Rap's Most Motivational Songs

From Eminem's "Lose Yourself" to Kendrick Lamar's "Backseat Freestyle" to Meek Mill's "Dreams and Nightmares," these are rap's most motivational songs.

Rap's Most Motivational Songs
Image via Getty/Graham Denholm

Every interpretation of music is subjective, and people are motivated by different things, so there is no single way to define a “motivational” hip-hop song . You just know one when it smacks you upside the head. You know the ones that get you hyped, and the ones that make you move.

There are certain tracks —songs like “Dreams and Nightmares” and “Knuck If You Buck”— that are motivational to the extent that, if played at a specific volume with a particular group of individuals, can convince you to commit violence against another person. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there are uplifting hymns like “Keep Ya Head Up,” “Ultralight Beam,” and “Love Yourz,” which inspire by radiating hope and positivity. Somewhere in the middle lies rags-to-riches classics (see “C.R.E.A.M,” “Juicy,” “Exhibit C”) that are inspirational largely because they tell tales of young men fighting their way out of poverty by any means necessary.

Then there is the top tier of motivational rap songs, which is made up of tracks that embody qualities similar to the aforementioned group but share an unmistakable identity. Banger isn’t the word; anthem, more like. An anthem is like a banger or slapper, in that it’s carried by the type of production that’ll have your group of friends throwing bows in the club like Disturbing the Peace circa 2000, only it doubles as gospel. 

There aren’t many musical experiences more beautiful than when a rapper waxes poetic over an earth-shattering beat—a core tenant of all anthems. While not every rap song that inspires is necessarily an anthem, all anthems are inspirational, so it’s hardly surprising that our canon of all-time great motivational hip-hop songs is chock-full of them. Think Eminem’s iconic “Lose Yourself.”

Cue up the theme music to Rocky, and let’s get to it.


Rap's Most Motivational Songs

Meek Mill, "Dreams and Nightmares (Intro)” (2012)

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Album: Dreams and Nightmares

Producer: The Beat Bully

Ever since his early days as a teenager freestyling on the street corners of Philadelphia, Meek Mill has embodied his hometown’s underdog spirit. It’s hardly surprising, then, that the opening statement of his 2012 debut album, Dreams and Nightmares, plays like the theme from Rocky (only more urgent and menacing). It starts with Meek wide-eyed, earnestly reflecting on his newfound fame. Then it shifts. The somber piano chords give way to haunting production, Meek starts rapping for his life, and the song transforms into a "Nobody Believes In Us" manifesto. The second half is a mixture of pain and struggle, frustration and desperation. More than anything, though, it’s a snapshot of a hungry 25-year-old who waited too long for this moment to waste it for even a second. —Brad Callas

50 Cent, "Hustler's Ambition" (2005)

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Album: Get Rich or Die Tryin': Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture

Producer: C. Styles & Sire

50 Cent’s come-up was mythical: After getting shot nine times outside of his grandmother’s home, he was dropped from Columbia and blacklisted from the industry. He recorded song after song after song in a Queens basement and got hot on the mixtape circuit. One tape landed in the hands of the biggest rapper alive, Eminem, who invited him to come to Los Angeles and meet Dr. Dre. After signing a million-dollar record deal, he scored the biggest opening-week hip-hop debut of all time with his first proper studio album, 2003’s Get Rich or Die Tryin'.

By the end of 2005, though, Fiddy was coming off his second straight No. 1 album, The Massacre, which hit shelves in March of that year. He hadn’t lost his hunger, which he made apparent on the soundtrack for the loose biopic, Get Rich or Die Tryin'. While “Window Shopper” was, and still is, the most popular track on the project, opening cut “Hustler’s Ambition” doubles as the unofficial theme song for 50’s rags-to-riches story. —Brad Callas

Kanye West, "Can't Tell Me Nothing" (2007)

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Album: Graduation

Producer: Kanye West, DJ Toomp

Anybody who's trying rise to the top is going to face adversity, but what better middle finger is there than obnoxiously reciting "Can't Tell Me Nothing" at the top of your lungs? The Graduation cut was the mission statement that solidified Kanye's status as a decade-defining artist. Going to a job interview? Getting ready for that big game? Trying to get on that bus without using your Metrocard? Just blast this song, because there's almost no retort for a man that almost prophetically says, "Can't Tell Me Nothing." Bring a Metrocard just in case, though. —Brian Josephs

Eminem, "Lose Yourself" (2002)

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Album: 8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture

Producer: Luis Resto, Jeff Bass & Eminem

In October 2002, the last thing Eminem needed was a hit; he already had plenty of those. By then, he had become one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, thanks to his latest album, The Eminem Show, which had already sold 6.7 million copies domestically (more than any other rapper has in any one year) on the strength of massive singles "Without Me" and "Cleanin' Out My Closet," which peaked at No. 2 and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. And yet, his greatest achievement came later that year, with the release of "Lose Yourself," the first single to 8 Mile’s soundtrack.

