Smile

Smile (Explicit) - Jay-Z/Gloria Carter

Written by：Shawn Carter/Dion Wilson/Stevie Wonder

Good morn' or evening friends

Smile you recordin'

Slammin' Bentley doors like we invented doors

20 years ago we drove Bentley Azures

We drinkin' Cristal in yeah

Kept the trey on me like Chris Paulin'

Drinkin' Ace of Spade like it's codeine now

Tryna put a million on the whole team now

Push through the pain so we can see new life

So all the ladies havin' babies see a sacrifice

Mama had four kids but she's a lesbian

Had to pretend so long that she's a thespian

Had to hide in the closet so she medicate

Society shame and the pain was too much to take

Cried tears of joy when you fell in love

Don't matter to me if it's a him or her

I just wanna see you smile through all the hate

Marie Antoinette baby let 'em eat cake

Bad times turn to good memories smile

Even when I'm gone and you remember me smile

Good times never fade away smile

Even if I'm not with you here today smile

Good morn' or evening friends

Smile

Here's your friendly announcer

Smile

Far as draft picks my name did not get called

Bet before I go I put a billion on the board

Hall of Fame Hov I did it all without a pen

Y'all knew that was comin' I had to remind y'all again huh

Flyin' paper planes through the projects

Now the whole projects on my jet

Now you see the real in the front row

In every one of y'all televised shows

Super facts

Niggas switched sides traded pride we don't do all that

A loss ain't a loss it's a lesson

Appreciate the pain as a blessin'

Bad times turn to good memories smile

Even when I'm gone and you remember me smile

Good times never fade away smile

Even if I'm not with you here today smile

Good morn' or evening friends

I mastered my aesthetics

I know you often heard me wax poetic 'bout bein' back in the Lexus

But trust me that was nothin'

A nigga up in the hundreds of millions

I have no ceilings ah this that feelin' I'm that boy

Anita Baker's You Bring Me Joy

Slappin' out of the toy the separation is clear

In my rearview mirror objects is further than they appear

Oh yeah I was born with a pair

Playin' for high stakes

Norman Cake he lookin' out of the Lear

How niggas can't relate

F**k a slice of the apple pie want my own cake

Chargin' my own fate

Respect Jimmy Iovine

But he gotta respect the Elohim as a whole new regime

And niggas playin' for power huh

Say our music is ours

Niggas only own houses

Ours was f**k you pay me

Now it's f**k payin' me I pay you

Put the rest away for Blue

That blood money I giggle at it

Can even support my miss' habit

Jewelry shoppin' in Paris

All y'all jewelers should be embarrassed huh

Blood diamonds drippin' we cute

I still ain't trippin' that's life winners and losers

Drug dealers and abusers America like me ruthless

My therapist said I relapsed

I said Prehaps I Freudian slipped in European whips

God sent me to break the chain

I'm the true and livin'

God in the flesh the rest of these niggas is vain

A stain on the white suit inferior IQ

Niggas'll rip your shit off TIDAL just to spite you

Ahhhh what did I do

'Cept try to free you

Niggas'll love you but hate you 'cause they can't be you

Dump 'em all in the bayou uh

Everybody wave bye to the guy you thought you could lie to

This was meant to be a haiku huh

But my story's too wide to fit inside the line

And too old these that drugs

Heroin flow I spaz on the stove

This is Hov no flex zone nigga who lied to you

Look you a pedestrian

Don't ever question the security I provided you

Oh y'all thought I was washed

I'm at the cleaners

Launderin' dirty money like the teamsters huh

Shout out to Hoffa back home he in the church

When I heard you got booked that shit hurt

Fear for you bro we know the system don't work

Take a young nigga freedom over some dirt

Yet it's legal in Colorado

Yeah we deny

Black entrepreneurs free enterprise

That's why it's a black market that's why it's called the trap

That's why it's called the project 'cause it's exactly that

All these people was gon' kill me heh

'Cause the more I reveal me the more they 'fraid of the real me

Welcome back Carter smile

Living in the shadow

Can you imagine what kind of life it is to live

In the shadows people see you as happy and free

Because that's what you want them to see

Living two lives happy but not free

You live in the shadows for fear of someone hurting

Your family or the person you love

The world is changing and they say it's time to be free

But you live with the fear of just being me

Living in the shadow feels like the safe place to be

No harm for them no harm for me

But life is short and it's time to be free

Love who you love because life isn't guaranteed

Smile