Yeah, it's time, baby It's time to speak the truth, maturity n***as gotta evolve to let n***as know the real Call yourself real, ya gotta start speakin' about the real This is Joe Crack, The Don an' this is what I'm bringin' to you Yo, nowadays, I'm flirtin' with uncertain d**h Lord, I gotta be dyin' 'cause after all this cryin' How much more hurtin's left? When will the pain stop? This depression an' anxiety Is gonna make me show another side of me My n***as ride with me 'cause I'm the truth There's benefits to rollin' with this clique Don't nobody f** with you Still they label me a tyrant an' a backstabber But study the facts of crack, the sh** don't add up I'm bringin' opportunity to my community Probably the only rapper that cares But still you out to ruin me Who you foolin', be? I'm for unity, Latins an' blacks Could you fathom the strength, we have of the two it attach? Born together, voted alike These 'Uncle Charm' politicians ain't holdin' us right How could the same n***a be 20 years in office When it's clear the only thing that's risin' is unemployment? Abortion, little kids havin' kids The school system is failin' us, now ain't that some sh**? While the rich keep gettin' richer, the poor keep dyin' young I can't hide no more, the time has come I was born in the ghetto Tremblin', tryin' to stay alive 'Cause when you're born in the ghetto No one seems to hear your cry Brown skin, you know I love my brown skin Every day, I'm confronted with racism These motherf**in' coppers wanna bag us An' have us shackled up in state prisons After all the taxes I pay You would think when they stop us They would have something nicer to say Than, "Get the f** out the car, where the d** at? All the j**elry, you wearin', where the f**in' guns at?" Once they search the car clean an' find nothin' The same crooked cops try to act like they know us or somethin' Laughin', tellin' jokes by the thousands Two seconds ago they tried to send us to the mountains Leave my son without a father, my wife without a husband The more I think about it, man, it's just disgustin' Still we live amongst 'em, everybody wants out That's why we rap like we got silver spoons in our mouths Like we ain't grow up on welfare n***a, don't even go there, you probably wore Pro Players We need to educate the youth, tell our seeds the truth Too much to share, the bare minimum will exceed the proof I was born in the ghetto Tremblin', tryin' to stay alive 'Cause when you're born in the ghetto No one seems to hear your cry Yeah, so much pain Trying hard to stay alive, stay alive Out in these streets Man, sometimes it can get so tough Yeah, yes, it can, yes, it can, yeah It can get so hard, so hard, so hard