Switch Lanes - Baba Brinkman

To some people rap is just a lot of manure\nOthers say the planet’s sick and hip-hop is the cure\nSome people say commercial rap isn’t pure\nBut to me every rapper is an entrepreneur\nYou wanna make a difference? You wanna to make a living?\nYou wanna teach the children? You wanna make a million?\nEither way, you gotta find a way to get their attention\nAnd if you don’t then no one’s gonna listen\nI know a few anti-capitalist rappers\nWhose activism consists of selling anti-capitalist\nRaps to their fans in fancy little packages\nWhile ranting about how rap is cash-obsessed\nTry to not give yourself an aneurism\nOr get your panties twisted, just ‘cause your angst-ridden\nAnti-business existentialism\nIs just a strategy to get more fans to listen\nIt’s like a jungle sometimes\nIt makes me wonder\nHow I keep from goin' under\nIt’s like a jungle sometimes\nIt makes me wonder\nHow I feed my growin' hunger\nYou’re gonna make a lotta mistakes\nIt’s okay, you take a hit, you switch lanes\nCompetition is extreme\nTo get ahead you gotta switch\nEvery record gets the fans it deserves\nHip-hop is a business first\nYou wanna make a difference? Word\nThen go find yourself some customers\nA couple artists will hate this for sure\nAnd say «success is just a curse»\nSour grapes get squished to syrup\nC’mon, don’t shoot the messenger\nHip-hop started in the streets\nAnd then it spawned a whole industry\nSorry if I’m bein' indiscrete\nBut I’m in it for the spinach and it isn’t just me\nSo if your songs are interest-free\nThen I doubt they’re gonna interest me\nIntegrity makes you poor? Interesting…\nI pay for things that impress me\nIt’s like a jungle sometimes\nIt makes me wonder\nHow I keep from goin' under\nIt’s like a jungle sometimes\nIt makes me wonder\nHow I feed my growin' hunger\nYou’re gonna make a lotta mistakes\nIt’s okay, you take a hit, you switch lanes\nCompetition is extreme\nTo get ahead you gotta switch\nRappers are crabs in a bucket, just ask ‘em\nThey’re stuck with a tiny fanbase that happens to love it\nBut they can’t expand it without angering someone\nI couldn’t handle that, man, I had to do somethin'\nHere’s a business plan for you: self-promote\nAnd grab onto some driftwood to help you float\nAnd when you got enough, built yourself a boat\nAnd fill it with like-minded folks to help you row\nYou got two choices, you do it yourself\nOr you find somebody else with a use for your skills\nYou take the red pill or blue pill\nMost businesses do fail, but you don’t think you will?\nI’m not tryin' to say you ain’t different\nBut it takes creativity to change directions real quick\nAnd go where the competition ain’t headed\nSo if you get stuck in a single lane, switch it\nIt’s like a jungle sometimes\nIt makes me wonder\nHow I keep from goin' under\nIt’s like a jungle sometimes\nIt makes me wonder\nHow I feed my growin' hunger\nYou’re gonna make a lotta mistakes\nIt’s okay, you take a hit, you switch lanes\nCompetition is extreme\nTo get ahead you gotta switch