No Way Out
R.I.A. Lyrics

I be on this road
I am on a journey towards success

Out the grind to riches we gotta shine before we run outta time it's critical bottom line
We must work hard to achieve success because time is limited and it's essential for our survival

Before I ever
Prior to making any decisions

Sign a line it's deeper than dollar signs
Success is more than just money

Remember them trying times
Reminiscing about past struggles

Thankful I still got my mind
Grateful for still having the ability to think and make decisions

I gotta be on power
I must be in control of my own life

99 Just hear me I gotta rhyme
I must be heard and express myself through music

For everything bout the times
For everything I have experienced in life

Can't stop gotta climb
I cannot give up, I must continue to climb towards success

Have you ever been slept on ya whole life
Have you ever been overlooked or undervalued your whole life?

And have you ever felt you can't do nothing right
Have you ever felt like you are incapable of doing anything correctly?

Have you ever been down to ya last
Have you ever been in a difficult financial situation?

Have you ever had to get ya son and you couldn't grab
Have you ever had to leave your child behind in a difficult situation?

Have you ever come from a family that's ripped apart
Have you ever come from a broken family?

Have you ever been traumatized broken in the heart
Have you ever gone through a traumatic experience that left you emotionally damaged?

And have you had a dad you just wish you never met
Did you ever have a father figure that you wish you never met?

And have you ever been basically chronically depressed
Have you ever experienced long-term depression?

Have you ever fell in love with a hoe
Have you ever loved someone who didn't love you back?

A little nigga had to learn I didn't know
A young person had to learn from their mistakes because they didn't know better

Have you been booked twice had a baby (be)fore you graduated high school
Have you been arrested multiple times and had a child before finishing high school?

Tell me have you wished you masturbated
Have you ever wished you made better decisions in life?

Have you ever had to work dead end jobs to live
Have you ever had to work low-paying jobs just to survive?

Feel like you wasting ya talent but ya talent bring no bread
Feeling like your talent is being wasted because it doesn't bring in any money

Have you ever lived in trenches and in the county
Have you ever lived in poverty and in a disadvantaged area?

Have they ever thought you had it easy now see
People who thought you had an easy life now realizing your struggles

Telling yall my real life
Sharing my real-life experiences

I still write real kites make em feel right
I still write music that is authentic and relates to my life experiences

I know what it feels like
I understand how it feels to go through tough times

The weed won't help if you never healed right
Smoking weed won't help if you don't deal with your emotional pain

But I gotta blow everyday to feel nice
I smoke weed every day to feel good and cope with my struggles

If you can't find a job only alternative is trap
If you can't find a job, the only alternative is to sell drugs

What kinda alternative is that
Selling drugs is not a real alternative to finding a job

Everybody ain't got this alternative to rap
Not everyone has the opportunity to pursue a career in music

And we gotta live it ain't no alternative to Black
We have to live our lives as Black people and there is no alternative

I got a grandmom up in heaven watching over me
I have a deceased grandmother who is looking out for me from heaven

And she forever my lady on my Jodeci
She will always be my lady and I will always honor her memory

And I guess she chillin where she really posed to be
I believe she is in a better place now

Mom Dee what I gotta do to make them notice me
Asking his deceased mother for guidance on how to become noticed in the music industry

I'm having a hard time I be miserable
I am currently struggling and feeling unhappy

And it ain't in my head this shit is physical
My struggles are not just in my head, they are affecting me physically

I barely graduated been fired from every job
I almost didn't graduate from high school and I have been fired from every job I've had

Bullshit with rap if you want but for me it's critical yeah
Some people don't take rap seriously, but for me, it's crucial to my survival