What is “Real Ones List” about?
"Real Ones List" honors the handful of people who showed up when "the showing up was ugly," named one by one: Marcus from the seventh-grade lunchroom, Dre with an interest-free loan, Auntie Renee with a plate before he asked. Kairo West sets that short list against the friends who arrive with new money, trusting specific, tested love over the universal kind. Track ten on Baldwin Bus Receipt, it continues the album's turn toward personal portraits.
Real Ones List lyrics
I got a list in my phone, it ain't a favorites, it's a forever
Five names, six names, ten names, not a whole lot of clever
Every one of 'em showed up when the showing up was ugly
Every one of 'em ain't never acted like it was trouble
Marcus been my dog since the lunchroom in the seventh grade
Knows the version of me that still shows up when I'm afraid
Dre pulled up at my bottom with a loan and no interest
Didn't even let me ask, just made it happen like a miracle witness
Auntie Renee put a plate down before I had to say I'm hungry
Loaded me up like groceries, sent me off with a twenty
These ain't industry, these ain't internet, these my tower
Real ones list, only list that even got the power
Real ones list, real ones list
Five names, six names, ten names at the most
Real ones list, real ones list
Every one of y'all the reason that I ain't a ghost
Real ones list, real ones list
I ain't got a hundred, I got a holy few
Real ones list, real ones list
Ain't a single person on it I couldn't call at two
New money come with new friends like a timeshare invoice
I see you circling the parking lot of my quiet voice
I learned the hard way, after three tours and a single deal
How many smiles can go plastic at the smell of a real meal
The real ones celebrated before the ones I had to explain
The real ones still love me on the day I'm embarrassed of my own name
Ta-Nehisi said beauty lives in the specific
My real ones specific, not general, not a traffic
I don't trust a universal love, I trust a Tuesday
I trust the one that helped me move when moving was uneasy
Keep your PR team, keep your rolodex, keep your brand
I got a handful of people who already know my hand
Real ones list, real ones list
Five names, six names, ten names at the most
Real ones list, real ones list
Every one of y'all the reason that I ain't a ghost
Real ones list, real ones list
I ain't got a hundred, I got a holy few
Real ones list, real ones list
Ain't a single person on it I couldn't call at two
If you on the list, you know
If you ain't, you also know
Ain't no hard feelings
Just a short list
Real ones list
Real ones list
Real ones only
Real ones only