Stand Out

Yo, get respect and don't disrespect
That's the trick
Hit the wrong switch once
And that alarm's gonna trip
Never said I was a street dude
But I'm no dummy
Know how to move in many circles
And keep all my money
Don't exaggerate my life
If I'm bragging I earned the stripes
When I elaborate I demonstrate
I'm lyrically nice
Got fucked up as young kids
But rarely died
Got jumped more than once
For being white outside
By kids so poor
At lunch they was eating the apple cores
My brown bag was filled of course
Need I say more?
Never had to live in projects
But they're right next door
Public school was educational
Need I say more?
They put padlocks from lockers in gym socks
To clean clocks and squash beef
They needed extra police
When girls fought
The belts came off
Ain't nothing soft
Leaving welts needing stitches
That's how you got taught, c'mon

Off Topic on the mic, there's no doubt
(Word life, everything that I recite stands out)
The larger the crowd is, the more I stand out
(Word life, everything that I recite stands out)
Off Topic on the mic, there's no doubt
(Word life, everything that I recite stands out)
The larger the crowd is, the more I stand out
(Word life, everything that I recite stands out)

By the time I got to high school
I was on my grind
I was artist, a guitarist
Plus I'm writing some rhymes
I knew multiple white kids committed suicide
I knew multiple black kids saw a cop before they died
Played a lot of sports
And that will bridge a racial divide, of course
Working after practice
Got goals to support
Selling cigarettes to freshman
Pocket two out of four
Tripling my salary
And walking right out the door
They never saw me coming
Clean as a whistle
I kept my game tight
Kept my circle close to me
Keeping my mind right
Trained by the masters
Making gritty New York beats
See the company I keep and know my fucking pedigree
EPS, SP, and MPC
Leaving rappers irrelevant when I emcee
First I silence the lambs
Then I'm shearing the sheep
You hearing me?
People take it quite seriously

Off Topic on the mic, there's no doubt
(Word life, everything that I recite stands out)
The larger the crowd is, the more I stand out
(Word life, everything that I recite stands out)
Off Topic on the mic, there's no doubt
(Word life, everything that I recite stands out)
The larger the crowd is, the more I stand out
(Word life, everything that I recite stands out)

And Biggie died my senior year
Walked the field to "Missing You"
Tribute to a classmate
In the wrong place when they would shoot
Never got to graduate
We were once teammates
Both lefties on first base
He was better than me

Off Topic on the mic, there's no doubt
(Word life, everything that I recite stands out)
Off Topic on the mic, there's no doubt
(Word life, everything that I recite stands out)
Off Topic on the mic, there's no doubt
(Word life, everything that I recite stands out)
The larger the crowd is, the more I stand out
(Word life, everything that I recite stands out)

(I know you think I'm crazy)
(But it's not me)
(It's the world)
(The world's gone mad)
(Nobody seems to care)