I’m gettin’ militant totally bent out of shape
About the state of hate and now, it’s time to drape
A flag over the casket and start to get drastic
The microphone’s ready…so, yo, I’ve gotta have it
To express myself in the way that I choose
I’m not gonna speak soft or sing the blues
So if a profane word slips from my lips
I’m not gonna change it ‘cause I meant that shit
A verse with a curse is considered as worse
As an idea they fear was made to coerce
A new way of thinking, a change of attitude
I advocate speaking out and if I’m rude...I’m rude
Limit what I say...surely, you jest
‘Cause not a damn thing I say is slanderous
What you are suggesting is censorship
But my lyrics aren’t written for you to try and edit
I’m my own writer and my own editor
So stop stalking my words like you’re the predator
‘Cause no matter how you see it or how much you riff
You can’t stop the gift coming from my lips
It’s the kind of flavor the black youth savors
‘Though some redneck-types will call it nigga behavior
‘Cause it’s from a black man and they don’t understand
That I’ve witnessed with bitterness the shit in this land
And it’s not just here...it’s here and there
But a lot of us are happy if they give us welfare
See, we want to make money, but we don’t want to work
And if we see someone else getting paid, we get irked
But that’s how the system wanted it to be
So, yo, that’s why these things are just like you see
You play to win but so many lose
It’s just a simple case of the inner-city blues

See, the inner-city blues made Marvin wanna holler
And today is much worse if you’re trying to make a dollar
Crime has trickled down from the white collars
And the brothers hang out like pharmaceutical scholars
And the people bum rush ‘em like they have prescriptions
They don’t have ailments...they’ve just got addictions
I hear some say it’s getting better, but that’s just fiction
‘Cause drugs are being sold like there ain’t no restrictions
And on the streets, it’s survival of the fittest
And we smoke anyone if the sucker ain’t with us
No, they’re not making money out our block
We’ll smoke all those busters and take their rocks
No, I didn’t fight in Mr. Charlie’s war
I fight in my hood ‘cause that’s what I get paid for
Protecting my own but I’m not alone
Me and my boys are b-b-b-bad to the bone
Well, it’s another day, another sunrise
Well, ain’t a black man’s life one big surprise
 
See, I am between fifteen and thirty-five
The few, the proud, a brother still alive
I keep hope without dope and I’m doing well
I don’t bug off drugs and ain’t in drug retail
I don’t need to sell crack to even do well
Or suck on a pipe so my body gets frail
And thin and shriveled up like a raisin in the sun
My money up in smoke…hell no, I ain’t the one
I play to win, but I could still lose
It’s just a simple case of the inner-city blues

Oh well, I’ve dwelled in poverty
All of my life I was told what I would be
Some gangbanger, hoodlum or robber
‘Cause I lacked discipline and my mother never bother
To teach me or reach me...she never even beat me
She said, "You’re just like your father and you ain’t never gonna be...
Shit or amount to nothing…"
So why ask why, me and my pistol started muggin’
Straight jackin’ anyone I thought had a dime
See, I had to live…so, I lived by the crime
But jackin’ wasn’t paying me nearly enough
So, I stole me a key and started cooking rocks up
I roamed the streets all day and night
My pockets got fat ‘cause my shit was hyped
So, I kept on investing back in my product
In just a few months, I was clockin’ big bucks
I was known as the neighborhood’s pharmacist
And started franchising with a big money grip
Dough just flowin’ from a world of fiends
I could retire right now and I’m only eighteen
See, to me the end satisfies the means
And this is what it comes to when denied to dream
But the neighborhood praises me like I’m the Messiah
‘Cause I don’t front like those political liars
Yeah, it’s taking a risk, but it’s the one I’ll take
‘Cause I know there’s a whole lot of money at stake
I’m playing to win, but I could still lose
It’s just a simple case of the inner-city blues