Watsky, Anderson Paak - Ink Don't Bleed

[Verse 1: Watsky]
Some got hits about the racks that they earn,
Say there's Benjamins and Jacksons in their pockets to burn,
But when they shoot the video, producers pass around a bucket
Full of rented jewelry for them to rock and return.
I know a straightedge rapper, who acts like a sheep herder,
A vegan on the mic who's screaming that meats murder,
But when everybody's sleeping, he be creeping,
Slugging back the whiskey, hating himself and sneaking a cheeseburger.
There's a pop idol at the top of the charts,
And when her records being cut, she's on the beach in St. Barts,
While a session singer, who didn't have the face to make it,
Signs a nondisclosure agreement and belts out her parts.
It's hard ‘cause I got bars that are big upping Woody Allen,
But maybe he's a predator who's digging in his talons,
There's a balance and often I don't know how to feel
In a fake and tainted world seek the real.

[Chorus: Anderson Paak]
Now I can't change the past but a man's gotta man up,
It's hard to believe sometimes I get the best of me.
Now I'm doing what I can, but I'm a man not a damn chump,
I can say it if you need, but I'd rather let the ink bleed.

[Verse 2: Watsky]
We dismiss our heroes' skeletons, no matter how grim,
My fans saying, "I'd be honored to be injured by him".
Well, fam, this branch is thin, but I'll go out on a limb,
To say she didn't love her ulna poking out of her skin.
Being pumped full of morphine and tied to machines,
They cut off my jeans, I heard her in the ambulance scream,
She's in school to do tattoos and might've had nerve damage,
So I could have cost a girl a chance at her dream.
Meanwhile he pops painkillers until the dude is numb,
Knew I was a stupid ass, just not that I'm a ruthless one,
Youth is easily influenced,
So should you be rooting for me if I touch a thousand lives but on the way I ruin some?
The rule of thumb is "all publicity is your advantage",
But human lives are not collateral damage,
Bandage the wounded, then vanish blank as the newest of canvases,
When they zoom in the cameras, give ‘em the truth.

[Chorus: Anderson Paak]
Now I can't change the past but a man's gotta man up,
It's hard to believe sometimes I get the best of me.
Now I'm doing what I can, but I'm a man not a damn chump,
I can say it if you need, but I'd rather let the ink bleed.

[Verse 3: Watsky]
Mega-church leaders sleeping with male hookers,
Mayors hitting crack pipes with their cookers,
Each week a crooked politician gets caught,
We're not shocked when they're cheaters,
These days we're shocked when they're not.
Are they the person you thought
If they're perfect and hot?
Often we blame the victim, scoff and they deserve what they got,
Actors sweep it under the rug and resume with the plot,
But they're amateurs, and we can see the boom in the shot.
If perception is reality, then this could be a shocker,
I've done my share of fucked up things that didn't get on Gawker,
Lots of tiny indiscretions way beyond the public eye,
That if you saw, would probably out me as a complicated guy.
Mike says you got to separate the person from the art,
But if the arts about that person you can't pull them apart,
So you better watch the choices that you're making now, because
They are something that matter, they're the only thing that does.

[Ourto: Watsky – ×4]
Everything they say conflicts with everything I do,
But I must admit I did it, so I guess it might be true.