It Ain't Fair

[Intro: Bilal] Oh, brother, hmm It's still a mystery, yeah Will you hear my cry? Won't you hear my plea? Ohhhhh, ohhh 'Cause I'll never know (I'll never know) How it feels (How it feels) How it feels (How it feels) Oh, how it feels (How it feels) To be To be Free [Verse 1: Bilal] People swear they woke, but they walking in their sleep I pray the Lord their souls to keep Because wolves disguised as sheep patrol our streets And we all know, that which you sow, you shall reap Those who do know, you should teach Through every loophole, we gon' leap until you reach A common ground and become unbound Because when your whole town becomes a battleground Tears raining down [Chorus 1: Bilal] Because it ain't fair It's hard when you're looking for love And it ain't there Or trying to read what tomorrow holds When it ain't clear Because the well is running dry Race-tension is running high Under 21 is far too young to die My salvation's under fire This marks a rising of the tide [Verse 2: Black Thought] Every day I wear a mask like an umpire Guess a nigga gotta laugh to keep from crying Tonight another friend passed on the young side It's bad 'cause a good friend's hard to come by Justice is never color blind, never gun shy For one crime, you may never see the sunshine We know if one-time's giving you the finger 'round here It means "fuck you," it's not the number one sign I hear they turning downtown to the front line It's something like the same place, but it ain't safe They took it from the human race to a tank chase The Devil feeding off hate, so he gain weight There's tainted waters in the well, so we can't taste People dazed and amazed, though it ain't grace Impossible to coexist in the same space Enter the black saint with the war-paint face [Verse 3: Bilal] This generation, we've forsaken all that's real What emotions do we feel? Is your poison called a pistol—or a pill? Some people say, "Let Jesus take the wheel" Others say, "Thou shall not kill" But that old time religion ain't gon' pay my bills We've come so far, yet, here we are Bruised and scarred, presumed inferior We ain't scared o' y'all [Chorus 1: Bilal] It ain't fair It's hard when you're looking for love And it ain't there Or try to read what tomorrow holds When it ain't clear Because the well is running dry Racial tension is running high Under 21 is far too young to die My salvation's under fire Rising and rising, oh! [Verse 4: Black Thought] To my, Arabs, Israelis, Native American, Mexicans Invested in wrestling with Willie Lynch's next to kin The rising of the tied noose around the necks again Look how they try to hide proof of all the excellence The only tag you know me as? His Holy Swag Through any glass window, we smash and brodie bags It's come to pass, I'm unabashed, so we have An awareness of the only flag that's growing fast I guess I'm tryna minimize regrets, I identify with death That don't mean it's not an uninvited guest I'm just tryna answer all of my requests And express, in 140 characters or less Why I'm the best educator, re-legislated, premeditated Dedicated, heavyweight that ever paid it with blood, not tuition Without a cop's permission I got a pot to piss in despite the opposition Listen [Chorus 2: Bilal] Oh, it ain't fair It's hard when you're looking for love But it ain't there Try to read what tomorrow holds And it ain't clear Because the well is running dry And it ain't fair No, it ain't there No, it ain't fair Looking for justice and it's just us It ain't fair There's a riot going on out there And it ain't fair When your protector is your predator It ain't fair No, it ain't fair No, it ain't fair Y'all just gon' turn the other way No, it ain't fair Turn a bloody cheek on these bloody streets It ain't fair It ain't fair It ain't fair No, it ain't fair No, no No, no No, no No, no