In the Field

[Intro: Malcolm X and Styles P] There was two kind of slaves. There was the house negro and the field negro. The house negro they lived in the house, with master. The house negro, if the master said "We got a good house here," the house negro said, "Yeah we got a good house here." Whenever the master said we, he said we. That's how you can tell a house negro. If the master got sick, the house negro will say "What's the matter boss, we sick?" We sick!?! That was that house negro. In those days, he was called a house nigga and [The truth ain't negative, nor positive, it's just the truth, ya dig?] that's what we call them today cause we still got some house niggas running around here [Verse 1: Styles P] Yeah it's black on black crime but it's blue on black crime Police killin' the brown man and doing no time The judge is a Nazi, but he ain't in the Klan The jail's the plantation they spread it across the land I'm thinkin' what will that change? If big industry money pays for campaigns (think about it) I know the 1 percenters lovin' that the gov run the people But people should run the government The day of reckonin' is when the sleep wakes up And the 99 percenters can really cake up I ain't go to Harvard or Yale, I went to jail Behold a horse that's pale, and the slave ship sails It ain't on water, but I know who's steerin' it The reptilians hid the truth about the pyramids, damn My genetics is kinetic, the devil is a lie His agenda is pathetic [Chorus: Styles P & Talib Kweli] I ain't no house nigga, I be in the field, I be in the field, I be in the field But I ain't a slave, I'm a king and that's real I be in the field, I be in the field (house nigga) I ain't no house nigga, I be in the field, I be in the field, I be in the field If we ain't got freedom, we ain't got free will I be in the field, I be in the field [Verse 2: Talib Kweli] Yeah there's black on black crime But there's white on white crime When you adjust for population all the numbers they align So why we never hear white on white on the nightly news? Ain't no profit in over-criminalizin' white dudes Poverty breeds criminals but watch what you call me Because if I'm a criminal what about bankers on Wall Street? Or the fast food industry that be feeding us horse meat? Been this way since in the fields picking sugar or coffee nigga I ain't no house nigga, I be in the field Probably with the steel now they got me on the wheel With the ghost, too confident to be cocky to keep it real We veto that phony shit and block it like a bill Whether Bobby by the pound, or Whitney by the ki We movin' weight it's a mistake to get money and make it free They'll lock up Jesus when they see wooly hair and burnt feet If you a felon you a slave, remember the thirteenth, nigga [Chorus: Styles P & Talib Kweli] I ain't no house nigga, I be in the field, I be in the field, I be in the field But I ain't a slave, I'm a king and that's real I be in the field, I be in the field (house nigga) I ain't no house nigga, I be in the field, I be in the field, I be in the field If we ain't got freedom, we ain't got free will I be in the field, I be in the field [Verse 3: Styles P] I thought Barack could have been a spook who sat by the door But he signed a dark act middle finger to the law Now I gotta get a foreign plan to eat raw But I wouldn't be surprised if they killed me on tour Life is a bitch, America is a whore Get sick and try to see this little picture I draw You can have a gun but need bullets to go to war You already half-dead from the food that's in the stores [Verse 4: Talib Kweli] Ghost these rappers ain't better tellin' tales so tall A whole industry of employees pretendin' that they the boss Niggas that you thought was official is fallin' off Shit ain't been the same since the '95 Source Every breath that we take is a threat, they pissed off If we alive we get put in the system and get lost My mother scared for us, prepared for the loss But sayin' shit like if you die make sure you got on clean drawers [Chorus: Styles P & Talib Kweli] I ain't no house nigga, I be in the field, I be in the field, I be in the field But I ain't a slave, I'm a king and that's real I be in the field, I be in the field (house nigga) I ain't no house nigga, I be in the field, I be in the field, I be in the field If we ain't got freedom, we ain't got free will I be in the field, I be in the field [Outro: Malcolm X] I'm a field negro. Just as the slave master of that day used Tom, the house negro, to keep the field negroes in check, the same old slave master today has negroes who are nothing but modern Uncle Tom's to keep you and me in check, keep us passive and peaceful. It's like when you go to the dentist, and the man is gon' take your tooth, you gon' fight him when he start pulling. So they squirt some stuff in your jaw called Novocaine, to make you think they not doing anything to you. So you sit there and cause you got all that Novocaine in your jaw you suffer, peacefully