NF - Options Lyrics
Lyrics
Verse 1
Look, I don't know what's gotten into me
I could be off of my rocker potentially
Bigger I get, the more they thinkin' less of me
Don't be the one to insult my integrity
Put down the whistle, I'm done with you referees
Y'all don't know nothing, you think you ejected me
'Til I show up in the game, like, "Remember me?"
I gotta make it, these people depend on me
Ayy, that's how I'm living these days
Threaten my wife, keep digging that grave
I had a job making minimum wage
Told myself that I gotta get paid
Prove myself, yeah, get up my grades
Walk into class like, "Gimme that A"
Think I'm trash? Put a bag in your face
And I put you by the road like, "Look, we're the same!"
Here's a reminder that I still spit
Think I need to advise you to watch your lip
Or at least realize that I'm not no kid
Don't Google my name tryna find my crib
Write a pop song, then I write a song like this
Do a lot wrong? Doesn't matter, I learn quick
I'm an outlaw, my brain has no fence
Doesn't matter either way to me 'cause even if it did
I would destroy it (Woo, woo, woo)
Used to be employee, now I'm employer
Making big deals, now I gotta get lawyers
People tell me to relax and enjoy it
But when I kick back, I see warnings
So much time might pass, can't ignore it
Every time I rap and I'm recording
Might be my last so I absorb it 'cause
Chorus
I gotta make it or make it
I gotta make it or make it, yeah
I gotta make it or make it
Man, these are the options, these are the options
I gotta make it or make it
I gotta make it or make it, yeah
I gotta make it or make it
Man, these are the options, these are the options
I gotta make it or make it
I gotta make it or make it, woo
I gotta make it or make it
Man, these are the options, these are the options
I gotta make it or make it
I gotta make it or make it, woo
I gotta make it or make it
Man, these are the options, these are the options (Yeah)
Verse 2
Tool bag without the pliers
Intros without the choirs
New car without the tires
Music without the writers
UFC without the fighters
Smoking without the fire
Cigarettes without the lighter
Austin Powers, no Michael Myers, that's me
If I ain't got the bars, you see
Something ain't right like I'm incomplete
Outcast, yes, I'm a different breed
If you disagree, make 'em all retreat
Act like a boss when I compete
Take my thoughts into hyperspeed
When it's all gone and I hit my peak
At least I'll know that I took that leap
'Cause life is a process
And I am not here for the nonsense
Losing everything I worked for likes to weigh on my conscience
That why I block out the comments
Who's next? Who's next?
I don't know, I ain't been watching
Closing my ear to the gossip
I gotta make it or make it
Man, these are the options, ooh
No forfeit, my course different
Changed flows and I'm bored with it
More livid, never more driven, I avoid timid
Try to tell me I could never be the G.O.A.T. of rap, I ignore limits
I was born with this, you're trippin' thinkin' I'm slippin'
I'm enjoying this
Look at me, I'm on the tour selling more tickets
Even if the fourth record didn't sell a copy, I'ma do it like a hobby
I ain't quitting 'til the Lord tell me
Chorus
I gotta make it or make it
I gotta make it or make it, yeah
I gotta make it or make it
Man, these are the options, these are the options
I gotta make it or make it
I gotta make it or make it, woo
I gotta make it or make it
Man, these are the options, these are the options
I gotta make it or make it
I gotta make it or make it, woo
I gotta make it or make it
Man, these are the options, these are the options
I gotta make it or make it
I gotta make it or make it, woo
I gotta make it or make it
Man, these are the options, these are the options
Outro
Ayy, these are the options
Ah, these are the options
Woo, these are the options
Yeah, these are the options
Video
NF - Options (Audio)
Meaning & Inspiration
NF’s Options is a masterclass in aggressive industry navigation, but it’s the closing line that forces the whole thing to pivot from self-obsessed rap anthem to something far more fragile: "I ain't quitting 'til the Lord tell me."
As an editor, my immediate reaction is that the track suffers from a lack of editorial restraint. The chorus—a repetitive cycle of "I gotta make it or make it"—drags. It feels like a loop designed for a playlist algorithm rather than a narrative arc. There is a lot of "padding" here, a lot of posturing about status and cars and critics that starts to sound redundant. When an artist repeats a mantra that much, you start to wonder if they’re trying to convince the listener or themselves.
But then, that final declaration hits. That’s the Power Line.
It’s the pivot point where the song stops being about ego and starts being about stewardship. For a long time, NF has wrestled with the pressure of success. You hear the fear in his voice: "Losing everything I worked for likes to weigh on my conscience." It’s a very human, very modern anxiety. We live in a culture that screams we are only as good as our last "win." We treat our careers like high-stakes poker games, and if we fold, we lose our identity.
Scripture has a different take on this frantic need to "make it." In Colossians 3:23, we’re told to work as if we’re working for the Lord, not for men. There’s a world of difference between grinding for survival and working from a place of purpose. When NF says, "I ain't quitting 'til the Lord tell me," he shifts the burden. He’s essentially saying he doesn't answer to the fans, the critics, or the label. He answers to a higher commission.
It’s a gritty, imperfect admission. It doesn't sound like a Sunday morning hymn, and that’s why it works. It sounds like a man in the middle of a war, trying to find his footing. It reminds me that we often mask our insecurities with professional ambition. We think if we just reach the next level, the noise will stop. But the noise never stops. The only thing that quiets the "what ifs" is the knowledge of who actually holds the lease on your life.
The song is still messy—it’s full of defensive walls and bravado—but that final line is the crack in the armor where the light gets in. It suggests that success isn't defined by the size of the tour or the number of records sold, but by the ability to keep going until you get the green light to rest. Sometimes, faith isn't about being peaceful; it’s about being obedient, even when you're angry, even when you're stressed, and even when you’re still trying to figure out what you’re doing with your life.