So Tough

It's all around us everywhere we look you see it everyday

my brotherman's smile is upside down going the wrong way

I dig deep and try to search for the cause

is the answer in the nine milli stuck in my drawers

or is it coincidence the projects is full of blacks

and when you're black and trying to get ahead they pull you back

we went from African kings to Martin Luther King

now they wanna make us all Rodney King

so they conspire to murder for hire

is the world just a big cup of water trying to douse the black fire

is it because I'm the man that you brought to this land

and rose above being labelled as a field head

I made hustle a trade in the ninth grade

figured out a way to get paid before I got laid

but either way I got my hands in a cuff

I got my grill guarded and I knuckle up cause it's real tough

How can I find who's the real divine

when everytime I take a book and take a look my strong mind sees a new sign

my black woman degrades me

so I grab the clothes, get the gun, kiss the kid and I get swayze

should I think about the baby at home and go back

or should I just say 'fuck it' and leave it alone

I'm on the road like Billy Jack never looking back

with the fat mack eleven in the backpack

will another man take my place and have my child screaming daddy

looking all in his face

or do I turn around and make it up

or do I let my pride take control and make it real tough

Who do I follow and who do I lead

do they really wanna help me or is it just greed

is everybody all for self to get wealth

the street wanna dust me off and throw me on the shelves

is he my man or is he trying to play me

or is he some hitman, somebody sent to lay me

can I turn a young black boy into a man

can I kick a rhyme and spread knowledge to a fan

or do I gotta play the role just to be like

like a whole lotta suckers I know that get the mic

do I let a label change me to something I'm not

and make records that cold flop whenever they drop

who do I blame if I'm not in succes

do I blame it on my pops that left when I was feeding on my momma's breast

or do I blame it on society

with all this black-white stuff, man this shit is real tough