Man sometimes I’ll be feeling like Joe Black
Like nobody has my back
Aching for my goals big or small
But somebody waiting to stamp me in the back
My dad has me feeling like Black is the thing to be
But how can I feel that way when the odds are always stacked
Like Dave said, 20-1, the odds of me making it home without getting blasted in the head
Head 20-1 the odds of this girl not giving me head
Head putting this hoody on my head
20-1 and this lady switching lanes like OJ in ‘95
But this time the bad guy is the one chasing
And yeah, I had her chasing
Holding her purse with two hands
The more she running the darker it gets
Stopped at a dark alley, the scene is set
Hand on her phone she starts dialing 9-1-1
9-1-1 emergency, white girl scared in a white neighborhood.
Is it a Black man?
Yeas Black he is.
Quick, quick, quick, we will be there in a minute
Police on their way I know I have to move quick
Stay away from me
Madame I am not here to harm you
So why are you walking hood down in this neighborhood?
Cause I have demons in my mind and that hoody is the only thing that keeps them away
You see this hoodie is a defense mechanism
That’s not true!
I’ve seen it on the news
Black man you’re built
Hoody up drive by brood day.
All you niggas dressing the same, looking the same
Yet I am not supposed to be scared
Black man kills Black man, gets killed every day on the news for us to see
Yet you want my empathy
And you here chasing me but scared to chase a job employment sheet
Chasing me but it would be a lot harder to chase your dreams
No, you would rather hate and kill the ones that did
You know what that equals
A jail sentence that’s quick math
For what a quick way out of father hood
Leaving your baby mama to the streets
Oui oui another crackhead is born
And your son will become the man he hates.
I’ll be nice, I’ll give him 16 years before he becomes the new you
And you wonder why you niggas haven’t made it
Yes, I said Nigga, but am not racist
A nigga is what you are
A Black man is what those slaves that came on boats were
I wish we could switch up
At least with them I would feel more safe
I wish we had a time machine so we could go back and see what hard life was about
Maybe then you’ll see how easy you have it
And don’t say I’m just white, I can’t understand
My parents also came here in a boat
Grandparents died so my parents could make it here
Life of an immigrant
Small house cramped family of five
Not all of us made it,
But that’s fine.
Yeah, it wasn’t as dramatic as you, but it took me two generations to get where I am
It’s been 300 years, stop finding excuses for yourself
And now you’re about to go to a cell next to your dad
O, wait, is he dead?
Answer me
Why would I answer you?
I haven’t spoken yet, you’re already judging me
Judging the choices that other people made
Just because their skin Black
It has nothing to do with me
But between me and you I don’t blame you
You see I was watching The Boondocks the other day
I couldn’t laugh when I realized all that shit was true
Truth is, when I find that out, I questioned myself just like you did
Am not here to give you a history lesson about the N word
Because if you cared you would know that it’s not just a word
A word that me and my niggas used to greet each other
But you wouldn’t never be able to say it until you walking next to me without being scared
Not until the liquor store get replaced with Whole Foods
Not until I just need to say I’m American and not African American
You know am not even mad at you
How can I be mad?
Am really just sad
You know like King said
I have a dream too
I got a girl you see
two on the way
Am young you see
And yes, my mom was a crackhead, but she still managed to put the bills on the table
No, I didn’t have a father
But I had Uncle Fill so it counts the same
But still thought, you know why I’m scared
My girl she is white
Her parents live on Park
Am scared to meet them
Have a crazy feeling that tells me to “Get Out”
And I can’t bring her home
Black women would hate me
Thinking I don’t love them enough
Thinking they’re not good enough
My mom probably regret sending me to that private school
At least that’s what my boys do
They just think am whitewashed
Cause I don’t want to pick up a tool or do a drill
Cause I don’t want to play dice or go to cookouts
Even my white friends think the same
Has me questioning what being Black really is
Cause if am Black how can I not be Black enough
And my two kids are neither white nor black
So, what are they supposed to do?
They’ll have it even worse than me
Girl wants an abortion
She mad at me cause I don’t want her to
She says am anti-women
Cause I am not supporting Me Too
But me too, don’t I have a say?
I want to be there for my kids
I want them to call me Dad
I wish I could of called someone Dad
But she doesn’t understand that
Me too, I want to be there
Since when is it wrong to be pro-life?
You see I have goals one day
Or as you guys like it
I have dreams
I want to be a father to two mix-kids
Am going to find a job so I can provide for them
I want to protect them cause I know they’ll have it the hardest
But my heart is set
Yeah, am not perfect, we are not perfect
But we can’t give up now
Cause stopping now is giving up on the future, for me stopping now is giving up on them
How could I be a man if I couldn’t protect my family?
It might not be fancy, but it will do
And I want to finish this
By giving this to you
Your credit card you drop it
I hope it will change how you see—
Hands up
Is that a gun?
He’s reaching for a gun
No.
Bang bang
Hashtag this, hashtag that
Another Black man on the news
Go hashtag that!
BLM this BLM that
How about you go save a Black man
Before putting it in a bio
Everybody is for Black Lives Matter
But we never believed that Black Lives Mattered
We always the enemy
Can you please show me some empathy?
Some Sympathy
Nah, fuck your sympathy
I’ll always pick the harder road
Cause I know if I make it out
I deserved it
But is that the right mentality?
No, but it’s the only option
And that’s honesty
Black man with a gun, that’s terrifying
Scar face with a gun, that’s glorifying
Black man goes to Harvard
That’s glorifying
Just like giving a dollar to a homeless man
White men
Go to Harvard
That’s normal
Just like seeing white people in Beverly Hills
And black people in the ghetto hills