"Smile You're On Camera" lyrics
Say cheese, nigga
Smile for the camera
The world is so enamored with you, smile for the camera
Through cancer diagnosis, psychosis, glitz and the glamour
Dinner with grandma, war and famine, baby, smile for the camera
Like particles, the price to be perceived is performance, perfection
And the pressure to people please
False persona projected like a prism across the screen
Panopticon, they always watchin', even in your dreams
That shutter has the potential to shatter
I got more questions than answers for you, but smile for the camera
Perform like you anticipatin' the comments and chatter
The audience awaiting is the only thing that matters, atta boy
Applause there, but no one's in the stands
Lookin' for real connection, your modem ain't got the band
With the fear of rejection will come the downfall of man
Long for expression, but you know that ain't good for the brand
In a room full of mirrors, you reflect the most on the lens
Why just hold up the wall when the floor is open to dance?
Hate your face in your pictures, deleting photos with friends
The thing that split you can't fix you, but yet, you hope that it can
Gotta fix up your image, you can't look broke on the 'Gram
Content don't look as nice when your clothing ain't overpriced
But you post it because you love it and leave it up overnight
Get a hundred views by the morning, embarrassed to show the likes
So you try to shoot it again and make sure you upload it right
Will they like it if I myself? Will the camera expose my gripes
That I got with the inner me? Is my enemy just the light
That I see when I press record? Am I living as prototype
Of imposter syndrome, personified, modifying my life?
Do I matter outside my work? Am I dressing up in disguise?
Am I selling people my pain? Can identity be derived
From acceptance inside a screen? I don't know, but I'll monetize
Look at you
Smile for the camera
The world is so enamored with you, smile for the camera
Through cancer diagnosis, psychosis, glitz and the glamour
Dinner with grandma, war and famine, baby, smile for the camera
Like particles, the price to be perceived
Is performance, perfection, and the pressure to people please
False persona projected like a prism across a screen
Panopticon, they always watchin' even in your dreams
The thoughts are tangible, the distance is digital
The sufferin' has turned to spectacle, the lenses we livin' through
Are crackin' under the weight of our curation, invisible
But ever present, the eyes, since you cut the umbilical
Them baby pictures online, graduating from middle school
Just taught your son how to drive, time flies, we proud of dude
It bothers you, but the optics too good to question
You gotta do what you gotta do for attention
Reposts, comments, and mentions, those measures become extensions
The pictures become façade, erasure is self-inflicted
You think before every smile, every pose, a conscious decision
You calculate conversations, can't let no one catch you slippin'
Listenin' to react, every sacred space is a victim
The systems capitalistic, intrinsic value diminished to nothing
Shock over substance, attention spans are a memory
I can't recall, I been scrollin', I might remember eventually
I need a hook to go viral for simulation of victory
The mental is rarely idle, want stimulation and quickly
Come on, Egghead, bah, bon, been, bededet
Damn, it feels good to leave somethin' unedited
I took that big picture, please make sure that I'm credited
We accepted the dogma, but never vetted it
Now we here, stuck in the cyclone
Using facial recognition to open our iPhones
Say cheese
Smile for the camera
The world is so enamored with you, smile for the camera
Through cancer diagnosis, psychosis, glitz and the glamour
Dinner with grandma, war and famine, baby, smile for the camera
Like particles, the price to be perceived is performance, perfection
And the pressure to people please
False persona projected like a prism across the screen
Panopticon, they always watchin', even in your dreams
That shutter has the potential to shatter
I got more questions than answers for you, but smile for the camera
Perform like you anticipatin' the comments and chatter
The audience awaiting is the only thing that matters, atta boy
Applause there, but no one's in the stands
Lookin' for real connection, your modem ain't got the band
With the fear of rejection will come the downfall of man
Long for expression, but you know that ain't good for the brand
In a room full of mirrors, you reflect the most on the lens
Why just hold up the wall when the floor is open to dance?
Hate your face in your pictures, deleting photos with friends
The thing that split you can't fix you, but yet, you hope that it can
Gotta fix up your image, you can't look broke on the 'Gram
Content don't look as nice when your clothing ain't overpriced
But you post it because you love it and leave it up overnight
Get a hundred views by the morning, embarrassed to show the likes
So you try to shoot it again and make sure you upload it right
Will they like it if I myself? Will the camera expose my gripes
That I got with the inner me? Is my enemy just the light
That I see when I press record? Am I living as prototype
Of imposter syndrome, personified, modifying my life?
Do I matter outside my work? Am I dressing up in disguise?
Am I selling people my pain? Can identity be derived
From acceptance inside a screen? I don't know, but I'll monetize
Look at you
Smile for the camera
The world is so enamored with you, smile for the camera
Through cancer diagnosis, psychosis, glitz and the glamour
Dinner with grandma, war and famine, baby, smile for the camera
Like particles, the price to be perceived
Is performance, perfection, and the pressure to people please
False persona projected like a prism across a screen
Panopticon, they always watchin' even in your dreams
The thoughts are tangible, the distance is digital
The sufferin' has turned to spectacle, the lenses we livin' through
Are crackin' under the weight of our curation, invisible
But ever present, the eyes, since you cut the umbilical
Them baby pictures online, graduating from middle school
Just taught your son how to drive, time flies, we proud of dude
It bothers you, but the optics too good to question
You gotta do what you gotta do for attention
Reposts, comments, and mentions, those measures become extensions
The pictures become façade, erasure is self-inflicted
You think before every smile, every pose, a conscious decision
You calculate conversations, can't let no one catch you slippin'
Listenin' to react, every sacred space is a victim
The systems capitalistic, intrinsic value diminished to nothing
Shock over substance, attention spans are a memory
I can't recall, I been scrollin', I might remember eventually
I need a hook to go viral for simulation of victory
The mental is rarely idle, want stimulation and quickly
Come on, Egghead, bah, bon, been, bededet
Damn, it feels good to leave somethin' unedited
I took that big picture, please make sure that I'm credited
We accepted the dogma, but never vetted it
Now we here, stuck in the cyclone
Using facial recognition to open our iPhones
Say cheese
