Sixteen Lyrics

[Verse 1: Rick Ross]
It's funny how things change, funny how time fly
More that my feet travel, the more that I feel fly
More that I make now, the more that the chicks smile
She call me a local nigga, I opened a Swiss account
Eisenhower status, Etta James on the dash
Smooth as John Coltrane cruising in the Cadillac
Seville, feel my life on the real
We the Last Poets so this is a world premiere
Rolling like Mick Jagger, the women just getting badder
All I see is the money, cream, Eric Clapton
And all I wanted was one, sixteen ain't enough
Talking that fast money, fifteen every month
When your people labelled poor, that motivated me more

Everything I ever wore was once worn before
Roll with the punches, now it's box office numbers
Dressed like Sammy Davis, steaming my marijuana
Double M G's, double M fees
We in every hood, nigga: government cheese
Yacht to Yachtmasters, Ol' Dirty Bastard
Floor seat for the Heat, paper that I'm stackin'
Better put away a penny for the rainy days
Pick and roll, give and go, fuck a fade away

Living like Scottie Pippen, dribble riddles for vittles
Started off with a scribble, now I'm flowing a river
She say my heart cold, I'm naming my son December
Whitney died night before the Grammys – damn, what a memory
Trump Tower and I started with a 10 speed
Born broke, had to use a nigga's instincts
Now I get a hundred racks for the sixteen
Waking up to turkey bacon and my thick queen
Niggas hating, I'm just watching on the big screen
Three Stacks on the beat and the kicks mean
[Chorus: André 3000]
When sixteen ain't enough
When sixteen ain't enough
Ooh, yeah
Aw yeah-eah-eah-eah-eah-eah-eah
When sixteen ain't enough
When sixteen ain't enough
Ooh, yeah
Aw yeah-eah-eah-eah-eah-eah-eah


[Interlude: André 3000]
You know how sometimes you got so much to say but
They on-, they only give you sixteen? Hehehe
Man it's like, I mean, I got so much to say
The world has said so much to me
And I just wanna give right back to 'em, you know?
But, I only get sixteen, that's like a cage, you know?
I really can't say what I wanna say, you know?
It's just a glimpse, that's all
Just one uh, one little single glimpse, just a page
But I guess I'm defeating the purpose of doing all this talking
Aight

[Verse 2: André 3000]
Summer '88, or was it '89?
Or was it wintertime? Ah, never mind

I'm in my room, booming
Drawin' LL Cool J album covers with Crayolas on construction paper

I'm tryna fuck my neighbor, I'm tryna hook my waves up
I'm tryna pull my grades up, to get them saddle lace ups
Before lil' Marc was Jacob, before them girls wore makeup
Before my voice would break up, before we'd tour them shake clubs
Before my mama wake up, before my crumbs would cake up
Before they tell me they love me and we'll never break up
Before the time she makes love to someone that I thought was my homeboy
But boy, was I wrong now
I don't budge, don't want much, just a roof and a porch
And a Porsche, and a horse, and unfortunately, but of course
An assortment of torches that scorches the skin
When they enter, intruders whose tutors did
A lousy job
, how's he God if he lets Lucifer let loose on us?
That noose on us won't loosen up but loose enough to juice us up
Make us think we do so much and do it big
Like they don't let us win, I can't pretend
But I do admit, it feel good when the hood pseudo-celebrate

Hence, why every time we dine, we eat until our belly aches
Then go grab the finest wine and drink it
Like we know which grape and which region it came from

As if we can name 'em; hint-hint—it ain't, um, Welch's
Hell just fell three thousand more degrees cooler
Y'all can't measure my worth
But when you try, you'll need a ruler made by all the Greek gods

Because the odds have always been stacked against me when back's against the wall
I feel right at home, y'all sitting right at home
All Kellygreen with envy
while I'm jelly beans descending
Into the palm of a child, looks up at mama and smile
With such a devilish grin, like "Where the hell have you been?"

She's yelling, "Selling's a sin," well, so is telling young men
That selling is a sin if you don't offer new ways to win

A dolphin gon' shake his fin, regardless if he gets in
Or out of water, most important thing for him is to swim
And Flipper didn't hold his nose, so why shall I hold my tongue?

I miss the days of old when one could hold his gal on his arm
And not set off these alarms, when cameras snap-snap-snap
Return fire, pap-pap-pap pap pap-pap pap pap
They'll learn why, mere privacy, so essential
They won't make no laws,
I break their laws 'til they see out our window
I take the fall, to make them all, treat human kind more gentle
Forsake 'em all, I hate them all, don't like 'em, don't pretend to
Yeah, something tells me we ain't in Kansas anymore
All that shit that used to be cool, ain't cool anymore
All them women we were pursuing, now they want more
And they deserve it all, don't settle for what ain't yours
[Chorus: André 3000 & Rick Ross]
When sixteen ain't enough
When sixteen ain't enough
Ooh (Lord!) yeah (Oh Lord!)
Aw yeah-eah-eah-eah-eah-eah-eah
When sixteen ain't enough
When sixteen ain't enough
Ooh, yeah (When sixteen ain't enough)
Aw yeah-eah-eah-eah-eah-eah-eah (When sixteen ain't enough)
Breakdown, breakdown


[Breakdown: André 3000 & Rick Ross]
Does your mama know you see me? Does she know you're freaky?
Does she ever wonder if it's 'bout ya I am speaking?
Do you ever ponder where I'm at when you get sleepy?
How the hell I'm gonna tell the youth don't be me? Yeah
Hahahahah, hahahah, I love it
Does your daddy think you perfect? Does he know for certain?
Does he know how you act when you pull back all them curtains?

Do he think I'm 2Pac 'cause I'm Black and put the words in?
Does he know his daughter might have caught a real merman? Yeah


[Outro: Rick Ross]
Hahahah, it's funny because, we could've short-changed you (Huh!)
But because we love you, we go that extra mile
Break it down for 'em, André, huh!

[Guitar Solo: André 3000]

[Outro: Rick Ross]
Next level, amazing

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

Genius Annotation

One of many standout tracks off the God Forgives, I Don’t LP featuring an impeccable verse from Andre 3000.

The Bawse also spoke on “Sixteen,” which he said is a “classic.” “Basically it was just when you get some music that you really love or a track that you really love, sometimes sixteen bars is not enough to really express yourself,” said Ross. “We just went to that next level. I think for people to hear Andre do what he did; I'ma let y'all count how many bars he did as well as of course what I did, man. He pulled out the guitar and banjo on this one and he sang a little bit on the end of it. It just broke all the rules of making a standard record.”
Read more here

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Comments
Sign Up And Drop Knowledge 🤓
Genius is the ultimate source of music knowledge, created by scholars like you who share facts and insight about the songs and artists they love.
  翻译: