"Kick-Push II"
Lupe Fiasco Lyrics

Look at what we did
Reflecting on their progress and success

Came a long way from dirty ghetto kids
Acknowledging their humble beginnings and struggles to get to where they are now

Yeah, look at what we did
Repeating the sentiment from the first line

You know what it is, haha
Asserting that their audience knows and understands their journey

Well the cops didn't fine 'em for grindin', no
The artist was not punished for skateboarding in public

They kinda blew the vibe, figured it was time to go
The presence of the police ruined the atmosphere, so it was time to leave

Plus he had to be at home a long time ago
The singer had a curfew and needed to return home

And he had made like ten dollars off the sign he wrote
The artist made some money by writing a sign to ask for help

It's for my lil sister and her lil tummy
Explaining the purpose of the sign and the reason for needing money

Wasn't lying tho, he didn't go buy hydro
Contradicting any assumptions that he was going to buy drugs with the money

Went to the restaurant and bought two gyros
He used the money to buy food instead

'Cause he knew they wasn't cookin' where he live
The artist couldn't get the same food near where he lived

A lil hurt from the rail he took into the ribs
The singer got hurt from falling on the rail while skateboarding

Right pass the pushers who couldn't under dig
The drug dealers in the area didn't understand why the singer was skateboarding instead of buying drugs

What's the use of pushin'? You ain't pushin' none of this
The singer questions the purpose of pushing drugs and not pushing towards something meaningful

If I kick it with y'all I'm just pushin' for a bid
The artist rejects the lifestyle of drug dealing and doesn't want to be a part of it

But what was on his mind, and pushed him to the lid
The artist was motivated by the thought of the person he was helping

Their best customer wasn't cookin' for her kids
The person he was helping was in a difficult financial situation and couldn't afford to provide for her kids

Gets up to pump, so he
The singer gets up and starts to skate again

Kick, push
The artist starts skateboarding again, kicking and pushing off the ground

Over his shoulders he swore he'd never look
The artist doesn't want to dwell on the past and looks forward, not back

'Cause wasn't nothing back there, but the blackness
The past was dark and difficult, and the artist doesn't want to dwell on it

Life wasn't too attractive
The singer didn't have an easy life, and it wasn't very appealing

You see his mom was a crack head
The artist's mother had a drug addiction

And his father couldn't be contacted
The singer's father was absent from his life and couldn't be reached

He lived with being different, was combated
The singer faced discrimination for being different from others, but he persevered

Amongst the other things on his young, black head
There were many other issues and challenges the singer faced because of his race and age

And see his girl was a white girl
The artist's girlfriend was white

But just cause she was white, see her life wasn't light world
Despite her whiteness, the artist's girlfriend had her own challenges and struggles

She too had the drama thick
The singer's girlfriend had a lot of personal issues and drama going on

Had a daddy and a mama, but her daddy used to mama hit
The singer's girlfriend's father used to physically abuse her mother

Daddy caught something chasin' fatties, made her mama sick
The artist's girlfriend's father contracted an STD from having extramarital affairs, which made her mother sick

Couldn't afford the medicine, pimped her to the pharmacist
The artist's girlfriend's family couldn't afford medicine, so her mother had to sleep with the pharmacist in exchange for medicine

Had suicidal feelings, would ride
The artist's girlfriend had suicidal thoughts and found solace in skateboarding

Switch over the transition help her conquer it
Skateboarding helped the singer's girlfriend overcome her suicidal thoughts

Pays for mama's pills with a sponsorship
The artist's girlfriend uses her skateboarding sponsorship money to pay for her mother's medicine

Her cell phone bill and a Honda kit
The singer's girlfriend uses her sponsorship money to pay for her phone bill and a kit for her car

Uh huh, and that's why she skates with he
The singer's girlfriend skates with him because skateboarding is important to her and they share that passion

Someone to feel the pain and a place to be
The singer is someone the girlfriend can confide in and shares a sense of belonging with

A traveling band of misfits and outcasts
The artist and his friends are a group of people who don't fit in with mainstream society and feel like outsiders

Nod they heads from Misfits to Outkast
The group of friends showed appreciation and respect for artists who also felt like outsiders

A lot of scars, they did this without pads
The friends had physical and emotional scars from skateboarding, but continued to do it without proper protection

A lot of hearts who did this without dads
Some of the friends grew up without father figures, but still found a sense of community through skateboarding

One's father was filthy rich
One of the friends had a wealthy father

Two was middle class, and one was homeless
The rest of the friends came from different socio-economic backgrounds, and one was homeless

Add in the paralyzed girl in the wheelchair
One of the friends was paralyzed and used a wheelchair to move around

Who just liked to watch, and that was the whole clique
One of the friends could only watch them skate because of her disability, but the whole group included her and made her feel included

I think about 'em every time I see this old flick
The artist thinks about his friends every time he sees an old video of them skateboarding together

That was taken in the park in front of this old bench
The video was filmed in a park where there was an old bench

They wrote on the back, "You thank for push, kick
The friends wrote a message of appreciation and encouragement on the back of the video

Hope you make a video, the beat is so sick"
Encouraging the creation of more skateboarding videos and complimenting the music used in the current video

Well I did, I hope you seen it
The artist created another skateboarding video and hopes that his friends have seen it

It's on MTV, Soundtrakk's a genius
The new video was broadcasted on MTV, and the music producer Soundtrakk is praised for his talent

Love from Tony Hawk, beef from the Ice Creamaz
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk approves of the video, but there is some criticism from another group

Before we put it out, had to pay the Filipinas
There was a financial cost associated with releasing the video, which included paying some people from the Philippines beforehand

Just to show 'em how you
The artist wants to show others how to skateboard and what it means to him and his friends

Kick, push
The chorus is repeated to emphasize the importance of skateboarding and how it has impacted the artist's life

Over ya shoulders you swore you'd never look
The artist and his friends are focused on the present and future, not the past