[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