Has a rapper ever sounded this hungry? Ever the underdog, Eminem manages to convince listeners he’s still a struggling MC trying to make it. When he raps "Success is my only motherfucking option, failure’s not," you practically forget he’s a mega-star who is years removed from this reality. Seventeen years on, "Lose Yourself" remains one of his biggest hits—the moment when he was at his absolute apex. —Brad Callas

Jay Rock, "Win" (2018)

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Album: Redemption

Producer: CT & Boi-1-da

If you aren’t familiar with Jay Rock's journey, it’s easy to chalk up "Win" as nothing more than a conventional banger. Boi-1-da's triumphant horn loop is a little too on the nose, while the repetitive hook ("Win, win, win, win") isn't the most creative thing in the world. That being said, the song takes on a new meaning when you consider the narrative surrounding his latest album, Redemption: Two years before its release, Jay was involved in a near-fatal motorcycle accident—on the night of the 2016 Grammys, no less—which left him with a broken leg and a cracked pelvis.

For the 31-year-old rapper who went from being the face of TDE (as its first signee back in 2005) to, at best, third banana behind Kendrick and Schoolboy Q, this was his second chance. And with it, Jay, now 33, blessed the rap game with Redemption and punctuated the best album of his career with an anthemic banger that speaks to anyone who is struggling to fulfill their dreams. —Brad Callas

Kids See Ghosts, "Reborn" (2018)

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Album: Kids See Ghosts

Producer: Benny Blanco, E*Vax, Plain Pat, Dot Da Genius & Kid Cudi

Arriving one week after Kanye West’s uneven, 23-minute album, Ye, Kids See Ghosts served as a refreshing reminder that the old Kanye still exists somewhere inside his MAGA hat-wearing clone. Never was this more apparent than on the album’s emotional centerpiece, "Reborn." 

Superior to any song on Ye, the track finds Cudi and Kanye reflecting on their struggles with mental illness. While the former is responsible for the record’s inspirational, therapeutic hook—which he delivers in his signature hum, singing, "I'm so reborn/I’m movin' forward—the latter’s performance resonated on a deeper level. For the first time since his TMZ meltdown nearly two months earlier, Kanye sounded undisturbed, at peace even, as he opened one of his strongest verses in recent years, rapping, "I was off the chain, I was often drained/I was off the meds, I was called insane/What a awesome thing, engulfed in shame." —Brad Callas

Drake, "Tuscan Leather" (2013)

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Album: Nothing Was The Same

Producer: Noah "40" Shebib

How do you follow one of the best album-openers in hip-hop history? Take a Whitney Houston sample, inject it with steroids cut from the same cloth as the chipmunk soul sound popularized in the early-2000s by Kanye, Just Blaze, and the Heatmakerz, and then rap as if your life depended on it for three consecutive verses. Nevertheless, Drake and 40 were able to top Take Care’s iconic opener with "Tuscan Leather," not only the best opening statement on any hip-hop album this decade but one of the best rap album intros, period.

It all starts with 40’s excellent production. While similar to the chirping vocal loops that the Harlem-bred Heatmakerz trademarked on the Diplomats’ "I’m Ready" and "I Really Mean It," 40 raises the stakes: sampling Whitney’s “I Have Nothing, speeding it up and reversing it, before flipping it three different times to create three distinct beats. Of course, production this monumental would’ve been all for naught if Drake hadn’t brought his A-game. And boy, did he ever. Drake matches every 40 switch-up with a completely different flow and mood. It all amounts to one of the best and, more importantly, most triumphant songs in Drake’s discography. —Brad Callas

The Diplomats, "I'm Ready" (2003)

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Album: Diplomatic Immunity

Producer: Heatmakerz

The Diplomats were practically kings back in the day but once in a while they'd drop some inspiration on us commoners. This was one of the crew's best and potentially their finest use of an inspiring sped-up soul sample. Just look at the long breaths Juelz, Jimmy, and Killa take in between verses. It's hard to get oxygen when you're at the top of the mountain. —Brian Josephs

Kendrick Lamar, "DNA" (2017)

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Album: DAMN.

