ink dont bleed
Some got hits about the racks that they earn
Say there's Benjamins and Jacksons in their pockets to burn
But when they shoot the video, producers pass around a bucket
Full of rented jewelry for them to rock and return
I know a straight edge rapper who acts like a sheep herder
A vegan on the mic whose screaming that meats murder
But when everybody's sleeping he be creeping
Slugging back the whiskey
Hating himself and sneaking a cheeseburger
There's a pop idol at the top of the charts
And when her records being cut she's on the beach in St. Barts
While a session singer who didn't have the face to make it
Signs a nondisclosure agreement and belts out her parts
It's hard, 'cause I got bars that are big uppin' Woody Allen
But maybe he's a predator whose diggin' in his talons
There's a balance and often I don't know how to feel
In a fake and tainted world seek the real
Now, I can't change the past, but a man's gotta man up
It's hard to believe; sometimes, I get the best of me
Now, I'm doing what I can, but I'm a man, not a damn chump
I can say it if you need, but I'd rather let the ink bleed
We dismiss our heroes' skeletons, no matter how grim
My fans saying "I'd be honored to be injured by him"
Well, fam, this branch is thin, but I'll go out on a limb
To say she didn't love her ulna poking out of her skin
Being pumped full of morphine and tied to machines
They cut off my jeans; I heard her in the ambulance scream
She's in school to do tattoos and mighta had nerve damage
So I could have cost a girl a chance at her dream
Meanwhile, he pops painkillers until the dude is numb
Knew I was a stupidass, just not that I'm a ruthless one
Youth is easily influenced
So should you be rooting for me if I touch a thousand lives
But on the way I ruin some?
The rule of thumb is "all publicity is your advantage"
But human lives are not collateral damage
Bandage the wounded then vanish
Blank as the newest of canvases
When they zoom in the cameras, give them the truth
Now, I can't change the past, but a man's gotta man up
It's hard to believe; sometimes, I get the best of me
Now, I'm doing what I can, but I'm a man, not a damn chump
I can say it if you need, but I'd rather let the ink bleed
Megachurch leaders sleeping with male hookers
Mayors hitting crack pipes with their cookers
Each week a crooked politician gets caught
We're not shocked when they're cheaters
These days, we're shocked when they're not
Are they the person you thought if they're perfect and hot?
Often, we blame the victim; scoff
And "they deserve what they got"
Actors sweep it under the rug and resume with the plot
But they're amateurs and we can see the boom in the shot
If perception is reality then this could be a shocker
I've done my share of fucked up things that didn't get on Gawker
Lots of tiny indiscretions way beyond the public eye
That if you saw would probably out me as a complicated guy
Mike says you got to separate the person from the art
But if the art's about that person, you can't pull them apart
So you better watch the choices that you're making now because
They aren't something that matter; they're the only thing that does
Everything they say conflicts with everything I do
But I must admit I did it so I guess it might be true
Everything they say conflicts with everything I do
But I must admit I did it so I guess it might be true
Everything they say conflicts with everything I do
But I must admit I did it so I guess it might be true
Everything they say conflicts with everything I do
But I must admit I did it so I guess it might be true