Lyrical Breakdown of When The Music Stops - A Journey through Words and Rhymes

Music, reality: sometimes it's hard to tell the difference

But we as entertainers have a responsibility to these kids

Psych!

If I were to die, murdered in cold blood tomorrow

Would you feel sorrow, show love, or would it matter?

Could never be the lead-off batter

If there ain't shit for me to feed off, I'm see-saw battlin'

But there's way too much at stake for me to be fake

There's too much on my plate

I done came way too far in this game to turn and walk away

And not say what I got to say

What the fuck you take me for, a joke? You smokin' crack?

'Fore I do that, I'd beg Mariah to take me back

I'll get up 'fore I get down, run myself in the ground

'Fore I put some wack shit out

I'm tryna smack this one out the park, five-thousand mark

Y'all steady tryna drown a shark

Ain't gon' do nothin' but piss me off

Lid to the can of whip-ass, just twist me off

See me leap out, pull a piece out

Fuck shootin', I'm just tryna knock his teeth out

Fuck with me now, bitch, let's see you freestyle

Talk is cheap

Motherfucker, if you really feelin' froggish, leap

Yo, Slim, you gon' let him get away with that?

He tried to play you, you can't let him escape with that

Man, I hate this crap

This ain't rap, this is crazy, the way we act

When we confuse hip-hop with real life when the music stops

Ain't no gettin' rid of McVay, if so, you would've tried

The only way I'm leavin' this bitch is suicide

I have died clinically

Arrived back at my enemy's crib with Hennessy

Got drunk then I finished him

I'm every nigga's favorite archenemy

Physically fitted to be the most dangerous nigga with beef

I spark willingly, with a Dillinger in the dark, diligently

I'm not what you think

I appear to be fucked up, mentally endangered

I can't stay away from a razor

I just want my face in a paper

I wish a nigga had a grenade to squeeze tight to

Awake neighbors for acres (Bah)

I'll murder you, I gauge and have me turn into

A mad man, Son of Sam, bitch, I'm surgical

I'm allergic to dyin', you think not?

You got balls? We can see how large, when the music stops

I was happy havin' a deal at first

Thought money would make me happy

But it only made my pain worse

It hurts when you see your friends turn their back on you, dawg

And you ain't got nothin' left but your word and your balls

And you're stressed from the calls of your new friends

Beggin' with their hands out

Checkin' for your record when it's sellin'

When it ain't, that's the end: no laughs, no friends

No girls, just the gin you drink 'til your car spin

You think, "Damn!" when you slam into the wall and you fall

Out the car and try to crawl with one arm

I'm 'bout to lose it all in a pool of alcohol

If my funeral's tomorrow, wonder would they even call?

When the music stops

Let's see how many of your men loyal

When I pull up lookin' for you with a pistol sippin' a can of Pennzoil

I'm revved up; who said what when lead bust?

Your head just explode with red stuff

I'm handcuffed, tossed in the paddy-wagon

Braggin' about how you shouted like a coward

Bullets devoured you, showered you niggas

If I was you niggas, I'd run while given a chance

Understand, I can enhance the spirit of man

Death itself, it can't hurt me

Just the thought of dyin' alone that really irks me

You ain't worthy to speak thoughts of cheap talk

Be smart and stop tryna walk how Gs walk before we spark

Hug the floor while we playin' tug-of-war wit' your life

Fuck a tour and a mic, I'd rather fuck a whore with a knife

Deliver that shit that coroners like

You hype poppin' shit in broad daylight, nigga,

You're a goner at night (When the music stops)

Instigators turn pits in cages

Let loose and bit the neighbors, wrist to razors

Y'all don't want war, y'all want talk

In the dark, my dogs all bark like, "Woof!"

Proof, nigga, I'm a wolf

Get your whole roof caved in like reindeer hooves

Stomp the booth, shake the floor tiles loose

The more y'all breathe, shit, the more I moves

It's Hill Street, this is hardcore blues

Put a gun to rap, check in all our dues, nigga

Or make the news, bet you all y'all move

When the Uzi pop, you better drop when the music stop

Music has changed my life in so many ways

Brain's confused, been fucked since the 5th grade

LL told me to rock the bells

N.W.A said "Fuck tha Police," now I'm in jail

'93 was strictly R&B

Fucked up haircut, listened to Jodeci

Michael Jackson, who gon' tell me I ain't Mike?

Ass cheeks painted white, fuckin' Priscilla tonight

Flyin' down Sunset, smokin' crack

Transvestite in the front, Eddie Murphy in the back

M.O.P. had me grimy and gritty

Marilyn Manson, I dyed my hair blue and grew some titties

Ludacris told me to throw them bows

Now I'm in the hospital with a broken nose and a fractured elbow

Voices in my head, I'm goin' in shock

I'm reachin' for the Glock, but the music stops