In this song, NF emphasizes his childhood dream. In one of NF’s recent songs, ‘Notepad’, he admits that his notepad used to be his best friend. He had to stuff away all of the trauma and stress that he had as a child. In another recent album, ‘Therapy Session’, he talks about how his notepad and music used to be his therapy. It was the way he would get things out. He expands on this in ‘When I grow up’, where he talks about being a rapper, and his dream as a kid. Over the years, you can hear and see him expand on this throughout his lyrics.

In his song, ‘All I have’, he says;

You keep on thinking that artist is new, but that artist has prolly been at it for years

NF started rapping on a karaoke machine when he was young. In his song, ‘Notepad’, he says;

We took that karaoke machine from my room and, uh, we put it up to the CD player and played the instrumentals
And, man, we’ve come a long way
A long way

People used to make fun of him as a kid. They would say he ‘Won’t make it’. This shows what a long way NF has come.

I kinda miss being broke, now let me go back to my old days
When I used to walk into high school and hand out my CD in hallways
I told all my teachers that I’d be a rapper, they smiled and looked at me, “Okay
That’s a pretty nice dream, but you better get a real job.” Mmm, no way,

‘Warm Up’

NF basically remixes, or reimagines this song in ‘When I grow up’

More on what he says in ‘When I grow up’

I told all my teachers that I’d be a rapper, they smiled and looked at me, “Okay
That’s a pretty nice dream, but you better get a real job.” Mmm, no way,

Those lyrics expand a little more on what NF is trying to say here in this song. Nobody understands his dream or what he’s been through.