Vintage

I lost one of my best friends
The reason I rhyme
When he died had me questioning the meaning of life
When I got the news I couldn't even cry
Was in shock for days
Didn't see you at the hospital
Your family felt a way
You called me and I didn't answer the phone
By the time I called you back, you were already gone
I was blind to the struggles you were going through
Was I the only one in the whole crew you never told the truth
I guess I'll never know
Why you didn't think that you could trust me more
And never let me know
I'm not mad at you, dog
Feel like I let you down
Maybe If I would've known more
I could've helped you out
But I loved you every minute
No amount of distance
Would ever make me wanna question our friendship
And that's what keeps me up at night
I hope you didn't die suffering
Or wondering why I wasn't by your side
So I shed these tears
Thought we'd have forever, but instead we only got 15 years
Together - and a tragic ending
To make myself feel better, gotta go back remembering
East 96th Street, bored with nothing to do
After school - 5 dudes crammed up in your room
Playing tunes and watching Rap City to pass the time
Half the time all we did was laugh until my ass was crying
At the time, you were the Mastermind
I would've never even tried to rhyme, if not for you and Design
You were the most gifted kid in the crew
You had a way with words that inspired me to wanna do it too
First time I spit, you could've laughed me out the room
My career as an emcee would've died before it even bloomed
But you told me keep writing, and put me on a track
I remember how proud I was when we played it back
After that, we were closer than brothers
Linked with Murdera, your cousin Roberto and a couple of others
Even with that shitty production
We had the game on lock in our minds
Nobody could tell us NOTHING
We'd spend hours in the lab on a Saturday night
Looking back, that's the most fun that I've had in my life
No matter what problems we had in life
We'd make time to rap and write
Cypher and laugh and fight about crap like
What we really need to do to get our asses signed
Or who's the best emcee in Tribe - Abstract or Phife
Those were classic times
I knew they couldn't last forever, but I still don't get why
The homie had to die
I just try to remember
That you taught me pain teaches us Survival Lessons
So I gotta keep pressing
Trying not to stress and always remember
That everything I do is in your memory

No matter how hard it gets, we'll be alright
The ups and downs of this see-saw ride
That we call life
Every minute I live is a minute that you didn't
So I live it to the limit, and dedicate it to Vintage
No matter how hard it gets, we'll be alright
the ups and downs of this see-saw ride
That we call life
Every day I wake up, is one that you didn't get to
But know I'll always love you and that we'll never forget you

You tried to leave us, but we won't let you
Vintage Forever
M-Squared Forever
We miss you, man