How am I supposed to act?
I'm young, black, from Detroit, and the ghetto
I'm supposed to be a thug, not your average fellow
I know, I need to have a gun instead of a book and pen
I need to sell drugs to ruin other men
Why can't I just feed them lines instead?
They might end up inspired instead of dead
Feed them line by line until the streets can't cope anymore
They'll be bored with just sitting around day by day
And they'll start trying poetry instead of typical rapping
They'll develop their brains and go to libraries
Brothers will get smarter, we'll regain revolutionaries
Black panthers in detroit? there'll surely be another riot
But they're all too scared to try it
Too afraid to be individuals working towards common goals
but brave enough to fill another brother with holes
stab, shoot, steal just to live another day
or because of the greed that's come into play