Joe Budden-Who Pt. II

Or we a business we can't afford to maintain/
The second week show that boy numbers ain't hot/
I hate to break it to you, numbers always lied/
Or when Ortiz signed to Aftermath/
And now he feelin the aftermath/
Was it Fight Klub, fuckin' with those battle raps/
But not too many of em gettin' signed after that/
I mean, some can't stay afloat/
A million Busta records, he still not mentioned with the GOAT/
Fuck lookin for answers, time will tell/
Was it when Def Jam didn't wanna resign L/
A fifteen year old told me cash was ass/
Rather than spazz, all dude could do was laugh/
Or was when the East coast fell off/
Or got comfortable, maybe dudes were too well off/
The more niggas said they write down lyrics/
The more started to sound like they didn't/
But, do whatever you can to keep the lights on/
But dumbin down just became the new Dylan/
Honestly, I ain't know what to think/
A few years ago, we had the young kids wearin pink/
I can't blame the fans for not knowin' a damn thing/
When we trained them to be this way/
I mean, showed them whatever to sell with no limits/
Since the early 90s sold em a false image/
So when some shit come that don't fit the mold/
Its like a mole, nigga you won't even do gold/
They watch the videos, see you on the corner with a whole bunch of people and think that you good/
They turn on the TV, see these video bitches, and they think niggas girls really look that good/
I mean, they get so many free verses, when the album drops the shit more like a bonus/
Why pay for it why take onus/
With one click of mouse, they can own it/
I mean some of them are fooled so easily/
by whatever we say or what we show 'em on TV/
But that was all part of the plan/
Or was it when Eminem made Stan/
I swear some of these fans, they put they whole life on the line/
Its like they can't like more than one rapper at a time/
Less about the product, more about the digits/
Its a business, we got less fans and more critics/
Maybe we at a cross/
Canibus made one of the dopest diss records, but some still say that he lost/
I didn't wanna believe my ears when niggas tried to tell me/
that KRS-One had a rap beef with Nelly/
If rap was alive/
we would try to be the "best rapper ever", not the "best rapper alive"/
But you won't get excepted at all if you ain't street tough/
Onyx was the hardest, 'til Sticky got beat up/
Now "I'm a Thug" is how I gotta behave/
If I wanna be paid/
If I wanna see praise/
You know somethings wrong, when niggas is gettin shot/
And you gotta sit and wonder if the whole things staged/
It ain't real no more/
Or did we just expand on our audience/
Maybe we appeal to more/
Or, do we just think ya'll just gettin' dumber/
We tried to make gettin' older, gettin' younger/
did we lose our hunger, something gotta give/
did we outgrow ourselves, is hip-hop for kids/
if it is, they turn on MTV Cribs/
and think thats where these motherfuckers really live/
or, was it when Lauryn Hill dropped a classic/
so did the Fugees, til Wyclef tapped it/
songs don't do it no more, the shits shocking/
Seen it Lean Back had the whole world rocking/
Now its fuck ya bars, if the hook is fly/
So we look at Crooked I wit a crooked eye/
Dope ass rappers ain't seein' no dough/
If everythings commercial, where the fuck is the show/
But anybody makin a dime, see I'mma wish well/
still we took a big 'l' losin' Big L/
or was it when YouTube came in the game/
now nobodys from their living room can make a name/
or, when indies like Koch came and blew up/
Niggas at the majors, they literally threw up/
The Summit ain't fun no more/
you know its fucked when DMC don't talk to Run no more/
to many egos, like we ain't one no more/
shits predictable, niggas ain't stunned no more/
we startin' to see shit we never seen before/
at one point, we even had the magazines at war/
or, was it street DVDs, like SMACK/
showed you just how stupid your favorite rapper would act/
the shit gets lifeless/
when MTV made a list of the hottest, and ignored the nicest/
changed the whole stee-lo/
I mean an average fan never heard of a Goodie Mob or a Cee-Lo/
but they heard of Gnarls Barkley/
and Dr. Carter still say we got a heartbeat/
I ain't gonna lie, I was scared to death straight up/
Started hearin rumors of an Outkast breakup/
I was like that ain't true, it sounds desperate/
And started to see Big Boi & 3K seperate/
At periods, we were dryer than a desert/
Are we all killin' this shit, is it a group effort/
are we alive and well, or barely survivin'/
is it R&Bs fault, them niggas is thrivin'/
And then a lot of people go and blame Limewire/
I don't think its downloadin', dawg, the lines tired/
Did the fans just get tired of the outcome/
One dope single, and a bullshit album/
so they shared albums with each other/
was it Master P with them ugly ass album covers/
or when we started appearin' in the news/
Timberland said they ain't want black niggas wearin they boots/
I mean, I know it foggy, at least blurry/
when the label dude got knocked out by Keith Murray/
or was it when we became obsessed with the brand names/
we had the kids tryna buy shit they can't name/
some think the evidence is ample/
did it start when Puff took advantage of the sample/
is it all watered down with no fire/
if you had enough money, you could buy a ghostwriter/
or the diamond district, Jacob the Jeweler/
had to buy his watch, to be looked at as cooler/
and fuckin' with them trends/
our stupid asses wasted a hundred grand on shit that ain't even "in"/
Is the game now, just as bad as its ever been/
Not ringtones, just the songs that they represent/
I heard all 'em/
Sad part, I wouldn't recognize most of these niggas if I saw em/
I can't explain it, I don't know what to tell ya/
Now goin' gold is looked at as a failure/
Maybe old heads in charge just werent able/
DJs are spinnin' with no turn table/
Maybe the fans are just bored of us/
Or maybe theyre aint enough room for all of us/
its like, even a friendship will stop at a point/
Mike Jones went platinum off of Slim Thug's joint/
but it so many ways to get fuckin' rich/
Superhead caked off by just suckin' dick/
did we sell out, just to get in demand more/
or did we go against everything we used to stand for/
both are likely/
there's two sides to the coin, who you rollin with Soulja Boy or Ice T/
some niggas wanna sit around and complain about/
I'd rather analyze, see how it came about/
if we could rewind the world/
we wouldn't have to watch Flavor Flav try to find his girl/
look..today, its all about marketing and promo/
I remember when VH-1 was just for old folks/
with no man.../
if I ain't know better I would think Nick's show was now programmed/
we let the power of the dollar anihlate us/
how the size of our chain gonna validate us/
it's too simple, they can't think we really deep/
I just heard Chris Brown on the 'A Milli' beat/
seen a video, it's called "Lookin' Ass Nigga"/
grabbed the remote, I'm tired lookin at niggas/
but that let a nigga know that if we ain't dead/
we just half alive, maybe brain dead/
did it start when Capone left Nore/
naw he went to jail that's whole 'nother story/
or maybe somethings really wrong with our ears/
Obie got dropped, so much for Cheers/
female emcees they don't never hit the target/
.../

Lyrical Breakdown

Previously: Joe Budden-Who Pt. I
...part 3 is coming

Salut
Fly Ty