[Intro: Nate Ruess]
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
[Verse 1: Black Thought]
Ayo mugshot, gun shot, dope shot, jump shot
Take your pick, but you only get one shot
Advice from a schoolteacher to a young tot
Applyin' a sticker to his Spiderman lunchbox
When even role models tell us we're born to be felons
We're never gettin' into Harvard or Carnegie Mellon
And we gon' end up either robbin' somebody or killin'
It's not fair, that's all they can tell us
That's why I hustle hella hard, never celebrate a holiday
That'll be the day I coulda finally hit the lottery
I refuse to ever lose or throw my shot away
Or chalk it up as just another one that got away
So I'm unapologetic, I'm on my calisthenics
If I have given it all I got, I cannot regret it
My point of destination's different from where I was headed
Cause I'ma shoot for the stars to get it
One shot
[Hook: Black Thought]
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
Yo I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
No, I'm not throwin' away my shot
Yo I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
[Verse 2: Joell Ortiz]
When opportunity knock, you don't send anyone to get it
Answer the door, welcome it, let it in, or regret it
They said if you can't beat 'em, you join 'em, I say forget it
Cause once you join 'em you're buildin' a ceilin' the way you headed
Be American, express how you feel and take the credit
Don't settle for 87, go premium unleaded
And take off, shake all the hate off, it's over
It's they loss, the payoff's their weight off your shoulders
Must admit, I'm feelin', I'm kinda, I'm
Lighter as a writer with this fire and desire to go higher
Than a stealth fighter pilot with my eye on every prize
I surprise you guys, I'm a prize fighter
My nine to five describe your scribe, survive minor
Setbacks and take steps back from pied pipers
Be leaders, believers in yourself and mean it
I mean you only get one shot, take it or leave it
[Hook: Black Thought]
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
Yo I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
No, I'm not throwin' away my shot
Yo I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
[Bridge: Busta Rhymes]
Rise up
If you livin' on your knees, you rise up
Tell your brother that he's gotta rise up
Tell your sister that she's gotta rise up
When are folks like me and you gonna rise up
Every city, every hood, we need to rise up
All my soldiers (what's good) we need to wise up
We ain't got no other choice, we need to wise up
Rise up
[Verse 3: Busta Rhymes]
Throughout my travels and journeys through life
I've been searchin' and been learnin'
To be the type of person that display how determined
I get when I'm certain, inside I feel the fire that's burnin'
Like a knife that is turnin', I fight while I'm hurtin'
Sometimes they're right cause life is a burden
Like the pain from a bite that'll worsen
Tryna stifle the light that'll shine on me first and
Before I ride in a hearse and
My breathing stops and
You'll never take my one shot I got 'fore I lie in the earth and
Now I come again holdin' that Hamilton Hercules Mulligan
Readin' in Vanity Fair or the Huffington
Done with the sufferin', we in the guts again, family rushin' in
Wonder where Busta been, feelin' the hunger and feedin' the lust to win
See I've been patiently waitin' for this moment
To rise up again, that's the way I was molded
And as the last one standin' as the rest of them foldin'
Give me my one chance to grab the torch and properly hold it
[Hook: Black Thought]
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
Ayo I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
No, I'm not throwin' away my shot
Ayo I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
Ayo I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
No, I'm not throwin' away my shot
Ayo I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
It's time to take a shot
[Outro: Nate Ruess]
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
My Shot (Rise Up Remix) Lyrics performed by The Roots are property and copyright of the authors, artists and labels. You should note that My Shot (Rise Up Remix) Lyrics performed by The Roots is only provided for educational purposes only and if you like the song you should buy the CD