Kendrick Lamar – Imagine lyrics

[Verse 1: K. Dot]
I sit on the studio couch
Ask myself, "what the fuck am I thinking about?"
Thinking 'bout living without the past and the present
A Dr. Dre record, imagine, I drift off, 600 seconds
10 minutes exact, letting my mind explore
K. Dot had turned Curious George
You know, off the hardship is what I'm curious for
Like what if Pac had never looked left to holla at broads?
Before he turned right to get them shots through the door?
They say Suge did it, but he was in emergency clinic
So he'd risk his own life to get someone else killed
But in the process, get injured, it don't make sense
It's like the Da Vinci Code, trying to solve the crime of these rap souls
What if B.I.G. never did it big?
Never went to L.A., would it make a difference in them bullet-holes?
Would it make my flow more persistent?
Would it raise up the bar of competition? Who knows
Who told Nastradamus baby momma was fucking with HOV?
Would the battle be less interesting if it wasn't personal?
If Jay wasn't intimate, there'd probably be less people listening
People thinking it's a publicity stunt
What if he partnered with Jay and still didn't blow?
Hip-hop would really be fucked
Something like Milli Vanilli
Nothing different, quite similar
Filling up my mind capacity
Thinking about Martin Luther, on the balcony
What if the shooter-
Better yet, what if Malcolm on the side?
Killed two birds with one stone, both would've died
Now let's rewind
[Chorus: D'Angelo]
Before we go, can you imagine?
Picture years with your mom
Can you imagine?
Hang her picture in the sky
Can you imagine?
Call emergency, I've been dreamin' all my life

[Verse 2: Jay Rock]
Imagine if Tookie was a Blood? Look, no disrespect
But would there be more Bloods than Crips sets?
Dominating the population of
L.A., Orange County, the Valley, and back up to the bay?
Matter fact, imagine if we didn't really start this gangster shit
Y'all wouldn't have nothin' to spit
No drive-bys, no flags stickin' out pockets
No N.W.A. dudes, just rappin' like Cre Cru
Imagine if Mike Concepcion walked on his own two
Feet no paralyzed, would he be alive?
Or would he been lost his life to the streets?
No match, no cars in that driveway
What if Freeway Rick never was a kingpin?
On this L.A. strip, would these rap niggas use his name?
Nah, what if rap niggas never had rap?
Would they try to fall back on this drug game?
These rappers ass backwards
Now these rappers getting caught with the cocaine
But to smoke, not to slang
Imagine that people not knowing these rap niggas insane
Just think about it
[Chorus: D'Angelo]
Before we go, can you imagine?
Picture years with your mom
Can you imagine?
Hang her picture in the sky
Can you imagine?
Call emergency, I've been dreamin' all my life

[Verse 3: Punch]
Imagine life without death, would you even feel alive?
Your people that passed, what if they never died?
Imagine seeing your mom cry, tears of happiness
Knowing her son safe, and she ain't lose him to this madness
The street living, what if the crack epidemic
Never reached the projects and destroyed our buildings?
Turned most of us to killers, innocent victims
Imagine if heroin didn't affect our system
They say drug money funding the labels today
What about the drug money that's funding the C.I.A.?
Imagine if they really tried to fix these streets
Would they start in the hood, or executive suites?
Where the real criminals meet, and principals beef with me
You could possibly live without heat
Imagine if Al Gore had won that election
Would the Twin Tower buildings still stand erected?
Imagine the penal system without witness protection
Would there be these many cowards on the stand telling?
I don't know, I'm just speaking my mind
Lost in my own soul, Just press rewind and imagine
(Training day, training day)