"Just Might Be OK" is the third track from Lupe Fiasco's debut studio album, Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor (2006). It features guest vocals from GemStones.
Background[]
GemStones shared in an interview that the song was inspired when Jay-Z took a hiatus from hip hop and Charles Patton was sentenced to 44 years in prison. He continued, "Gangster rap was popping heavily. It was like yo, we coming. We just might be OK. The sun is gon' to shine on this day. Keep hope alive. Just listen to the hook. It just might be OK. You know why? Because there's hope. Yeah Chilly is going to jail but our company is still moving. Yeah Jay Z is retiring but fret not, you got these kids Lupe and Gemstones here. We just might be OK Hip Hop. Kanye wasn't popping like that yet the way he is now but we just might be OK. Black people stand up. We may be going through things but we just might be ok. That title is deeper than you think. You really have to listen and meditate on that." He added about Chilly, "A lot of things going on today within the industry, Chilly is behind it. He's making moves from behind bars. Chilly is the one who released "Just Might Be OK." Lupe is the face of 1st & 15th but in any company, there's a machine behind it that makes things happen."[1]
Music video[]
A music video was released on April 30, 2015, directed by Chris & Blaq. It depicts montages of downtown Chicago, interspersed with scenes of peaceful and solidarity #BlackLivesMatter protests. It acknowledges Eric Gardner, who died at the hands of police officer Daniel Pantaleo in a chokehold.[2] This was also in recent time to the Baltimore death of Freddie Gray, who died in police custody. The video concludes with the quote, "Revolution is hope for the hopeless."[3]
About the video, GemStones said, "I was just about to reach out to him after them releasing the "Just Might Be OK" video featuring me. [...] That record was made over ten years ago. The Baltimore thing is just happening. Is that kind-of like prophecy? How can you release a video ten years later on a record that was slept on. We was speaking on that type of stuff back then. We were making music for today. [...] It only helps as positivity only came from the record. That record can be a help. Half the stuff that's playing on the radio plays a reason as to why we're going through what we're going through in Baltimore and why police is shooting us and treating us the way they're treating us. The stuff that's playing on the radio is a big part. We know it and we're conditioned to accept this."[1]
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1: Lupe Fiasco]
Affirmative no further furnishing is needed
I believe we are completed, dig
We all in agreement on the wallpaper
Happy with the color scheme, welcome to the crib
A two family Habitat For Humanity
With a view of where the insanity live
My vida loca was built like Bob Vila via God
He architected, I arted what I harbored, Jimmy Carter
From Chicago's west side, finish my construction now
We hold the coming like contracepts
I'm conscious, 'cept the cons I kept
With conversations held with the Satan on my shoulder
Which lead to steps that kept me looking over the shoulder
Like chauffeurs, where my angels at
Painful yet Mary I ain't Jerry Garcia, ma
Here but I'm grateful, chuuch!
[Hook: Gemini]
We just might be OK, after all
Sun gone shine, on this day
[Verse 2: Lupe Fiasco]
It's finna get heavy as heaven
I am Atlas at this manage to balance
Massive masses pull my back with out tilting my glasses
This was not pilfered from passages of OG's, this is so me
Ask us many mention little homie, little bony
But the rhymes is fat, in fact
Just like a Rochester customer
God bless the mothers and younger brothers of hustlers
'Cause she don't wan' sob at his wake
But he want to follow in his steps
Bang his hat, learn his shakes
Master his swagger in the bathroom mirror
Cop a Chevy, steady mob in his place
Chyeah! it's just the problems we face
Look his moms in her face and promise he's straight
[Hook: Gemini]
We just might be OK, after all
Sun gone shine, on this day
[Verse 3: Lupe Fiasco]
Then he leaves the house that love built that
HUD renovated that section 8 pays for
Well let's pray for 'em, let the beat play for 'em
Put his struggles on display for 'em
'Cause he gotta go and face the drama
With a different face from the one that he use
To face his momma, if you look close you'll see
It consist of a smile that hurts, an ice grill, and a trace of trauma
Little bit of his father, another criterion
That's no different from a young Liberian
Who let the delirium weary him, living in the inner city
Out of his mind, liria reconcilia
I'm cool, I don't foretell best
I ain't nicest MC, I ain't Cornel West
I am Cornel Westside, Chi-town Guevara
Malcolm exorcise the demons, gangsta leaning
He traded in his kufi for a New Era
Chose a 44 over a mortarboard
I ain't a credited institute graduate, I ain't from Nazareth
My conception wasn't immaculate, I ain't master no calculus
A good addition to the rap audience
I back flipped on the mattress they slept on me on
Whaddown Joe, knowing is half the battle
Fighting temptation, have an apple
Shakes the snakes, pimp the system
Let's get into it, tabernacle
[Hook: Gemini]
We just might be OK, after all
Sun gone shine, on this day
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Garrett, Ural (May 8, 2015). "GemStones Explains How Jay Z & Chilly Inspired Lupe Fiasco's "Just Might Be OK"". HipHopDX.
- ↑ Fleischer, Adam (May 1, 2015). "Lupe Fiasco Offers Hope to Protesters in His 'Just Might Be OK' Video". MTV.
- ↑ Elliott, James (April 30, 2015). "Lupe Fiasco Releases "It Just Might Be Okay" Video". Complex.