Something for my godson Elijah and little boy named Kareem Some say the blacker the better, the sweeter the juice I say the darker the flesh and the deeper the roots I give a holler to my sister's own welfare 2 o'clock kids, if don't nobody else cares And uh, I know they like to beat you down a lot When you come around the block, brothers clown a lot But please, don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up Forgive but don't forget, girl keep your head And when he tells you you ain't nothing, don't believe him And if you can't learn to love you, you should leave him Cause sister you don't need And I ain't trying to gas you up, I just call him how I see You know what makes me unhappy? My brothers make dates and leave a young mother to be a cat And since we all came from a woman, got our name from a woman And I came from a woman I wonder why we take from our women, why we rape our women Do we hate our women? I think it's time we kill for our women, time to heal our women Be real to our women And if we don't we'll have a race of babies That will hate the ladies that make the babies And since a man can't make one He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one So will the real men get up? I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up Keep your head up, ooh child Things are gonna get easy Keep your head up, ooh child Things will get brighter Keep your head up, ooh child Things are gonna get easy Keep your head up, ooh child Things will get brighter I remember Marvin Gaye used to say to me He had me feeling like black was the thing to be And suddenly the ghetto didn't seem so tough And though we had it rough, we always had enough I hopped up off of my curfew and broke the rules Ran with the local crew and had a smoke or two I realized mama really paid the price She nearly gave her life to raise me right And all I had to give her was my vice Wait for how I'm off the mic and make it to the bright screen I'm trying to make a dollar out of fifty cents It's hard to be legit and still pay your rent They say you're written in the end, it seems I'm heading for the bend I try to find my friends, but they're blowing in the wind Last night my body lost its whole family It's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity It seems the rain will never let up I try to keep my head up And still keep from getting wetter You know it's funny when it rains it pours They got money for wars but can't feed the poor Said there ain't no hope for the youth And the truth is there ain't no hope for the future And didn't they wonder why we crazy I blame my mother for turning my brother into a black baby We ain't meant to survive cause it's a setup And even though you fed us Give me your bed, ooh child Things are gonna get easy Give me your bed, ooh child Things will get brighter Give me your bed, ooh child Things are gonna get easy Give me your bed, ooh child Things will get brighter And I'm told the ladies have their babies on their own I know it's kinda rough when you're feeling all alone Daddy's long gone and he left you by your lonesome Thanks the Lord for my kids even if somebody else want em Cause I think we can make it in fact I'm sure And if you fall stand tall and come back for more Cause ain't nothing worse than when your son wants to know Why his daddy don't love him no more You can't complain you were stealthy Held up a hand without a man feeling helpless Because there's too many things for you to deal with Dying inside but outside you're looking fit Why the tears is rolling down your cheek Is that coping things don't all fall this week Cause if it did you couldn't take it And don't blame me I was given this world I didn't make it And now my son's getting old I ain't old, I ain't cold From having the world on his shoulders While the rich kids are driving bids I'm still trying to hold on to surviving friends And it's crazy, it seems he'll never let up But please, you gotta keep your head up