Perspective of real

So I moved out the hood, now I ain’t real no more?

Funny how you love the struggle till somebody beats the score.

I remember eating noodles, now I’m looking at a steak,

You mad because I changed my plate, like I was supposed to stay the same?

I ain’t switch, I just switched lanes, that’s progression,

You call it acting different, I call that self-correction.

Same blood, same scars, same pain underneath,

Just because I got a better crib don’t mean I forgot the street.

I came from where a dream could get laughed at before it started,

Where being broke made everybody learn to play the hardest.

But I wasn’t tryna die just to prove that I was solid,

I wanted out the cycle, so I broke the damn deposit.

You say, “That’s not you,” like you own who I become,

Like my past got a contract saying I can’t overcome.

I ain’t gotta dress broke just to prove where I was raised,

And I ain’t gotta stay surrounded by the struggle just to validate my pain.

I ain’t changed, I just changed my surroundings,

Same mind, new view, now the whole world’s profoundin’.

You call it switching sides, I call it switching positions,

Had to elevate my life, not fulfill your expectations.

I remember where I’m from, I just don’t live there no more,

You confuse my new address with forgetting the war.

If I learned how to win, why you calling me different?

I ain’t lose who I was, I just stopped being limited

I ain’t ashamed of the block, I’m ashamed we had to need it,

Had to make a dollar stretch and pray nobody would steal it.

We made jokes about the pain because the pain was getting heavy,

Now I’m making something out of nothing, tell me why that ain’t commendable?

You stayed down, that’s your choice, I ain’t judging your position,

But don’t call me disloyal ’cause I changed my living conditions.

You confuse being authentic with remaining in your trauma,

Like the only way to be yourself is keeping all your problems.

I learned vocabulary, now you say I’m acting different,

Started speaking with intention, now apparently I’m distant.

But growth got a price, and sometimes people can’t afford it,

So they call your elevation arrogance because they can’t ignore it.

I ain’t better than you, I’m just better than who I was,

That’s a distinction that gets lost when resentment enters blood.

You want me back where we started so you don’t feel left behind,

But I can’t shrink my future just to make you comfortable with mine.

They say I changed, but I changed for the better,

Had to leave the rain just to weather the weather.

I ain’t turn my back, I just turned my direction,

You call it betrayal, I call it progression.

I still carry the block, I just don’t let it carry me,

Same heart, new home, that’s the part you ain’t seeing.

If I made it out the struggle, why you holding that against me?

I ain’t forget where I came from, I just refused to let it end me.