionary manumission abolistionists
Give me a position show me where the ammunition is!

Oh am I talking too loud?
Sometimes I get overexcited
Shoot of at the mouth, I never had a group of friends before
I promise that I'll make you all proud

Let's get this guy in front of a crowd!

And I am not throwing away my, shot
I am not throwing away my, shot
Eyo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwing away my shot

I am not throwing away my, shot
I am not throwing away my, shot
Eyo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwing away my shot

Everybody sing!

Whoa-whoa, whoa-oa-oa (ey!)
Whoa-oa-oa (woo!)
Whoa-oa-oa (Say let 'em hear ya!)
Yeah (Let's go!)
Whoa-whoa, whoa-oa-oa (I said shout it to the rooftops)
Whoa-oa-oa (Said to the rooftops!)
Whoa-oa-oa (Oh come on!)
Yeah (Oh come on, let's go!)

Rise up
When you're living on your knees, you rise up
Tell your brother that he's gotta rise up
Tell your sister that she's gotta rise up
When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Whoa-whoa)
When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Whoa-oa-oa)
When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Whoa-oa-oa)
When are these colonies gonna rise up? (Whoa-oa-oa)
Rise up?

I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
When's it gonna get me?
In my sleep, seven feet ahead of me?
If I see it coming do I run or do I let it be?
Is it like a beat without a melody?

See I never thought I'd live past twenty
Where I come from some get half as many
Ask anybody, why we're living fast
And we laugh, reach for a flask
We have to make this moment last
That's plenty

Scratch that, this is not a moment it's the movement
Where all the hungriest brothers with something to prove went
Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand
We row like Moses, claiming our Promised Land
And, if we win our independence
Is that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants?
Or will the blood we shed begin an endless
Cycle of vengeance and death, with no defendants?

I know the action in the street is exciting
But Jezus, between all the bleedin' and fighting
I've been reading and writing
We need to handle our financial situation
Are we nation of states?
What's the state of our nation?

I'm past patiently waiting
I'm passionately smashing every expectation
Every action's an act of creation
I'm laughing in the face of casualties and sorrow
For the first time I'm thinking past tomorrow

And I am not throwing away my, shot
I am not throwing away my, shot
Eyo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwing away my shot

We're gonna rise up, time to take a shot (not throwing away my, shot)
We're gonna rise up, time to take a shot (not throwing away my, shot)
We're gonna rise up, rise up
It's time to take a shot
Rise up, rise up
It's time to take a shot

Rise up, it's time to take shot (whoa-oa-oa)
Rise up, take a shot, shot, shot (whoa-oa-oa)
Eyo it's time to take a shot
Time to take a shot
And I am not throwing away my
Not throwing away my shot!