FAKE SMILES

Life is a balance
For every up there is a down
And being born is accepting to try and win the challenge
To win the challenge you've gotta get the advantage early
I used to get so lit
One day it burned me
Remembering all the moments and racist encounters
Chilling on counters
I tried my best not to be a downer
Until my homie told me his experience with growing up
We grew up the same
Noticing racism showing up
The couldn't say his name
Asking me why I didn't have an African name
As if they would've managed with that
I kind of wish I knew some more about my family's past
Then I would fit in
Everywhere I go I'm feeling different
I'm too black for the whites
And too white for the blacks
I'm too rich for the poor
And too poor to be privileged
And when I opened my ears
And listened to what they were really saying my life shifted

I give 'em fake smiles
Fake smiles
I give 'em fake
Smiles
Fake smiles
And I'm just hoping fate smiles
On me

She said
Life ain't been easy
No matter how it seems
Carried around a broken heart since early teens
Kept her circle so small that it was barely a ring
Said she learned history from Neon Dreams
I was barely 16 lashing out with my pen on various pages
The pain hits different when hitting various ages
From naivite
To cynicism
We call it growth
Hiding from the fact loneliness don't benefit us
We got Instagram
And lost the bigger picture
You're only cool if somebody chillin' with you
Split the pain around
Told me her experience with the world around
Really broken 'cause she living in it
She started smoking
Knowing that the higher she gets on that swisher
She'd ball out like she flying through nets
She wants to be the president but see, the hierarchy's set
And now she's at the bottom high on regrets

But she give 'em fake smiles
Fake smiles
Nah she give 'em fake
Smiles
She give 'em fake smiles
And she just hoping fate smiles
On us

Smile
Smile
Smile
Smile