J Cole - 4 Your Eyez Only Lyrics
[Intro]Yeah (For your eyes)For your eyes only (For your eyes)For your eyes only, for your eyes only(For your eyes, for your eyes)For your eyes only[Verse 1]Hey, niggas be dying on the dailyIt seems my dreams faded for far too longThe consequences deadlyCan't visualize myself as nothing but a criminalControl the block, serving up rocks and stay subliminal'Cause young niggas is hardheaded, they letting offFull of adrenaline, ignorant to what death can causeAin't no coming back, family dressed in blackPlus it's hot now, the cops outside, it's hard to flip a packAnd my daughter gotta eat, her mama be stressing meLike I ain't the one who put them Jays on her feetLike I ain't out in the field like thatI might be low for the moment but I will bounce backDespite the charges, back to the wall, I fight regardlessScreaming, "***** the law," my life is lawlessThat's what you call it, ain't got to be no psychicTo see this is like the farthest thing from heavenThis is hell and I don't mean that hyperbolicI try to find employment even if it's wiping toiletsBut these felonies be making life the hardestResisting the temptation to run up and swipe a walletOr run up on your yard, snatch your daughter bike and pawn itThat's why I write this sonnetIf the pressure get too much for me to take and I breakPlay this tape for my daughter and let her know my life is on it(For your eyes) Let her know my life is on it(For your eyes) For your eyes only[Hook]For your eyes, do you understand?For your eyes, do you understand me?For your eyes, do you understand?For your eyes, do you understand me?For your eyes, do you understand?For your eyes, do you understand me?For your eyes, do you understand?For your eyes only—[Verse 2]You probably grown now so this song'll hit youIf you're hearing this, unfortunatelyMeans that I'm no longer with you in the physicalNot even sure if I believe in God but because you still aliveHe got me praying that the spiritual is realSo I can be a part of you still, my pops was killed tooSo I know how part of you feelsMaybe you hate me, maybe you miss me, maybe you spite meLife goes in cycles, maybe you'll date a nigga just like meI hope not—I'm tired of dope spotsAnd fiends that smoke rocksI've seen far too many niggas' hopes rotI'm writing this because me and the devil had a danceNow I see death around the corner, 'pologizing in advanceDon't know if I ever had a chance, at a glance, I'm a failureAddicted to pushing paraphernaliaBut Daddy had dreams once, my eyes had a gleam onceInnocence disappeared by the age of eight yearsMy Pops shot up—drug-related—mama addictedSo Granny raised me in projects where thugs was hangingBlood was staining the concreteOlder niggas I loved talked like they was aboveMaintaining a time sheet, that slow moneyPicked up the family business by the age of thirteenSix years later was handed sentence'Round the same time is when you came in this worldMe and your mama thinking:"What the ***** we naming this girl?"I told her "Nina", the prettiest name that I could think ofFor the prettiest thing my eyes had ever seen, I was nineteenTook me two felonies to see the trapThis crooked ass system set for meAnd now I fear it's too late for me to ever beThe one that set examples that was never set for meI'm living fast, but not fast enoughCause karma keeps on catching up to meAnd if my past becomes the death of meI hope you understand—[Hook]For your eyes, do you understand?For your eyes, do you understand me?For your eyes, do you understand?For your eyes, do you understand me?For your eyes, do you understand?For your eyes, do you understand me?For your eyes, do you understand?For your eyes only—[Verse 3]It's several ways I could've went out, too many to countWas it the trigger happy crackers that the badges give clout?Was it the young niggas, blasting frustratedCause the cash running out?Niggas don't know how to act in a droughtSee, baby girl, I realizedMy definition of a real nigga was skewedMy views misshaped by new mixtapesThat confirmed the shit I learned in the streets was trueThat real niggas don't speak when they beef with youThey just pull up on your street, let the heat achooAnd if a real nigga hungry, he gon' eat your foodI was a fool, spent all my time ducking school, ducking copsDucking rules, hugging blocks that don't love youI pray you find a nigga with goals and point of viewsMuch broader than the corner, if not it's gon' corner youInto a box, where your son don't even know his popsAnd the cyclical nature of doing time continuesMy worst fear is one day that you come home from schoolAnd see your father face while hearing 'bout tragedy on newsI got the strangest feeling your daddy gonna lose his life soonAnd sadly if you're listening now it must mean it's trueBut maybe there's a chance that it's notAnd this album remains lockedIn a hard drive like valuable jewelsAnd I can teach you this in personLike I'm teaching you to tie your own shoesI love you and I hope to God I don't lose youFor your eyes only[Hook: CharGuax & J. Cole]For your eyes, for your eyes onlyFor your eyes, for your eyes onlyFor your eyes, do you understand?For your eyes only—[Verse 4]One day your daddy called me, told me he had a funny feelingWhat he'd been dealing with lately, he wasn't tellingI tried to pick his brains, still he wasn't revealingBut I could feel the sense of panic in his voiceAnd it was chilling, he said:"Jermaine, I knew you since we was childrenI never asked for nothing when times was hardI never had discussions with you begging you to help meI dealt with the repercussions of my actionsI know you tried to steer me 'way from that shitBut that shit was in my blood, you know my lifeI know your Momma, nigga; send my loveIn case I never get a chance to speak againI won't forget the weekends spent sleeping at your cribThat's the way I wished my family livedBut my granny crib was in the 'jects—"I had to interject like:"Nigga what you talking 'bout? ***** is you getting at?"He said, "Listen, I got no time to dive into descriptionsBut I've been having premonitionsJust call it visions from the other sideI got a feeling I won't see tomorrowLike the time I'm living on is borrowedWith that said, the only thing I'm proud to say, I was a fatherWrite my story down and if I passGo play it for my daughter when she ready"And so I'm leaving you this record for your eyes onlyDon't you ever scratch or disrespect itThis perspective is a real one, another lost 'Ville sonI dedicate these words to you and all the other childrenAffected by the mass incarceration in this nationThat sent your pops to prison when he needed educationSometimes I think that segregation would've done us betterAlthough I know that means that I would neverBe brought into this world cause my daddy was so thrilledWhen he found him a white girl to take back to JonesboroWith 'lil Zach and Cole World, barely one years oldNow it's thirty years later, making sure this story's toldGirl, your daddy was a real nigga, not cause he was coldNot because he was the firstTo get some ***** twelve years oldNot because he used to come throughIn the Caddy on some voguesNot because he went from bagging upThem grams to serving O'sNah, your daddy was a real nigga, not 'cause he was hardNot because he lived a life of crime and sat behind some barsNot because he screamed, "***** the law"Although that was trueYour daddy was a real nigga cause he loved youFor your eyes only
