[Intro: Clip from the film "Fresh"]
"...last game here I'm playing myself"
"You're losing to yourself"
"Yeah life's a b**h like that, I kept the game going with myself for the last 20 years. Not a day goes by I don't make at least one move. Not a day"
[Chorus]
As the days get longer, nights get warmer
Temperatures rising, gotta strengthen ya armor
n***as be scheming, tryna get one up on ya
Karma be working, gotta watch how ya heart move
Motionless, gotta stay buoyant when you flowin with
A potent mix of reality and hopelessness
Everything around you ain't the opposition
Its all about decisions
Life is a chess game, plot position
[Verses 1]
n***as live to be fun guys, not breaking the mold
But he stayed on his grind, so when he came up it showed
Not to say he didn't have vices all of his own
But early on, sights were set on claiming the king
A young pawn with a native swing...
He had a unique vibe from his tribe that gave him identity
His aura sho'nuff brought him on plenty enemies
Threatened by his presence, afraid of his energy
They couldn't read him...sh** he liked it like that
Not too many eyes were deserving of his past chapters
'cept the circle that he grew up with, blew blunts with
And evolved into a sphere with dreams near
Now he's competing for respect of his peers
When the ones that really need him...are receding
Tryna navigate between his demons and redeeming
Hoping his sins don't pa** down through his own semen
He's tryna break the cycle, but first things first
He gotta figure out, how to make these moves manifest
As a boy he was stressed, now we say a-men, he's blessed
No telling what he'll do to keep these mates in check
Check, check, check
He stops, sits back and reflects
[Chorus]
As the days get longer, nights get warmer
Temperatures rising, gotta strengthen ya armor
b**hes be scheming, tryna get one up on ya
Karma be working, gotta watch how ya heart move
Motionless, gotta stay buoyant when you flowin with
A potent mix of reality and hopelessness
Everything around you ain't the opposition
Its all about decisions
Life is a chess game
[Verse 2]
"This pawn sh** ain't for me
I'm far from sacrificial
Ain't a damn thing funny
My time here will be biblical"
So sure of his purpose he was almost vain
Forgetting we're on the same board playing the same game
Many questions remain, how you gon move?
Where you gonna go when every option looking like an loss?
Will you leave yo peoples hanging for some clout, just to floss?
Will you miss out on a Queen to stay focused on yo dreams?
Will you limit your truth to expand your reach?
All these questions mind boggling, while he's organizing his noggin
Wondering if all his plottin is a waste
A detraction from his fate
Or his closest thing to grace
Only prayers involved are
When food for thought is sitting on his plate
So you know he finna eat good
Tired of the bullsh** that the world's servin
He looks inward, and see his bullsh**'s the same
It finally connects and he understands the game
Evolved past petty sh**, traded old sights for a better lens
With only one thing left to jettison
The guilt he's carried from his mistakes being lesser than
Damn, he had to let it all go
He had to take his heart back before it all froze
Now with new purpose, got some focus in his soul
Escaping becoming another man turned cold
[Chorus]
As the days get longer, nights get warmer
Temperatures rising, gotta strengthen ya armor
n***as be scheming, tryna get one up on ya
Karma be working, gotta watch how ya heart move
Motionless, gotta stay buoyant when you flowin with
A potent mix of reality and hopelessness
Everything around you ain't the opposition
Its all about decisions
Life is a chess game, plot position