Producer: Mike Will Made-It

In DAMN.’s context, “DNA.” is a triumph weighed by African ancestry, religious overtones, and societal pains. By itself, it’s a war cry. The track’s structure is the perfect motivational progression. Mike Will’s brooding production sets the Herculean stakes as Kendrick’s delivery—melodic and dead-eyed—carries an uphill determination. That pivot to that downhill sprint—where Geraldo Rivera’s assheadedness becomes a catapult—is one of 2017’s most visceral, come-to-God moments. The low end kicks in, the Rick James artillery strike commences, and Lamar’s end-times preaching takes over. Suddenly you’re alive again. —Brian Josephs

Puff Daddy f/ The Notorious B.I.G. & Busta Rhymes, "Victory" (1997)

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Album: No Way Out

Producer: The Hitmen

Biggie's appearance on "Victory" is one of the best career finishes in rap history. If the aggressive tone and impeccable delivery doesn't stir something up inside, the instant quotables will. The Black Frank White performs like Mike (all three of them), makes the wildest threats, and presents himself as "The Underboss of this Holocaust." It's the type of legendary shit that's contagious, which is probably why Diddy also spit some of the greatest rhymes of his life (his verses were penned by Jadakiss). "Victory" is also crucial by its instrumental alone. That Rocky sample is the very sound of triumph. Busta Rhymes also appears at the peak of his dreadlocked-madness on the hook. "Amped" isn't even the word to describe the feeling after listening to the whole thing. —Brian Josephs

Lil Wayne, "Money On My Mind" (2005)

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Album: Tha Carter II

Producer: The Runners, DJ Nasty & LVM

It's not enough to know that money is on Lil Wayne's mind. He has to tell you over, and over, and over, and remind everyone that he's a "self-made millionaire," punctuating the declaration with "fuck the public." You know that scene in Network, where everybody is yelling, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore"? "Money On My Mind" is kind of like that, except with more cocaine being sold and unrelenting demand to disregard females and, in turn, acquire currency. It's all very chaotic but oddly inspiring at the same time. You should want to step out the motherfuckin' car looking like a star, too. —Brian Josephs

Eminem f/ Nate Dogg, "Till I Collapse" (2002)

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Album: The Eminem Show

Producer: Eminem, Luis Resto, Jeff Bass

Eminem says that "music is like magic" in this song, and he's right. There's no science that can explain the chills up the spine when those drums come in. "Till I Collapse" gets the adrenaline pumping because Em is clearly ruthless in his desire to succeed, and that energy is transferred to the listener with ease. —Brian Josephs

Waka Flocka Flame, "Hard In Da Paint" (2010)

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Album: Flockaveli

Producer: Lex Luger

This song is dangerous when put into the wrong hands. This beat is the type that turns winters to summers, boys to men, and makes listeners lose their damn senses. When those horns come in, it's time to get ready for shit to go down. Lex Luger couldn't have captured a better sense of urgency and aggression. Use this one wisely. —Brian Josephs

LL Cool J, "Mama Said Knock You Out" (1990)

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Album: Mama Said Knock You Out

Producer: Marley Marl, Bobby "Bobcat" Ervin

Inspired by a conversation LL had with his grandmother after hip-hop fans thought he fell off with panned LP, Walking Like A Panther, "Mama" has gone on to become one of the great "comeback" songs in history. It's an underdog anthem coming from a rapper who was one at the time, and most notably, shows and proves when it comes to putting yourself back on top after a misstep. —Brian Josephs

50 Cent, "If I Can't" (2003)

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Album: Get Rich or Die Tryin'

Producer: Dr. Dre

50 Cent seemed invincible in 2003, because of his surrounding mythology and the success of Get Rich or Die Tryin'. "If I Can't" was 50 at his most bulletproof. A majority of us will never experience half the stuff 50 spits in this song, but when he's spitting lyrics like "You gon' be that next chump to end up in the trunk," you think about your opponents in any field. It's a powerful feeling. —Brian Josephs

Nas, "Hate Me Now" (1999)

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Album: I Am...

