Verse 1: They say O, yo what's up with the album? It's been years and you ain't put out none Like I been sittin' in the house just loungin' You know I got kids and they all need outfits But you don't care about that, you just doubtin' You see me on tv, one you should be proud then Instead you lookin' at what I ain't do Instead of what I came through, it's painful That's why my own family don't know me I won't let them tear me down, they won't hold me I'm too intelligent Plus I learned there's a difference Between your family and your relatives Just because we got the same bloodline That don't mean we got the same love line And that ain't to say I don't love y'all I love y'all, I just rise above y'all Hook: I, I rise above, above all your hate and your lack of love I rise above (and y'all can't stop me) I rise above (so go ahead watch me) Baby I rise, I rise above, above what you say that I can't become Yes I rise above (and keep on climbing) I rise above (I keep on rising) Verse 2 (Neo P): You could say that I'm floatin' Been a long time since my mind started openin' Hoping things would change, the game's broken So I gotta fix some things, this is a token Of my appreciation, initiation Of the new me switchin' faces The old me is one of the homies Forty of OE, puffin' on green, uh Nowadays that stuff I don't need Those type highs have nothing on me I get high off life and such Thus I spit fly on mics I clutch When the lights is up and the cameras are flashin' Just know I'm from where the hammers are blastin' While they asking, “how did he get there?” I just look ‘em in the eye, isn't it clear? Hook: I, I rise above, above all your hate and your lack of love I rise above (and y'all can't stop me) I rise above (so go ahead watch me) Baby I rise, I rise above, above what you say that I can't become Yes I rise above (and keep on climbing) I rise above (I keep on rising) Verse 3: I'm from a people that rose above To hell with Jim Crow, this is Rosa's bus We mess around start ownin' stuff On some Cathy Hughes and some Oprah stuff Be up in operas folding bucks In Girbauds and Chucks, I never owned a tux Little man that's some older stuff If you ain't smile on that you ain't old enough But you from the ‘80s you know what's up That's the era of terror that showed us d** Cops rollin' up, shots flowin', blood On the ground, they rounds make ghosts of us Somehow I took that, composed and loved Stood tall in the booth, some chose a crutch And I don't hold a grudge It's called growing up, that's how I rose above, see Hook: I, I rise above, above all your hate and your lack of love I rise above (and y'all can't stop me) I rise above (so go ahead watch me) Baby I rise, I rise above, above what you say that I can't become Yes I rise above (and keep on climbing) I rise above (I keep on rising) (*O'hene's final comments*)