“You don’t gotta slap me five or give me a hug/And it hurts when you gotta kill a n!gga you love…” – Jadakiss, “Go Head” (from Ruff Ryders – Ryde Or Die Vol. II)

Intentional or not, the company you keep is a direct reflection of self. The logic may not seem fair, but in reality, what is in life? It’s how stereotypes are born and futures are, in a sense, ultimately determined. Successful people associate with other successful people. The same goes for the lazy, those who hustle and any other subgenre we always tend to classify people as. On the flip side, an empowering element we all harbor is the ability to grow mentally. There’s always an opportunity to come up. There’s always an opportunity for success.

That said, in doing so, the risk of leaving others behind is magnified. Each person comes into your life for a reason, but most find their shelf lives in your world expiring after a certain amount of time. It’s the reason “best friends” are held in such high regard and “associates” come a dime a dozen. What really causes anguish is when you have to dead a friendship because their outlook on life doesn’t compliment yours.

Kendrick Lamar’s “Cut You Off (To Grow Closer)” is a perfect illustration.

Found on his much ballyhooed Overly Dedicated mixtape, Lamar laments on a female kinship, a friend who’s more concerned with his pistol than progress and his family. She complains with no remedy for a solution. He fabricates a lifestyle filled with guns and random tales from South Central Los Angeles blocks. And to quote the man himself, “What I was taught, family is all I need/But indeed, them too can run me right up a tree.” Following the leading a horse to water analogy, any changes those people make in life will have to be on their own conformity. Success is a needle in a haystack. Failure presents itself more than a liquor store in the hood.

You can be whatever you want in this world. Except for Kendrick’s downfall.

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Download — Kendrick Lamar – “Cut You Off (To Grow Closer)” (Prod. By Taebeast)

The full tape is only $6 on iTunes and worth the pocket change. Good look to Cell on the heads up about the video.