Lyric provided by www.seekalyric.com |
Hey, yeah, we the same brothas from a long time ago We was talkinÂ' about television and doinÂ' it on the radio What we did was to help our generation realize They had to get out there and get busy cause it wasnÂ't gonna be televised We got respect for you rappers and the way they be free-weighinÂ' But if youÂ're gonÂ' be teachinÂ' folks things, make sure you know what youÂ're sayinÂ' Older folks in our neighborhood got plenty of know-how Remember if it wasnÂ't for them, you wouldnÂ't be out here now And I ainÂ't cominÂ' at you with no disrespect All IÂ'm sayinÂ' is that you damn well got to be correct Because if youÂ're gonna be speakinÂ' for a whole generation And you know enough to try and handle their education Make sure you know the real deal about past situations It ainÂ't just repeatinÂ' what you heard on the local TV stations Â…Sometimes they tell lies and put Â'em in a truthful disguise But the truth is thatÂ's why we said it wouldnÂ't be televised They donÂ't know what to say to our young folks, but they know that you do And if they really knew the truthÂ…why would they tell you? The first sign is peace, tell all them gun totinÂ' young brothas That the man is glad to see us out there killinÂ' one another We raised too much hell when they was shootinÂ' us down So they started poisoning our minds tryinÂ' to jerk us all around And they tell us they got to come in and control our situation They want half of us on dope and the other half in incarceration If the ones they want dead ainÂ't killed by what they instigated They put some dope on a brothaÂ's body and claim it was drug related Tell them drug related means there donÂ't need to be no investigation Or at least thatÂ's the way theyÂ're gonÂ' play it on the local TV stations All your 9-millimeter brothasÂ…give them somthinÂ' to think about Tell them you heard that this is the new word, they got to work that stuff out But somehow they feel in the wrong way with a gun in their hands They feel real independentÂ…but they just pullinÂ' contracts for the man Five and five will tell you itÂ's hopeless out there on the avenue But if they really knew the truthÂ…why would they tell you? And if they look at you like youÂ're insane And they start callinÂ' you scarecrow and say you ainÂ't got no brain Or start tellinÂ' folks that you suddenly gone lame Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game Or worse yet implying that you donÂ't really knowÂ… ThatÂ's the same thing they said about usÂ…a long time ago Young rappers, one more suggestion before I get out of your way But I appreciate the respect you give me and what you got to say IÂ'm sayinÂ' protect your community and spread that respect around Tell brothas and sistas they gotta calm that bullshit down Cause weÂ're terrorizinÂ' our old folks and brought fear into our homes And they ainÂ't got to hang out with the senior citizens Just tell them, Â"DammitÂ…leave the old folks aloneÂ" And we know who rippinÂ' off the neighborhood, tell them, Â"That BS has got to stop!Â" Tell them youÂ're sorry they canÂ't handle it out there But they got to take the crime off the block And if they look at you like youÂ're insane And they start callinÂ' you scarecrow and say you ainÂ't got no brain Or start tellinÂ' folks that you suddenly gone lame Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game Or worse yet saying that you really donÂ't knowÂ… ThatÂ's the same thing they said about me a long time ago And if they tell folks that you finally lost your nerve ThatÂ's the same thing they said about us, when we said, Â"JohannesburgÂ" But I think the young folks need to know, that things donÂ't go both ways You canÂ't talk respect of every other song or just every other day What IÂ'm speakinÂ' on now is the raps about the women folks On one song sheÂ's your African Queen on the next one sheÂ's a joke And you ainÂ't said no words that I havenÂ't heard, but that ainÂ't no compliment It only insults eight people out of ten and questions your intelligence Four letter words or four syllable words wonÂ't make you important ItÂ'll only magnify how shallow you are and let everybody know it And if they look at you like they think you insane Or they call you scarecrow thinkinÂ' you ainÂ't got no brain Or start tellinÂ' folks that you suddenly gone lame Or that white folks have finally co-opted your game Or you really donÂ't knowÂ…They said that about me a long time ago If they finally start to tell people that you lost your nerve ThatÂ's what they said about Johannesburg You ainÂ't insaneÂ…you have got a brain You havenÂ't gone lame; you have got your game RememberÂ…keep the nerve Keep the nerve Keep the nerve Keep the nerve Â…IÂ'm talkinÂ' about peace |