“[1]
I'm still standing where the terror lives
Swear that I don't wanna sleep but taking sedatives
For the pain
And they keep blaming me for being hurt, needing work, seeing certain defeat
In the mirror I see me
And it's clear what reap we sowing over and over
Goals of a soldier—just tryna live. Look over our shoulders
Just hoping that knowing better, expecting fire to come
And still they ask, “If he wasn't guilty, why did he run?”
For one, I'm guilty of being black as the night
And two, I'm too aware of your fear of it. Fight or flight
The righter right, in the brightest light, ain't gone try to write my type of sight as the kind of plight that'll spark the dynamite to make the world see
Me as a human being. Sure as breathing leads to dying
You and me ain't seeing I the same. I done claimed victory before
It's the history of my fore
Fathers and you ain't ‘bout be bothered to try to learn it
[Hook]
If it's all about these words I write
Then I hope that you receive ‘em
And more that you can believe ‘em
It seems nobody wants that...
They telling me back then it was bad to have black skin
I'm paying the cost now
And saying we lost how
We can make what little we have into something better
I think it's all in the...
[2]
As sure as property costs and I gotta turn what I know into real estate
When the realest state of reality bites
And the dealer takes from the pot before the card's even dealt
There's other things on my mind that I'm more concerned with
Not what Momma taught—The Golden Rule—
“Do unto who…what was done to you.” This sh**'ll be burning now
But the schools want me to think that I'm doomed—but I ain't going
I'm living and trying to get it. I'm s'posed to be learning how
And they just teaching me to hate myself
‘bout chains that I'm s'posed to break myself
That ‘justice' means “wait for help”
That ‘good life' means “take for self.”
I'm busy redefining ‘great' for self
So when you hear me say “word to words.” just know the purpose behind it
You see my work is defining me for myself
I still stand where the terror lives
And they keep telling me to take but instead I give…my word
[Hook]
If it's all about these words I write
Then I hope that you receive ‘em
And more that you can believe ‘em
It seems nobody wants that...
They telling me back then it was bad to have black skin
I'm paying the cost now
And saying we lost how
We can make what little we have into something better
I think it's all in the...”