[Intro] The Hamilton Mixtape [Verse 1: Black Thought] Ayo mugshots, gun shots, dope shots, jump shot Take your pick, but you only get one shot Advice from a schoolteacher to a young tot Applyin' a sticker to his Spiderman lunchbox When even role models tell us we're born to be felons We're never gettin' into Harvard or Carnegie Mellon And we gon' end up either robbin' somebody or k**in' It's not fair that's all they can tell us That's why you hustle hella hard, never celebrate a holiday That'll be the day I coulda finally hit the lottery I refuse to ever lose or throw my shot away Or chalk it up as just another one that got away So I'm unapologetic, I'm on my calesthenics If I have given it all I got I cannot regret it My point of destination's different from where I was headed 'Cause I'ma shoot for the stars to get it One shot [Hook: Black Thought] I said 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 I said I'm not throwin' away my shot No 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 [Verse 2: Joell Ortiz] 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 then join 'em I said, "Forget it" 'Cause once you join 'em you're buildin' a ceilin' the way you're headed Be American, express how you feel and take the credit Don't settle for 87, go premium unleaded and Take off, shake all the hate off, it's over It's they loss, the payoff's their weight off your shoulders Must admit, I'm feelin', I'm kind of 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 nine to five describe, your scribe survive minor Setbacks 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 [Hook: Black Thought] I said 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 I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
No 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 [Bridge: Busta Rhymes] 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 are folks like me and you gonna rise up? Every city, every hood, we need to rise up All my soldiers, what's good? We need to rise up We ain't got no other choice, we need to rise up Rise up! [Verse 3: Busta Rhymes] Throughout my travels and journeys through life I've been searchin' And been learnin' to be the type of person to display how determined I get When I'm certain, inside I feel that fire that's burnin' Like a knife that is turnin', I fight while I'm hurtin' Sometimes they're right 'cause life is a burden Like the pain from a bite that'll worsen Tryna stifle the light that'll shine on me first and Before I ride in a hearse and... My breathing stops and You'll never take my one shot I got 'fore I lie in the earth And now I k** again on that Hamilton Hercules Mulligan Readin', inventin', we feelin' with a Huffington Done with the sufferin', we in the guts again, family rushin' in Wonder where Busta been Feelin' the hunger and feedin' the lust to win 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 standin' as the rest of them foldin' Give me my one chance to grab the torch and properly hold it [Hook: Black Thought] I said I'm not throwin' away my shot I said I'm not throwin' away my shot Ayy, 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 No 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 I said I'm not throwin' away my shot Ayy, 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 No I'm not throwin' away my shot Ayy yo I'm just like my country I'm young, scrappy and hungry And I'm not throwin' away my shot It's time to take a shot [Outro: Nate Ruess] Woah, woah, woah, woah Woah, woah, woah, woah