Black Eyed Peas - Street Livin' lyrics

[will.i.am] Street livin', caught in a trap Guns or books, sell crack or rap Be like kings or be like pawns They called us coons, now they call us cons Street n***as be packing pistols Terrorists be blasting missles Crips and bloods and retail thugs CIA planes bring Columbian d** Don't push me cause I'm close to hell And compare to them, prison guards get payed well Ten years no bail is 4 years at Yale So, forget about the statue of General Lee Because the status of blacks are generally Are gonna end up in some penitentiary Systematically, that's how they made it to be Listen, they derailed the soul train And put a nightmare into every Martin Luther kING And private complexes are owned by the same Slave masters that owned the slave trade game And racists no longer have to be racist Cause n***as k** more n***as than the KKK did Now, every time I hear a new def jam n***as k**ing n***as like they Ku Klux Klan I understand what's a n***a to choose? Be the k**er or be the dead dude in the news I get it, what's a n***a to do? No education in the hood, got a n***a confused [Taboo] Street livin', tough conditions Brainwashed by the television We lost in the war we live in Double cross love lost no religion Street livin', oh my gosh Another brother got shot by the searg' Another cop got off with no charge If you black in the hood, you at large You're guilty until we prove you're innocent If you're ivory, they treat you different If you're ebony, they a**ume your temperment Well, be vigilant, and they call you militant You'll get shot, and they'll say the incident Is because you're beligerent What a coincidence? If you ain't dead, you can see imprisonment [apl.de.ap] It's more n***as in the prisons than there ever slaves cotton picking There's more n***as in the prisons than there ever slaves cotton picking So, how we gon' get out the trap? Guns or books, sell crack or rap Street livin', hustle or hoops Guns or books, get shot or shoot Street livin', ain't no rules Revoke cause the streets are broke Now, they wanna take away our dreams and hopes Street livin', no economics No way out of the Reaganomics Infected by the black plague, bubonic No comprende, we speak ebonics Street livin', what's your position? Here to take action or take a dick Listen, you can get f*cked by the system Or you can say f*ck the system