Producer: Pretty Boy, DJ Moet, Trackmasters

There are a few ways to approach hate: ignoring it, striking back, or embracing it. Nas chooses the latter. Escobar says hate him for the clothes; hate the fact he's one of the best rappers alive; hate the fact that he's critically acclaimed and sells records. He's just going to use that vitriol to make himself stronger. He doesn't rebuild. He reloads. —Brian Josephs

Young Jeezy f/ Kanye West, "Put On" (2008)

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Album: The Recession

Producer: Drumma Boy

"Put On" is an epic. This isn't just about you. This is for all the brothers in the struggle. This is about putting the city on your back. The very concept of having so much on the line is enough to give goosebumps. Call it thug motivation. —Brian Josephs

DJ Khaled f/ T-Pain, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross & Ludacris, "All I Do Is Win" (2010)

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Album: Victory

Producer: DJ Nasty & LVM

T-Pain is quietly the past decade's voice of victory. There's the celebratory hook on Kanye West's "Good Life," his role in the grandeur of Rick Ross' "The Boss," and his urgency on DJ Khaled's "Welcome to My Hood." What makes his role in "All I Do Is Win" so important is that he's the centerpiece in a very large circle of winners. "Win" is right there in the title. You have no choice but to get inspired. —Brian Josephs

Trillville, "Neva Eva" (2004)

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Album: The King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present: Trillville & Lil Scrappy

Producer: Lil Jon

There are four verses on this song and one line that really matters: "Get on my level, ho." That's all that's needed to start knocking heads. Trillville may not be all that relevant now, but this hook can still get any red-blooded human pumped. —Brian Josephs

2Pac, "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" (1996)

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Album: All Eyez on Me

Producer: Dat Nigga Daz

The archetypal ride-or-die song. When it came out in '96, "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" proved to be 2Pac's unfuckwitable zeitgeist statement. There are few other beats that can match the pure menace of those chords or the tension of that hovering synth. Then there's 2Pac sounding like a beast unleashed. He's unrepentant, unapologetic, but most importantly, unable to lose. This is the anthem that needs to be played from high noon to dawn. —Brian Josephs

Kendrick Lamar, "Backseat Freestyle" (2012)

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Album: good kid, m.A.A.d city

Producer: Hit-Boy

"Mercy." "Clique." "N****s in Paris." You could make a mixtape full of motivational music with just Hit-Boy beats, but there's just something about Kendrick Lamar spitting over that ominous vocal sample that lets you know it's time to step it up. Part of it is in those insanely over-the-top lyrics: "I pray my dick get big as the Eiffel Tower/So I can fuck the world for 72 hours." World domination is imminent when this record is blaring out of your headphones. —Brian Josephs

A$AP Ferg, "Work" (2012)

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Album: Lord$ Never Worry

Producer: Chinza/Fly

This guy raps about a girl sniffing cocaine off a gun and Celine Dion and the same breath and attributes all of it to the task of putting in work. Whatever you set out to do, approach it with some enthusiasm, and you'll be rewarded. Ferg knows this, and now, because of his hectic diatribe known as "Work," you do, too. —Brian Josephs

Young Gunz, "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" (2003)

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Album: Tough Luv

Producer: Darrel "Digga" Branch

Back in the early Aughts, people thought Roc-A-Fella would indeed last forever. "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" is the type of mantra that leads people to believe that. Things have obviously changed, but the track's core values—which are basically getting fresh and winning—are still crucial. —Brian Josephs

Drake f/ Lil Wayne, "The Motto" (2011)

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Album: Take Care

Producer: T-Minus

Lil Wayne's lime green moon boots in the video embody everything this song is about. You win by not giving a micron of a fuck. But even without the boots, "The Motto" was still anthemic. It became everyone's favorite excuse to be reckless all in the name of "Y.O.L.O." Lives were changed, mistakes were made, and champions were born because of this song. Drake got a double platinum hit and we got an ambition boosting banger. —Brian Josephs

Future, "March Madness" (2015)

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Album56 Nights

Producer: Tarentino

“I Serve the Base,” “Blow a Bag,” and literally anything from 56 Nights are worthy additions to this list. The core difference with “March Madness” is how it captures a bleak zeitgeist (“All these cops shooting niggas, tragic”) and turns it into something galvanizing and electrifying. When Future opens the track by chuckling, “Dress it up and make it real for me / Whatever that fuckin' means,” we’re throwing away societal woes for short-term liberation. The next four minutes do not disappoint: Future’s marble-mouthed delivery turns into something majestic over Tarentino’s starry production. It’s been two years since the song’s release and times are even darker, but “March Madness” is still an aural nitrous boost. —Brian Josephs

Mobb Deep, "Survival of the Fittest" (1995)

