hannibal lecture
public enemy
being here in america doesn't make you an american
being born here in america doesn't make you an american
why if birth made you an american you wouldn't need any legislation
you wouldn't need any amendments to the constitution
i don't see any american dream
i see an american nightmare
i'm one of the 42 million black people who are the victims of america
aiyyo we all in together now
cause you know we do work
mashin in my chevy down the streets of new york
snatch flav as my dual pipes burn up the block
on the street they hear my beat
some reporter wanna holla and i said it was cool
wanna know about the album and the enemy's new
how p.e. and guerilla funk is keepin it movin
breakin bread talkin politics
'bout the war and how it's shitty that we murder for dough
then the reporter asked a question
i would act if every day was maybe my last
how if every day i worried 'bout my family in this
i'd be murdered on these street in a puddle of piss
or if i would get some news that my brother had died
if they ran up in my house and held my kids and my wife
or if we was looted and somebody took all our thangs
if my sister was abducted
when i made the parallels with how they livin abroad
these pigs ride deep in the streets
cap a nigga for his wallet
and the cold part about it
life is cheaper than that
down there people on the bottom kill each other for scraps
propoganda got the people confused
damned by the media that keep 'em subdued
seen a lot of shit in my life
same ghetto birds swirlin at night
same outsiders where we live enforcin the law
gats clappin on the streets
same prisons full of brothers herded in like sheep
same turncoats that'll burn folks for pay
same conditions in communities we die everyday
same brutality and ignorance
to break the motherfuckin cycle
that's why i'm fresh out of tears for 'em
even though my heart goes out
what the fuck you cryin 'bout?
when the way we live is shitty where's the love for our own?
maybe i'll be suicided cause i hit you with truth
see they kill for less than what we say on records to you
hear the message in the music from a rebel to you