Intro (American Gangster)

[Denzel Washington from 'American Gangster']

"Man I worked for, had one of the biggest companies in New York City

He didn't own his own company

White man owned it, so they owned him

Nobody owns me though."

[Speech: Idris Elba, (Angel Wood)]

(Your gangster is not defined)

Your gangster is not defined by how low your jeans fall by your waist

But, more how your genes stand up to their expectations

"Never forgetting where we came from"

(Your gangster, your gangster)

Your gangster is not defined by how many rocks are in your watch

But rather, how many rocks you move while owning the watch

(Gangsters, hustlers, Republicans, Democrats, pimps and hoes)

Conservatives, Labour – the seller, the buyer, the product, the producer

"See you are what you are in this world"

The gangster is absorbed and adored by those that don't understand the laws that govern the gangsterment

(Gangsterment, gangsterment)

Gangsterment allows you to make up your own laws

And create brand new words, gangster mentality (Gangster mentality)

An American way – created by the white, mastered by the black

And absorbed by the fiends

Taxed by the governmentality (Governmentality), charted by Forbes

If you believe in JAY-Z, then you too can be a gangster

(Then you too can be a gangster)

By any means necessary, by owning that dream

I mean it's a long walk to freedom

But, while deep, deep, deep inside the bush

(The War on Terror screams – damn, it feels good)

Damn, it feels good to be a gangster, haha

(To be a gangster, swagger is not a must, it's a liability

A cliché, a bad suit, cut the bullshit

You know if it wasn't for this, there would be no that)

Which we call, the American Gangster