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AlbumThe Infamous

Producer: The Infamous Mobb Deep

Yes, the obvious choice is “Shook Ones (Part II).”  However, Prodigy’s classic opening verse requires you to drop what you’re doing and rap along with a snarl, launching P’s threats at no one in particular. The song isn’t a motivator to do a thing as much as it is the thing itself. “Survival of the Fittest” isn’t as iconic, but it’s about just an eighth of a notch below that anthem. The decrepit riff lurches forth as Prodigy delivers the status report, “There's a war goin' on outside no man is safe from.” Even with your mortality in mind, you go to war anyway. —Brian Josephs

Schoolboy Q f/ Vince Staples, "Ride Out" (2016)

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AlbumBlank Face LP

Producer: Sounwave

Schoolboy Q’s persona on Blank Face LP is a nervy shooter who’s aware he’s a product of the system. When he straight up ignores the latter, we get a gem like the Vince Staples-featuring “Ride Out.” Schoolboy Q putting riots on wax isn’t new territory for him, but this bypasses "Raymond 1969" and sprints right into cardiac serious territory. “Crips don't fuck with Crips oh now it's jeans that look like the rival team,” he raps, thirsting for violence. Even when the political climate requires rappers to say something to somehow absolve us, id still proves to be the best steroid. —Brian Josephs

Rae Sremmurd f/ Gucci Mane, "Black Beatles" (2016)

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Album: SremmLife 2

Producer: Mike WiLL Made-It

Swae Lee’s does deserve his due for his light-footed performance and money ad-libs (“Know meee!”), and Gucci Mane is a familial figure who doesn’t overstay his welcome. But much of the thrilling groundwork is lain by Mike Will Made-It’s production, which sounds like an N64 theme for a game’s water level retrofitted for stadiums. We’re well on the straightaway by the time we reach Slim Jxmmi’s anchor verse, where he barks about still having haters despite his newfound rockstar status. If Jxmmi is still grinding despite those haters, you ought to be able to as well. —Brian Josephs

The Carters, "BOSS" (2018)

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Album: The Carters

Producer: Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, Mike Dean, MeLo-X, Derek Dixie, Stuart White, Beyoncé, JAY-Z

Beyoncé and JAY-Z are notorious for telling us regular folks to level up. But “BOSS” shows that they refuse to lift that pressure whether we catch up or not. After Beyonce’s iconic Coachella performance, the Carters released their first collaborative project, Everything Is Love. But “BOSS” sounds like it should have been on Free TC, resembling its co-writer Ty Dolla Sign and his Jodeci type harmonies. Ty revealed that he wrote this track years ago, expecting for it to be on Lemonade, but Beyoncé and JAY-Z clearly had a better place for it. This track was a flex for all three of them, giving the world a vivid glimpse at the top. “BOSS” is a stern reminder that while you’re chilling, other people are working their way into a new tax bracket. —Kemet High

DJ Khaled f/ Nipsey Hussle & John Legend, "Higher" (2019)

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Album: Father of Asahd

Producer: DJ Khaled, Streetrunner, Tarik Azzouz

“Higher” is a song about overcoming obstacles, persevering, and progression. With that message in mind, it was only right that DJ Khaled recruited Nipsey Hussle and John Legend. Although the song is inspiring and uplifting, it is also bittersweet. The track serves as Nipsey Hussle’s first posthumous single, which was released nearly two months after the rapper was tragically killed outside of his Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles. In honor Nip’s life and legacy, Khaled dedicated “Higher” to his friend, saying, “The very title of the song reminds us that vibration on a ‘Higher’ level was the essence of Nipsey’s soul.” —Jessica McKinney

Drake, "9AM in Dallas" (2010)

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Album: Thank Me Later (promotional single)

Producer: Boi-1da

Drake is the king of loosies. In fact, he could probably drop another Care Package right now if he wanted to, and he even has an infamous catalog of time-stamped songs. Released as a promotional single for Thank Me Later, “9AM In Dallas” was the start of it all. Setting the pace for future stand-alones like “5AM in Toronto,” “4PM in Calabasas,” and “6PM In New York,” “9AM In Dallas” begins with some simple piano keys that are just enough to rope you in, but not enough to distract you if Drake came in with the wack bars. (He didn’t) 

Knowing that he would make it, Drake exudes a confidence that will have you going into overdrive to get your own life together. Manifestation is key, and songs like this will put that into perspective for anyone. “Scared for the first time, everything just clicked/What if I don't really do the numbers they predict?/ Considering the fact that I'm the one that they just picked/ To write a chapter in history, this shit has got me sick,” Drake raps. Word. —Kemet High

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