| Night blows, stoves don’t work, hoes at work |
| A warrior, so I wear 'em on my shirt |
| Wish I was free as Che was, I spend a day buzzed |
| Trippin' on heights, wishin' for Nikes in different flavors |
| The age of Kane and Big Daddy, short-body Caddies |
| Uncles named Larry, that never really grabbed me |
| My mother gave birth but she really never had me |
| Left to the hood to play daddy |
| Raised by niggas named Butch, Scoot or Bae-Bae |
| With weight so they weigh they status on the streets |
| License plates that say they, motto |
| This is Chicago in the heyday |
| Similar to Good Times, I guess that I was JJ |
| A skinny nigga, young girls with Penny figures |
| So many niggas, stacked upon each other |
| It’s the black upon each other that we love so much |
| Wonder how many of us, these drugs gonna touch |
| Used to gangbang, ain’t really thug that much |
| Rather have some thick broads and a dutch to clutch |
| Went to school in Baton Rouge for a couple of years |
| My college career got downed with a couple of beers |
| Came back home, now I gotta pay back loans |
| Same nigga, same block, same shit they on |
| Only thing different, quicker, they click that chrome |
| In my defense, yo, I had to hit that zone |
| Man to man, I’m good workin' with my hands |
| My generation never understood workin' for the man |
| And, of being broke I ain’t a fan |
| Now I stand in the same spot as my old man |
| My life I planned not to be on this corner |
| I still wanna see California |
| But this is my world |
| It’s your world |
| Life and death flow around us |
| Four pounds and pounds of bird from out of towners |
| It’s hard to stay grounded |
| We stay high, that’s why old folks down us |
| Lost, nobody found us, the force that surrounds us |
| Ain’t with us, they get us on the ground and hit us |
| We paint pictures of the chains under their names and scriptures |
| Removed from Earth, only to return through birth |
| Knew this girl sellin' her body, wish she knew what it was worth |
| Between God and trash, lookin' in every car that pass |
| With a walk that suggests head, to milk niggas she was breastfed |
| She know dairy so she say cheese to get bread |
| In the area where it’s more weaves and less dreads |
| Kinda scary, amongst thieves and base-heads |
| Said it was her toes, but I could tell her soul hurt |
| She was cold turk, growin' up she got to know hurt |
| Very well in a world where self hate is overt |
| Her stepfather thought he was Ike, so her mother he strike |
| She got to like like-minded niggas, who liked crimes and figures |
| Doin' white lines and liquor, see hard times had kicked her |
| In the ass, it used to be thicker |
| Life is fast, some choose to be quicker |
| I remember in high school she had a passion to sing |
| Now she see herself in a casket in dreams |
| These are the children of crack and rap, blacks that lack |
| Self-esteem, yo we forgot the dream |
| On our Jeffersons y’all but we forgot the theme |
| In the Chi, we even rootin' for a garbage team |
| This queen never seen herself on this Corner |
| She still wanna see California |
| But this is her world |
| It’s your world |
| I wanna be a pediatrician |
| I wanna be a governor |
| I want to be a artist |
| I wanna be a veterinarian |
| I wanna be a model |
| I wanna be a doctor |
| I wanna be a ballet dancer |
| I wanna be a football player |
| I wanna be a astronaut |
| I wanna be a obstetrician |
| I wanna be a doctor |
| I wanna be a nurse |
| I wanna be a fashion designer |
| I want to be a gym teacher |
| I wanna be a architect |
| I want to be a duck |
| I wanna be a wrestler |
| I wanna be a dancer |
| I wanna be the first African-American female president |
| I wanna be a police officer |
| I wanna be a rock star |
| I wanna be a gymnastics teacher |
| I wanna be a captain of a police station |
| I wanna be a drummer |
| I wanna be an actress |
| I wanna be a superstar |
| Be, be here, be there, be that, be this |
| Be grateful for life, be grateful to life |
| Be gleeful everyday, for being the best swimmer among 500,000 |
| Be-nign, be you, be mom’s mean pie |
| Be little black Sambo with bad hair |
| Be aware of Willie Lynch-ism |
| Be, be boundless energy |
| Be a four star ghetto general, be no one except I |
| Be a strong academic student, be an A student in Sociology |
| Be food for thought to the growin mind, be the author of your own horoscope |
| Be invited, be long-living, be forgiving, be not forgetful |
| Be a proud run, only to return to fight another day |
| Be peaceful if possible, but justice at any rate |
| Be high when you low, be on time but know when to go |
| Be cautious of the road to college, taking a detour through Vietnam or the |
| Middle East |
| Be absent of wars at any past or present fought amongst themselves |
| Be visual of foreclosure over your shoulder while beggin |
| A nation built on free labor for reparation, Be a cartographer |
| A map maker, be able to find Afro-American land |
| Search thoroughly, it may be close to black land |
| Be amended 5/5ths, be amended 5/5ths human |
| Be the owner of more land than is set aside for wild life |
| Be cupid, to world government |
| Be found among the truth, lost tribe |
| Be at full strength when walking through the valley |
| Be not foolish as temporary king of the mountain top |
| Be a brilliant soul, sparkling in the galaxy while walking on earth |
| Be loved by God as much as God loved Gandhi and Martin Luther King |
| Be that last one of 144,000, be the resident of that twelfth house |
| Be… eternal |