Changes

[Verse 1]

I see no changes, wake up in the morning and I ask myself

Is life worth livin'? Should I blast myself?

I'm tired of bein' poor and, even worse, I'm black

My stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch

Cops give a damn about a negro

Pull the trigger, kill a–, he's a hero

"Give the crack to the kids, who the hell cares?

One less hungry mouth on the welfare!"

First ship 'em dope and let 'em deal to brothers

Give 'em guns, step back, watch 'em kill each other

"It's time to fight back," that's what Huey said

Two shots in the dark, now Huey's dead

I got love for my brother

But we can never go nowhere unless we share with each other

We gotta start makin' changes

Learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers

And that's how it's supposed to be

How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me? (Uh)

I'd love to go back to when we played as kids

But things change… and that's the way it is

[Chorus]

Things will never be the same

[Verse 2]

I see no changes, all I see is racist faces

Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races

We under, I wonder what it takes to make this

One better place, let's erase the wasted (Yeah)

Take the evil out the people, they'll be actin' right

‘Cause both black and white are smokin' crack tonight

And the only time we chill is when we kill each other (Yeah)

It takes skill to be real, time to heal each other

And although it seems heaven-sent

We ain't ready to see a black president

Uh, tt ain't a secret, don't conceal the fact

The penitentiary's packed and it's filled with blacks

But some things will never change

Try to show another way but you stayin' in the dope game

Now tell me, what's a mother to do?

Bein' real don't appeal to the brother in you

You gotta operate the easy way

"I made a G today," but you made it in a sleazy way

Sellin' crack to the kids

"I gotta get paid!" — well hey, but that's the way it is

[Chorus]

Things will never be the same, oh

Oh, yeah

[Verse 3]

And still I see no changes; can't a brother get a little peace?

It's war on the streets and a war in the Middle East

Instead of war on poverty

They got a war on drugs so the police can bother me

And I ain't never did a crime I ain't have to do

But now I'm back with the blacks, givin' it back to you

Don't let 'em jack you up, back you up

Crack you up and pimp-smack you up

You gotta learn to hold your own

They get jealous when they see you with your mobile phone

But tell the cops, "Don't touch this"

I don't trust this, when they try to rush I bust this

That's the sound of my tool

You say it ain't cool, but mama ain't raise no fool

And as long as I stay black, I gotta stay strapped

And I never get to lay back

‘Cause I always got to worry 'bout the paybacks

Some buck that I roughed up way back

Comin' back after all these years

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat," that's the way it is

[Outro]

Oh, oh, oh

Oh, oh, oh

Oh, oh, oh