2pac - How You Gon BanG? lyrics

[Intro- Fatal Tense] One time for the house For the offspring of this rap music Bangin' DDB and Tense with the fatal grammatic For the people we die Let me put you on game [Hook x 2] On they system Either we ride or we gon die Make em' pull they alarms Keep they hands to the sky Make em' yak that Patron Let the Nina reply Bangin' on ya'll isms For the people we ride [Verse 1 - Fatal Tense] I can't be bothered with self-suicide and trap-rhymes I be on the truth, if it's written down or clapped nines I be full on line, auto-revo like an uzi Movin' quick up in the range, like Stic, just call me “Tookie” But it don't figure if you pop the Smith and Wesson And you aimin' in the wrong direction (internalized oppression) So what ya'll sayin' bout big rims and poppin' bottles? Movin' keys, pimpin' sistas, that sh**'s really hard to swallow And what it mean when you chase a hollow dream? BrainWASH on the tv screen, lookin' “clean” down-a hollow beam Nadda to say, when this is how you gettin' paid Little bodies being sprayed by the ignorance you have laid Word unbornd, ma**ssssssa got your mind drowned Brains blown out, buyin' that, the communities behind Ya income spent, not on ya rent but on a dollar sign All these pop rappers rolling green, I'll tell you why It's not a mystery, its no context or black history Chains hang from they necks like this the 18th century (but) “with a chest full of chains and an arm full of watches” How you gonna bang when we ride where the cops is How you gonna scape when we bust where the locks is Hard to be a man when you don't know who ya pops is They got us locked up, in the body and the wallet They got us tuned-in (cuz) they invade the private And this reefer saying you must acknowledge Exploitation and bondage, exactly how-they-started Corporate takeover then makeover, the people: the target Pushin' a whitewash campaign, and a samboed out profit When they sell their falsehoods, its the people they robbin' With no hint of a conscious – so buck em [Hook x 4] On they system Either we ride or we gon die Make em' pull they alarms Keep they hands to the sky Make em' yak that Patron Let the Nina reply Bangin' on ya'll isms For the people we die [Outro - 2Pac Shakur] On big level, just you know, just imagine if a corporation just sent a representative and said just go hang and play with that playground...and whatever kid is the coolest or shares the ball or lets the most people play the basketball, we gonna give him scholarship. You know how many things...cause that would bring hope, you know what I'm sayin'?-- there's no hope, and there's not gonna be to many more Christmases without hope, you know what I'm sayin'?-- not to make just about Christmas, there's not gonna be too many more days without hope