It's a total big difference between a person that got lyrics and

In the words of Waka Flocka Flame, there burns the voice of one who knows the difference between art and ambition, between mastery and message. “It’s a total big difference between a person that got lyrics and a person that can make hit singles. I’m a person that can make some hit singles. I’m not in no booth trying to be a lyrical genius. I’m preparing to make me some singles, and as I develop as a man, then they’ll respect my emcee skills.” These words speak not of arrogance, but of purpose — a declaration of self-awareness, of knowing one’s season and one’s path. In this truth lies an ancient wisdom: that not every warrior fights the same battle, and not every poet writes for the same dawn.

There are those whose gift lies in the craft of words — the sculptors of syllables, the alchemists of verse. They weave meanings that twist and turn like rivers through the mountains of thought. Yet there are others whose gift lies in connection, whose voices awaken the streets and stir the crowd into life. The first builds temples of intellect; the second builds bridges of rhythm and feeling. Waka speaks from this second house — not to diminish the poets, but to honor another kind of genius: the genius of energy, of vibration, of presence. He reminds us that music, like life, has many measures of greatness.

The origin of these words lies in the struggle between expression and expectation. In a world that often demands one form of brilliance, Waka chose to embrace his own. He did not seek to impress with complex riddles, but to move hearts, to ignite fire in those who felt unseen and unheard. Like the storytellers of old, who gathered crowds around fires not to teach philosophy but to awaken emotion, he became a vessel of the people’s pulse. His art was not for scholars but for the living — for those who needed to feel alive in the noise of the world.

Think of Alexander the Great and his companion Hephaestion. One was the conqueror of worlds; the other, the keeper of his heart. Alexander may have wielded the sword of conquest, but Hephaestion wielded the sword of counsel, of presence, of feeling. Each played a different role in shaping destiny. So too does Waka’s philosophy teach that greatness wears many faces. The lyrical genius and the hitmaker are not enemies, but reflections of different truths — one shaping minds, the other stirring souls. Both are needed in the symphony of creation.

Yet Waka’s words do not end in defiance; they end in growth. He says, “As I develop as a man, then they’ll respect my emcee skills.” This is the song of evolution — of patience with one’s journey. He knows that mastery comes not from imitation, but from time, from the unfolding of the self. Like a young blacksmith who first learns to swing the hammer before shaping the sword, Waka embraces his beginnings, knowing that art deepens with the artist. He trusts that in the fullness of time, his spirit will expand, and respect will follow naturally, as dawn follows night.

There is a lesson here for all who strive: do not seek to be everything at once. Know thy season. If your gift is to move people, move them. If your calling is to teach, then teach. Greatness begins with authenticity — the courage to be what you are, even when others demand something else. For the oak does not envy the rose, nor the river the mountain. Each fulfills its own nature, and the world is richer for their differences. So too must we walk our paths with conviction, trusting that mastery, when it comes, will find us ready.

And when you look upon your own journey, remember this: the power of creation is not in perfection, but in honesty. The ancients taught that the truest art is the one that springs from the living heart. Whether your song is a whisper or a thunderclap, let it be yours. Let your purpose burn bright in the world, and your growth unfold like morning light. For as Waka Flocka Flame reminds us, greatness is not in being everything now — it is in becoming, step by step, the person the world will one day remember.