Port Antonio Lyrics – J. Cole

Read the full Port Antonio lyrics by J. Cole along with the music video, song credits, release information and other details about the song.

[Refrain]
Ride to it, ride to it
Ride to it, ride to it
Ride to it, ride to it
Ride to it, ride to it
Ride to it, ride to it
Ride to it, ride to it
Ride to it, ride to it
Ride to it (Uh)

[Verse 1]
Young Jermaine walked the straight and narrow

Minimum-wage jobs for dinero, but still, my mind was on the zeros
I fiend for the perks that was seen flipping birds, so
We was skipping church, but my eyes was on the sparrows
N!ggas flipping pies, spending thousands on apparel
S*it, I wanna shine too, I want dimes too
Jealous n!ggas wanna know just how my rhymes blew
Mano a mano, I’m Bono, I’m you times two
Now I’m bougie, I done outgrew the fountain blue
But never forgot the spot where I developed my plot
The dwelling, the top, the Ville, where all my skeletons locked
If I could do it all over, then I never would swap
I’ve seen good, I’ve seen bad, had my melanin mocked
I’ve seen lifelong friends turn to devilish opps
I was Mike in red leather, tryna tell him to stop
You better beat it ‘fore you see the heavy-metal get popped
He was a mean-ass wing with a hell of a shot
But if no team draft King, he gon’ bet on the block
He wanna ball ’til he fall or ’til the federals knock
And sit his ass on a bench for moving careless with rock
You can’t relate, ‘less your father was not around
And your mother went out and found someone else and then brought them ’round
And they salaries then combine, when they married, it brought you out
Of that poverty, then you moved to a soft little part of town
So that when you back in the hood, you feel awkward about it now (Damn)
And your confidence start to drown

But the rapping gave you some positive thoughts and you jot ’em down
You jot ’em down

[Refrain]
Ride to it, ride to it
Ride to it, ride to it
Ride to it, ride to it
Ride to it, ride to it

[Chorus]
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Yeah, uh

[Verse 2]
Benjamin Button, Cole flows reverse time
To find deliveries good as mine, you gotta search primes
I’m scaling heights higher than birds can perch
Trying to be something, hoping that peace comes to my cursed mind
One thing’s for sure, that I’ve matured from my first rhyme
I learned long ago, you can’t please ’em all and it hurts trying
In this game, where all you’ve got is your name
Like Durk, I’m smirking at n!ggas tryna besmirch mine
Absurd times, where the fake get toted as wise
I can see hate in both of your eyes but the third’s blind
So you search lines
But you struggle, which explains the puzzled look on the dull face as the word finds
I hate what raps become but like do-not-disturb signs
Can’t knock it if I see it’s ’bout the dough
They instigate the fu*kery because it’s profitable
But singing “stop the violence” tunes when dudes in hospitals
I pulled the plug because I’ve seen where that was ’bout to go
They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make they pockets grow
They see this fire in my pen and think I’m dodging smoke
I wouldn’t have lost a battle, dawg, I woulda lost a bro
I woulda gained a foe and all for what? Just to attain some mo’
Props from strangers that don’t got a clue what I been aiming for?
Since the age of fourteen, Jermaine is no king
If that means I gotta dig up dirt and pay the whole team
Of algorithm-bot n!ggas just to sway the whole thing
On social media, competing for your favorable means
To be considered best or live and rest? The weight of both things
I understand the thirst of being first that made ’em both swing
Protecting legacies, so lines got crossed, perhaps regrettably
My friends went to war, I walked away with all they blood on me
Now some will discredit me, try wipe away my pedigree
But please, find a n!gga out that’s rapping this incredibly, uh
My dawg texted me, I’ll share the words he said to me
“If you refuse to shoot the gun, don’t mean the gun ain’t deadly,” uh
I guess in that metaphor, hypothetically, the gun is me
I text him back like, “Guess a gun ain’t what I’m tryna be, my n!gga”
They strip me of my spot and now I’m finally free, my n!gga
They say I’m picking sides, ayy, don’t you lie on me, my n!gga
Then start another war, ayy, Drake, you’ll always be my n!gga
I ain’t ashamed to say you did a lot for me, my n!gga
Fu*k all the narratives
Tapping back into your magic pen is what’s imperative
Reminding these folks why we do it, it’s not for beefing
It’s for speaking our thoughts, pushing ourselves, reaching the charts
Reaching your minds, deep in your heart, screaming to find
Emotions to touch, something inside to open you up
Help you cope with the rough times and s*it
I’m sending love ’cause we ain’t promised s*it
My n!gga

[Chorus]
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me
Y’all n!ggas ain’t stopping me