Public Enemy - Preachin' to the Quiet lyrics

Celebrity the new drug In America Gotta have it Gotta be it So the young ones can see it Watch out now Looka here now In these rich or die tryin times Y'all see the greed that I see Got these cats Whipped by TV 3 generations of fatherless women We drownin instead of swimmin This ain't what y'all asked for That's what they locked ya a** up for And they closed the door Beyond these streets These kids, they be always watchin See it ain't been the same Since Teen Summit left the game Off the air, who cares? Now kids get programmed Ask their peoples Who buy them almost everything the stars wear People see, people do Y'all see the new pied pipers They got a hold on you Back to the boogaloo Get a shot So you don't catch the flu Don't get shot And get a hole in you (Can I get an amen?) Maybe I'm Preachin' to the quiet You see, I'm talkin advanced But goin back at the same time Rewind So what, some of this song don't rhyme Like I said Most of us get ghetto at the wrong time Fear So leave a little room for god Up in here Back in the day Even real pimps, hustlers, players Told young cats C'mon get your lives on track These raps you hear today Is a bad a** act I'm here to tell it Like it ought to be It ain't no kids fault to me 35 years old Actin 16 Know what I mean You don't work, mean you don't eat You need more than a ball And some bomb a** beats New kicks on your feet Need your mind in these times To compete Make your world complete Sweet not sour That's what I call fightin the power Here it is, no fable I put it all on the table Spendin my time Identifyin who behind Some of these labels Who profit off the spit Some of the same way same cats That owned them ships Yes It's a business But slavery was too Prison industrial complex New slavery lookin To own you Ownin the labels, stations, jails and cemeteries Thug life Turnin hip hop into a one stop shop Somebody behind Makin up your own damn mind Signed, sealed delivered In a n******g package So dumb you can't hear The ignorance protected By the backpacker Who co-signed the say so Claimin they dug the flow Filled wit Jim Crow Return of the old negro How you gonna say no to d** If you don't say no to thugs See the government Sweep it deeper Under the rug Maybe Maybe I'm Preachin' to the quiet Talk the talk Walk the walk I'm preachin' to the quiet