Vic Mensa What You Taught Us
[Intro]
That's what you taught us
Yeah
That's what you—
Is it recording?
[Verse]
Sittin' in front of this blank canvas
My words are brushes to paint my colors
I'm feelin' kinda blue like Miles Davis LP
'Cause a legend that I knew but I'd never known was unhealthy
Left to heaven much too soon most I could do was post a selfie
It's a strange phenomenon when time is gone from life's [pockets]
Snapshot of humans existence into a tight crop
One photograph to speak to thousands of interactions
Synthesized into a two-sentence instant caption
In the past, I ruminated on the ways I'd be illuminatеd
Would my truths be debated or flaws brought back to lifе?
When Kobe passed and Gayle spoke on his allegations, although, she made valid statements, some thought the time and place wasn't right
I pose a question, can one not be imperfect and celebrate it?
Confess all of my pain and these verses be separated
Who knows [?] can't buy more time or more loopholes to keep you on this green earth
So we be wanna [?] to speak first to [?] perspective, you keep ‘em guessin'
Revolution and practice like a Huey P lecture
That's what you taught us, divide convention, buy invention
That's what you brought us, divine invention, timeless vision
Got me thinkin' 'bout my time more efficient and recognition
Tomorrow ain't promised if I could borrow an honest opinion of myself, I know I've been lookin' for help that could only come from within
Patience been runnin' thin for external validation
You showed us we could all be designers of our own destinies of our legacies, our environments from Chicago streets to Paris fashion weeks
Above and beyond, the limitations that they placed on us
That's what you taught us
That's what you taught us
That's what you—
That's what you taught us