[00:20.538]Night blows, stoves don't work, hoes at work
[00:23.279]A warrior, so I wear 'em on my shirt
[00:25.847]Wish I was free as Che was, I spend a day buzzed
[00:28.766]Trippin' off heights, wishin' for nights in different flavors
[00:31.086]The age of Kane and Big Daddy, short-body Caddies
[00:33.782]Uncles named Larry, that really never grabbed me
[00:36.386]My mother gave birth but she really never had me
[00:38.980]Left to the hood to play daddy
[00:41.104]Raised by niggas named Butch, Scoot or Bae-Bae
[00:43.091]With weight so they weigh they status on the streets
[00:45.614]License plates that say they, motto
[00:48.051]This is Chicago in the heyday
[00:49.933]Similar to Good Times, I guess that I was JJ
[00:52.539]A skinny nigga, young girls with Penny figures
[00:55.726]So many niggas, stacked upon each other
[00:57.748]It's the black upon each other that we love so much
[01:00.261]Wonder how many of us, these drugs gonna touch
[01:03.035]Used to gangbang, ain't really thug that much
[01:05.635]Rather have some thick broads and a dutch to clutch
[01:08.355]Went to school in Baton Rouge for a couple of years
[01:11.059]My college career got downed with a couple of beers
[01:13.744]Came back home, now I gotta pay back loans
[01:16.391]Same nigga, same block, same shit they on
[01:19.074]Only thing different, quicker, they click that chrome
[01:21.673]In my defense, yo, I had to hit that zone
[01:24.406]Man to man, I'm good workin' with my hands
[01:27.008]My generation never understood workin' for the man
[01:29.673]And, of being broke I ain't a fan
[01:32.335]Now I stand in the same spot as my old man
[01:35.090]My life I planned not to be on this corner
[01:37.606]I still wanna see California
[01:39.917]But this is my world
[01:42.538]
[01:43.043]It's your world
[02:01.238]
[02:01.843]Life and death flow around us
[02:03.641]Four pounds and pounds of herb from out of towners
[02:06.137]It's hard to stay grounded
[02:07.103]We stay high, that's why old folks down us
[02:09.749]Lost, nobody found us, the force that surrounds us
[02:12.323]Ain't with us, they get us on the ground and hit us
[02:14.948]We paint pictures of the chains under their names and scriptures
[02:17.839]Removed from Earth, only to return through birth
[02:20.405]Knew this girl sellin' her body, wish she knew what it was worth
[02:23.091]Between God and trash, lookin' in every car that pass
[02:26.602]With a walk that suggests head, to milk niggas she was breastfed
[02:30.318]She know dairy so she say cheese to get bread
[02:33.071]In the area where it's more weaves and less dreads
[02:35.642]Kinda scary, amongst thieves and base-heads
[02:38.538]Said it was her toes, but I could tell her soul hurt
[02:41.398]She was cold turk, growin' up she got to know hurt
[02:44.004]Very well in a world where self hate is overt
[02:46.418]Her stepfather thought he was Ike, so her mother he strike
[02:49.636]She got to like like-minded niggas, who liked crimes and figures
[02:52.593]Doin' white lines and liquor, see hard times had kicked her
[02:55.729]In the ass, it used to be thicker
[02:58.378]Life is fast, some choose to be quicker
[03:00.399]I remember in high school she had a passion to sing
[03:02.946]Now she see herself in a casket in dreams
[03:05.564]These are the children of crack and rap, blacks that lack
[03:08.304]Self-esteem, yo we forgot the dream
[03:11.108]On our Jeffersons y'all but we forgot the theme
[03:13.607]In the Chi, we even rootin' for a garbage team
[03:16.290]This queen never seen herself on this Corner
[03:19.223]She still wanna see California
[03:21.242]But this is her world
[03:23.471]
[03:24.018]It's your world
[03:52.538]
[03:53.149]I wanna be a pediatrician
[03:54.163]I wanna be a governor
[03:56.113]I want to be a artist
[03:57.393]I want to be a veterinarian
[03:59.636]I wanna be a model
[04:00.513]I wanna be a doctor
[04:01.727]I wanna be a ballet dancer
[04:03.827]I wanna be a football player
[04:04.908]I wanna be a astronaut
[04:07.589]I wanna be a obstetrician
[04:09.187]I wanna be a doctor
[04:10.911]I wanna be a nurse
[04:12.889]I wanna be a fashionista
[04:15.368]I want to be a gym teacher
[04:16.751]I wanna be a architect
[04:17.866]I want to be a duck
[04:19.367]I wanna be a wrestler
[04:20.708]I wanna be a dancer
[04:22.241]I wanna be the first African-American female president
[04:25.137]I wanna be a police officer
[04:26.951]I wanna be a rock star
[04:27.999]I wanna be a gymnastics teacher
[04:29.848]I wanna be a captain of a police station
[04:31.518]I wanna be a drummer
[04:32.520]I wanna be an actress
[04:33.518]I wanna be a superstar
[04:35.338]
[04:35.756]Be, be here, be there, be that, be this
[04:45.515]Be grateful for life, be grateful to life
[04:51.637]Be gleeful everyday, for being the best swimmer among 500,000
[05:03.093]Be-nign, be you, be mom's mean pie
[05:11.196]Be little black Sambo with bad hair
[05:17.155]Be aware of Willie Lynch-ism
[05:22.001]Be, be boundless energy
[05:27.074]Be a four star ghetto general, be no one except I
[05:35.347](Be a strong academic student, be an A student in Sociology)
[05:37.220]Be food for thought to the growin mind, be the author of your own horoscope
[05:44.534]Be invited, be long-living, be forgiving, be not forgetful
[05:51.616]Be a proud run, only to return to fight another day
[05:58.016]Be peaceful if possible, but justice at any rate
[06:03.014]Be high when you low, be on time but know when to go
[06:08.428]Be cautious of the road to college, taking a detour through Vietnam or the Middle East
[06:16.801](Be absent of wars at any past or present fought amongst themselves)
[06:23.073]Be visual of foreclosure over your shoulder while beggin
[06:29.681]A nation built on free labor for reparation, Be a cartopographer
[06:42.066]A map maker, be able to find Afro-American land
[06:49.563]Search thoroughly, it may be close to black land
[06:56.615]Be amended 5/5ths, be amended 5/5ths human
[07:05.845]Be the owner of more land than is set aside for wild life
[07:13.042]Be cupid, to world government
[07:17.773]Be found among the truth, lost tribe
[07:23.127]Be at full strength when walking through the valley
[07:27.678]Be not foolish as temporary king of the mountain top
[07:37.345]Be a brilliant soul, sparkling in the galaxy while walking on earth
[07:47.506]Be loved by God as much as God loved Gandhi and Martin Luther King
[07:55.758]Be that last one of 144,000, be the resident of that twelfth house
[08:04.747]Be eternal