Ayo Mugshot, Gunshot, Dope Shot, Jump Shot Take a pick but you only get one shot Advice from a school teacher to a young top Applying a sticker to a Spider-Man lunchbox When even role models tell us we're born to be felons We're never getting into Harvard or Carnegie Mellon And we gon' end up either robbing somebody or killing It's not fair, that's all they can tell us That's why I hustle hella hard and never celebrate a holiday That'd be the day I could've finally hit the lottery I refuse to ever lose or throw my shot away Or chalk it up in just another one that got away So I'm unapologetic, I want my calisthenics If I had given it all I got, I cannot regret it My point of destination's different from where I was headed Cuz imma shoot for the stars to get it 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 Yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy, and hungry And I'm not throwin' away my shot 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 Cuz once you join em, you're buildin' a ceiling to where you headed Be American, express how you feel and take the credit Don't settle for 87, go premium, unletter them Take off, shake all the hate off, it's over And stay lost, the payoffs, they're weight off your shoulders Must admit, I'm feelin' um, kinda um 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 nana, five described as scribes of five minor Set backs 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 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 Yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy, and hungry And I'm not throwin' away my shot 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 the folks like me and you gonna rise up Every city, every hood, we need to rise up All my soldiers, we need to rise up We ain't got no other choice, we need to rise up, rise up Throughout my travels and journeys through life I've been searchin' and been learnin' to be the type of person To display, I determine, I get when I'm certain Inside, I feel that fire that's burnin' Like a knife that is turnin', I fight what I'm hurtin' Sometimes they're right, cause life is a burden Like the pain from a bite that'll worsen Tryin' to stifle the light that'll shine on me first And before I rot and I hearsen, my breathin' stops And never take my one shot, I got four, I lie on the earth And now I come again, holdin' down Hamilton, Hercules, Mulligan Readin' Infinity Field, a carpenter done with the sufferin' Me and the guts again, family rushin' And when the robust have been feelin' the hunger And feedin' the lust away 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's standin', as the rest of them foldin' Give me my one chance to grab the torch and properly hold it I said I'm not throwin' away my shot And yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy, I'm 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 And yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy, I'm 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 And yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy, I'm 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 And yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young, scrappy, I'm hungry And I'm not throwin' away my shot It's time to take a shot Woah, woah Woah, woah Woah, woah Woah, woah