Believe in Yourself

I couldn’t have said it or written it better. Thank you, Eminem. Many of us have the same story regardless of race, ethnicity, environment, socioeconomic status, etc. We express and cope with our stories in different ways, but our stories are very similar. 

And I started from the bottom, Like a snowman, ground-up, Like round chuck...Sucker free, confidence high. Such a breeze when I pen rhymes. I just got that air about me like wind chimes. Another day in the life; Used to have to scrape to get by, Now my community's gated and I Made it and my neighbors say hi...But I still remember the days of Minimum wage for general labor...Adversity, if at first you don't succeed; Put your temper to more use 'Cause bein' broke's a poor excuse; That should only give you more fuel; Show 'em why you're you; Screw it, I'm lit, and that attitude I blew up on quick; That's why they call me firecracker; I grew up on WIC—wick, wick, wick—with a short fuse; I got some important news to report to Anyone who thought I was done: nah bitch, not quite; Spotlight's back on, got my faith, where's yours? Do you still believe in me? Didn't I give everything I had to give you to make you see? I'll never forget if you turn your back on me now And walk out, I will never let you live it down. I'll never quit, do you still believe in me?; Man, I know sometimes These thoughts can be harsh and cold as ice; To me they're just ink blots; I just fling 'em like slingshots and so precise...learned How to incorporate a curse...But sometimes I overdo it, but I just get so into it.

I was there consolin' you when no one knew it; When your situation showed no improvement; I was that door, you walked over to it; I'm the light at the end of tunnel. So people are always lookin' to me as they're goin' through it. When that tunnel vision is unclear Shit becomes too much to bear; Since "Cleanin' Out My Closet"; When I was havin' trouble with the snare; 

I'm that unrealistic prayer answered And I'ma get you jacked up like you're tryna fix a flat, When you struggle with despair...Started from the bottom like a snowman, Oh man, put that in your corncob pipe and smoke that; But my battery's low, I'ma need a boost in my pack And I know that I always got Proof at my back.

I called you "Proof" because I knew for a fact, My ace in the hole, homie, I'm callin' on you ‘Cause I think I'm slowly startin' to lose faith in it, so Give me that apron and mo–’Tyvation to go, Hussein with the flow; Fake fans left you two-faced at the show; Let heartbeats loop, produce hate in my soul...But it's never too late to start a new beginnin'; That goes for you too, so what the f*** you gon' do? Use the tools you're given! Or you're gon' use the cards you're dealt As an excuse for you to not do shit with 'em? I used to play the loser/victim ‘Til I saw the way Proof was driven.

I found my vehicle and I haven't ran out of gas yet; And when they stacked decks, turn handicaps into assets...in my younger days That dream was so much fun to chase; It's like I'd run in place While this shit dangled in front of my face. But how do you keep up the pace And the hunger pangs once you've won the race? When that dual exhaust is coolin' off ‘Cause you don't got nothin' left to prove at all Cause you done already hit 'em with the coup de grâce.

Songwriters: Marshall Mathers, Luis Resto, Mark Baston, Mike Strange