Текст песни: New Jordans / A Poem for Mike + перевод

If you got something to say that’s real important

Just start off by screaming new Jordans, my people listen

You want my folks to wake up like it’s morning

You gotta title your post, «new Jordans» real talk

I still want every pair

Used to try to save money up every year

My man Tor got em all, I be like «let me wear!»

Since we the same size, I try to bribe him, he won’t tell me yea

I had a big bottle stacked with quarters

Took me months to fill it up enough so I could buy some Jordans

I was in my mama’s basement

Riding public transportation

I ain’t have all my priorities in order

I used to have a pair of red fours, I rocked my brother’s sixes

My twos fell apart, and I gave away my Olympics

Had the bugs bunny joints, but my mind was so simplistic

That I played ball in 'em not thinking bout the logistics

Every pair I could’ve flipped 'em

And doubled on my investment

But I was so young and hungry just focused on being fresher

As a dude up in school you gotta make an impression

It starts with how you dress and this generation’s obsessed

Kids thirteen, fourteen, thirty-nine and forty

They be standing online camping out from early morning

Overnight, Mike don’t need the money but we support him

Is it true he doesn’t care if we riot to help his fortune?

Indiana and Ohio there was bloodshed, bust heads, kids robbed everywhere,

some dead

Imagine getting news that your nephew, daughter or son bled for shoes that they

wore, 'nuff said

It’s so wild

You got something to say that’s real important

Just start off by screaming new Jordans, my people listen

You want my folks to wake up like its morning

You gotta title your post, «new Jordans» real talk

My homie said my flow is so annoying

And when I kick that knowledge, all the youngins call it boring

I don’t have to force it I don’t need a catchy chorus

I just hit the stage screaming new Jordans y’all will get it

We put fashion way before education

It’s like Nike is a soul-purging organization

Charging insane prices while extorting the Asians

We wouldn’t gather like this if there was foreign invasion

But for the J’s, we exploring the nation

Last year it was cop the Concords or do I go on vacation?

I understand the way he jumped and how he scored was amazing

But did it warrant these praises? It’s just a sport he was playing

And we treat him like a God, it’s crazy the way that Phil Knight

Signs every young black baller gives him a little light

Maybe gets his name on a shoe, feeds his fam, lives his dream out and we say he

made it, but what’s our real plight?

When I was young they told me be like Mike, that means reach high heights,

and have a real nice life, a gambling issue, mean suits, a young, white wife

Instead of giving back to people I just lead by sight

And get money

So the average kid, can’t afford his product

He’s a culture changing catalyst, the top of every athlete list

Iconic figure whose name became an adjective, never been a philanthropist,

But he stacked up them championships.

I love MJ

A renegade like Em and Jay

Generated billions for our race just like the 10K

Altogether I done probably gave him 10K…

Or maybe more, what the hell am I hating for?

All the rings that he won can’t fit on just one hand

It’s not his fault he acquired some dumb fans

Dudes dying for sneakers was unplanned

Sad that my man got jumped for the logo of the jumpman

Homie got his top rocked

Hanging on a hot block

New York City summer, number sevens on, he got stopped

Thugs drew weapons put metal in his intestines in less than twenty-four seconds

he was gone before the shot clock

See how I put it all together like a Lego block

Insane cycle, we blame Michael, it never stops

Single moms spoil they kids cause they never met they pops

Don’t know your father, but you know when the new retros drop?

A Poem For Mike

Years ago I did an interview and they asked me what I would be doing if I

wasn’t rapping

I said I would probably teach

They asked what subject

I said «I'm not sure, maybe English, language arts or health, possibly speech

but

I said my ego is too big to be at just one school everyday there’s so many I

want to reach

So I would want to be a teacher on tour,»

Two years later I was hitting different schools as a substitute, that’s deep

It’s like I had a mission that I ain’t even know about

When I thought rapping was my goal

When they asked why I didn’t make it big, I used to say it was my fault,

but really it was my soul

I started coaching and stepped away from the microphone

No not because I felt old

But because I needed some new inspiration to keep young dudes out of jail and

young girls off the pole

This kid in high school I vibe with, told me he’s down to do whatever it takes

to get his papes up

He laughed hard when he found out I used to rhyme, saw my YouTube vids and

asked why the hell I took a pay cut…

Told me he had bars too and he rhymes about his chicks that are crazy thots and

straight sluts

And all he wears is Js, I said, «You liked the way MJ played?» He said, «Played what?»

Same guys that thought Dr. Dre only made headphones, and thought Illmatic was a

disease

They know Martin Luther 'cause he gave us a day off, and, they still fight each

other and fear the police

He said, «If I was born back in slave times…

Or if I was there during civil rights

I would have drunk from any water fountain I wanted to

Before I picked cotton I’d have lost my life,.»

Sounds good hypothetically

Against your own kind you got that heater tucked

But anytime there’s a blooming race issue, not a lot of young people speaking up

I guess I was the same way at one time

So why am I contradicting and preaching stuff?

I guess I wonder if we would march for a cause

.Or would we be too concerned with messing our sneakers up

I don’t know what I expect

But my folks can barely text

Our grammar’s so incorrect

We live or die by spellcheck

But know how to spell check

C-h-e-c never mind

But we’re well dressed

A lot of things I say are not really safe to spit

Like the plot to push the same sex relationship

In ten years the n-word will be acceptable, Condoms might not exist and

implants will be graduation gifts

So as I stand on line outside this sneaker store and I see this man whose home

is on the street

And he walks up with no shoes and asks me specifically for a dollar or two so

he could get something to eat

I go in my pocket to find change when I should have went inside my heart,

and stopped the beat

I gave him nothing and it wasn’t even funny when he and I both looked down at

my feet

And saw new Jordans