[Intro] Okay It's like this nowadays, yo [Verse 1] I'm focused on trying to stay focused in '06 I dealt with some blows now the process Of sorting through these ghosts feels hopeless It's bogus but it still gets under the skin like osmosis Yo this world's so sick, like Ne-Yo's hit Or folks with no OHIP, don't slip Know who the staff you roll with is Your staff can turn to snakes like Moses' And motives get exposed quick when cash is grossed so don't trip No sum is worth what your soul is No sun immersed in the coldness No son, reverse like the poles get Past the bitterness out the standstill It wasn't in the cards, some people can't deal Play the hand you're dealt, might make a grand still A man's real if he can return like Grant Hill [Hook] (Nowadays) (Nowadays) [x2] [Verse 2] Those that know Shad know that he's on his own path Like a nomad rolling without a roadmap Just four lads in a Topaz with no gas I call my car Roc-A-Fella cause it's got a broke dash My generation's moving so fast, running like old taps From fear and stress and tears choked back Boys hold gats while the girls got no strap On their dresses and won't eat 'less it's low-fat Between low-cut tops and teeth with gold caps That new school looks more crazy than OCAD's When there's no dads to say don't show that Make 'em look in your eyes, your mind's where the show's at And you need more than beats for a dope track Even with more hooks than a coat rack And more hot lines than 1-800 phones That's why most cats in this rap game just don't last It's not vocab they need to grow, it's gonads And back bone so they can speak and not hold back We need folks with faith that's gon' last To teach the younger ones how to live with no mask And pose the kind of questions that most just won't ask And keep that hope stashed like a safe of cold cash Our vision for the future can't fade or go black Like some Kodak pictures at night with no flash Them cats be polluting the air like smoke stacks Let the freshness in get your windows cracked [Hook]