[Intro: Cleo]
Damn, before they started laying people off...
They was paying folks fifteen dollars and hour at that place
(Oh man, that's good money!)
n***a, fifteen dollars a hour I'd be an ol'...
"What I gotta do sir" a** motherf**er...
[Verse 1: Jean Grae]
Ever since I was a young girl, watched mama working harder than than my father
Even though he got the praise for it
Name and his fame and acclaim for it
Meanwhile she managing two kids and managing his files
And her sh**, blacklisted because her Black fist shade was a distance from what is considered to be Black
Resistance, woman, immigrant, activist, brilliant
Should've been enough for me give up, but being a rebel just only told me I should live up
She said do better than me it's a different world you live in, and little me
Believed the keys that I was given, put em in the locks and they opened boxes full
Of unattained pain, paradoxes, problems, chains, losses
More sacrifice than I'll tell you
Because it'll never sell at my value
n***a, please
Act like I shouldn't rage for it
Watch my peers get paid for it
Tears on the floor, and dreams dashed
Waited too long to the bore the spawns
Cash, fated beyond me, lawd the torch pa**ed
Maybe the next gen, won't be gender
Based, but in the case of me...December
Too late in the game to fight more
Literally given my life for ya'll all
[Verse 2: Glynn Coco]
Sixty-four cents to a dollar, wage war (wage war)
Politician in your pocket, you get what you pay for
We the Black diamonds, but the white ones weigh more (way more, way more)
White ones weigh more
So instead of 40 acres we got housing waivers
Now they're reaching for the hip to touch them with the tasers
Pulled a trigger k**ed a n***a get the story tailored
Good behavior ain't a savior if your mother a coffee maker
How you like you justice served? What you got a taste for? What you got a taste for?
Bought degrees on loan that you still paying for
And a name that looks good on paper
Let your hair down just because you swear now
That moved from there now that can compare now. Right?
But, deep down you know that a deep brown
Still will catch a beat down even if it's renowned
Despite that, we still light up with delight
When we get invited to table, 'til we get reminded
Pirates love the Midas minus the man
Cutting off the hand, cash cropping and repurpose it as pop
Fans sipping on, n***as tripping on it
So they make a k**ing from it
I'm just trying to make a living from it
So they make a k**ing from it
I'm just trying to make a living of it
[Hook]
Little boy blue come and bellow on your horn
The wolves are on the prowl, it's the calm before the storm
Pellet riddled littles and the blood is lukewarm
They burning down the town, now we ringing the alarm
New crews swarm, said he wasn't armed
Pellet riddled littles and the blood is lukewarm
Pellet riddled littles and the blood is lukewarm
Pellet riddled littles and the blood is lukewarm
[Verse 3]
Seven four cents to a dollar, wage war (wage war)
Politician in your pocket, you get what you pay for
We the Black diamonds, but the white ones weigh more (way more, way more)
White ones weigh more
Breadwinner working double-time to even up the score
He stacked a bit of lettuce but they got accounts offshore
Got accounts offshore
And instead of serving sentences we serving chapters
Ever after never coming, throw the whole book at him
Only thing we running is the risk of getting captured
And a masters ain't a factor when free labor's what they after
n***a run faster
Phone interview so I tone down my accent
Make them feel at ease, they don't need to know I'm Black yet
Trying to appease because I need to pay the back rent
Get my hair pressed, been a while since I last went
Summertime air, better not let my hair sweat
Cleaner than a reverend at a river doing backbends (hallelujah)
Whole days work, but I'm bringing home a fraction
That's the cost of living when you chillin' in your Black skin
[Pre-Hook]
Sixty-four cents to a dollar, wage war (wage war)
Politician in your pocket, you get what you paid for
We the Black diamonds, but the white ones weigh more (way more, way more)
White ones weigh more
We the Black diamonds, but the white ones weigh more (way more, way more)
White ones weigh more
We the Black diamonds, but the white ones weigh more (way more, way more)
White ones weigh more
We the Black diamonds, but the white ones weigh more (I'm just trying to make a living)
Wage war
[Hook]