mama told me
Tryna follow my intuition as I’m on this million dollar mission
Mama told me I was special, thank God I listened
My environment never let me be a pretender
Similar interest with them dope boys but I was different
The hoop dreaming lonely child, hung around Hyde Park, Chatham and the Stony Isle
Pimps, players, gang wars, living in a lonely town
Who can I relate to?
Feeling like the Golden child, Chi city culture
Full of pain, full of soul singers
Dead bodies in our rivers but their souls linger
A young black man living with unrealistic dreams
But luckily I’ve seen some unrealistic things
A child from the city took the good route
Always fit in and always stood out, complex
Layered, rather show you than say it
Though I know my greatness is always understated
Mama working 12 hours days on her feet
Coming home, cooking dinner, made her son wanna weep
My step father working while I’m zoning the beats
Meanwhile my biological was roaming the streets
Tryna be an entertainer, but my heart held love, no anger
He out there tryna be a singer
I guess this just the life I was made for
Mama told me I was special
Mama told me I was special
Mama told me I was special
Gotta love her for that (yeah)
Mama told me I was special
Mama told me I was special
Mama told me I was special
Gotta love her for that (yeah)
Yeah, truly yours, J. Cole
My mama coulda been a movie star
You know like Judy Garland
I went to St. Johns, I coulda went to Juliard
Cause my beautiful mind mixed with my musical bond
Deep as a funeral line, dawg, I get it from my mama
I used to be embarrassed getting picked up in that Honda
Thought my niggas might play me if they found out that my mama was a white lady
So like gravy, had to cover that
Plus my older brother black but he look white
In an all black school, picture what that look like
No wonder he was under-achieving, not believing in himself
Coming home, just be keeping to himself
Looking back through the silence, he was screaming out for help
Maybe this verse can find the words to get the demons out himself
So yeah, I’m exercising
Right now my record climbing, I’m sort of a stair master
Niggas got there faster, I took the long route, I never been a scared rapper
Boy this ain't Fear Factor, they tell me can you hear the wrath spilling out these paragraphs
Made the world clear a path
Bet I’ll be on top from now till the hereafter
I'm special, mama told me I was special
Mama told me I was special
You know I love her for that
That's right, I’m special
Mama told me I was special
Mama told me I was special
You know I love her for that
You know I love her for that
Tell me, whats the marketing plan for realness?
What’s the demographic target audience for brilliance?
What's the first week numbers for my inspiration?
Who can A&R this passion and this dedication
Name: Omen
This ain't a verse, this a revelation
We need some more Sanaa Lathan’s in our population
I’m meeting women I would never date
The kind that say they want a marriage, but they really want a wedding day
I’m seeing groupies tryna act like they don’t notice me
But the writings on the wall call it hoetry
Desire calls, but that's not what my focus be
Music’s forever my lady unlike Jodeci
See when a leader's speaking, you should simply follow suit
I stay in the zone like it’s college hoops, let me show you how to shoot
You know aim for the goal, these are just the chronicles
They're calling me the Honorable, though I am not no Muslim
I’m finna blow like woodwinds, tricky like a good sin
I’m something you’ve mistooken, mistaked him for fakeness
Haters don’t know what you facing
Oh goodness, oh gracious
They looking at greatness
I was special, mama told me I was special
Mama told me I was special
Gotta love her for that (yeah)
Mama told me I was special
Mama told me I was special
Mama told me I was special
Gotta love her for that (yeah)
Gotta love her for that (yeah)
Gotta love her for that (yeah)
Gotta love her for that
Gotta love her for that (yeah)
Gotta love her for that (yeah)
Mama told me I was special