Ego lyrics - Macklemore

[Intro: Speaking]

Ladies and gentlemen

Second Thoughts on the beat

Big up to Lace Cadence

Good lookin' out for this one, man

[Verse 1:]

I love hip hop music

I just hate the ego

The politics that follow it

Getting caught in it can be lethal

See I love the community

'Cause a community will embrace you

But you turn it back the community is the people that will hate you

See everybody's striving for that same shit

To get paid and make it

And I'll be honest, I'm trying to become famous

When someone makes a move

Watch that person next to you

Cause I'll warn ya

I love Hova but jealousy's The Takeover

Here come the mean mugs

"I can't do what he does"

And where does that lead us?

To the ego that feeds us

I wish that I could just do what I do

But when a door opens for him I'm afraid there won't be enough room

Comparison's a mother fucker

Like MLK said,

"We all want that band leader syndrome and it won't stop"

This concept makes me wonder

Is it the commodity of the music or the ego that is killing hip hop?

[Chorus:]

It's the ego

That makes me not give respect in death

It's the ego

That makes me talk shit behind people's back

You know that it's the ego

That's constantly polluting my consciousness

So ingrained in my brain that I can barely even acknowledge it

It's the ego

That makes the present moment jet lagged

I said it's the ego

That has me trippin about the next man

You know that it's the ego

That makes me not go to the front

Of the show 'cause the performers have exactly what I want

[Verse 2:]

I'm so cool

F'real?

No dude, I'm serious spit it different and if you just flow too

I'll listen lookin for glitches and rip 'em to shove improve

That my rhythm's a little bit more intricate, just to boost

My ego

Is so evil

Threatened by so many different kinds of people

It seems that if you're goin' through somethin' and life is feelin' uncomfortable

The immediate place you go is to your ego to comfort you

When Boom Bap got signed

I hated on him

When Grayskul got signed

I hated on him

And that's hard to admit

But since I'm really bein' honest

I wanted to be one of the first to make it as a Northwest rap artist

Instead of takin it as a plus for my region

I took it as a cut to my dreams of makin' it out of this political scene of Northwest haters

To be next I guess I'm just like them

Jealous of who's taking that step

[Chorus]

[Outro:]

Now everybody got one but people tryin' to front

Claimin that they on the humble but cocky

Now it comes up when we judge

Or are threatened by someone

But everyone still be like 'man that's not me'

Now let me break it down son

It's only a lack of love for ourselves

Cause we're submerged in 'I gotta be'

The best or number one

But it's just that we don't trust

In our heart and that's what stops me

It's the ego