Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots I give a holler to my sisters on welfare Tupac cares if don't nobody else care I know they like to beat ya down a lot When you come around the block brothas clown a lot But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up Forgive but don't forget keep your head up And when he tells you you ain't nothin don't believe him And if he can't learn to love you you should leave him 'cause sista you don't need him And I ain't tryin to gas up, I just call em how I see em You know it makes me unhappy When brothas make babies and leave a young mother to be a pappy And since we all came from a woman Got our name from a woman and our game 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 to kill for our women Time to heal our women, be real to our women And if we don't then we'll have a race of babies That 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 would the real men get up I know your fed up ladies, but keep your head up Chorus] I remember Marvin Gaye used to sing 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 often huffed and puffed about 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 was her was my life's dream Of how I'd rock the mic, and make it to the bright screen I'm tryin' to make a dollar out of fifteen cents It's hard to be legit and still pay the rent And in the end it seems I'm headin' for the pen I try and find my friends, but they're blowin' in the wind Last night my buddy lost his whole family It's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity It seems the rain'll never let up I try to keep my head up, and still keep from gettin' wet up You know it's funny when it rains it pours They got money for wars, but can't feed the poor Say there ain't no hope for the youth and the truth is it ain't no hope for the future And then they wonder why we crazy I blame my mother, for turning my brother into a crack baby We ain't meant to survive, cause it's a setup And even though you're fed up Huh, ya got to keep your head up Chorus] And uh To all the ladies havin' babies on they own I know it's kinda rough and you're feelin' all alone Daddy's long gone and he left you by ya lonesome Thank the Lord for my kids, even if nobody else want em Cause I think we can make it, in fact, I'm sure And if you fall, stand tall and comeback for more Cause ain't nothin' worse than when your son wants to know why his daddy don't love him no mo' You can't complain you was dealt this hell of a hand without a man, feelin' helpless Because there's too many things for you to deal with Dying inside, but outside you're looking fearless While tears, is rollin' down your cheeks Ya steady hopin' things don't all down 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 gettin' older and older and cold From havin' the world on his shoulders While the rich kids is drivin' Benz I'm still tryin' to hold on to my survivin' friends And it's crazy, it seems it'll never let up, but
[00:11.55]Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice [00:13.86]I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots [00:16.43]I give a holler to my sisters on welfare [00:18.53]Tupac cares if don't nobody else care [00:22.47]I know they like to beat ya down a lot [00:25.41]When you come around the block brothas clown a lot [00:27.10]But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up [00:30.72]Forgive but don't forget keep your head up [00:33.28]And when he tells you you ain't nothin don't believe him [00:37.28]And if he can't learn to love you you should leave him [00:40.12]'cause sista you don't need him [00:42.16]And I ain't tryin to gas up, I just call em how I see em [00:44.81]You know it makes me unhappy [00:46.85]When brothas make babies and leave a young mother to be a pappy [00:50.19]And since we all came from a woman [00:52.80]Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman [00:55.51]I wonder why we take from our women [00:59.03]Why we rape our women, do we hate our women? [01:00.97]I think it's time to kill for our women [01:04.73]Time to heal our women, be real to our women [01:07.97]And if we don't then we'll have a race of babies [01:09.97]That hate the ladies that make the babies [01:11.44]And since a man can't make one [01:15.66]He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one [01:18.15]So would the real men get up [01:20.88]I know your fed up ladies, but keep your head up [01:25.72]Chorus] [01:46.05]I remember Marvin Gaye used to sing to me [01:48.91]He had me feeling like black was the thing to be [01:51.59]And suddenly the ghetto didn't seem so tough [01:53.40]And though we had it rough, we always had enough [01:56.43]I often huffed and puffed about my curfew [01:58.98]And broke the rules [02:00.59]Ran with the local crew and had a smoke or two [02:03.45]I realized mama really paid the price [02:05.57]She nearly gave her life [02:06.67]To raise me right [02:09.19]And all I had to give was her was my life's dream [02:11.44]Of how I'd rock the mic, and make it to the bright screen [02:14.22]I'm tryin' to make a dollar out of fifteen cents [02:16.69]It's hard to be legit and still pay the rent [02:19.61]And in the end it seems I'm headin' for the pen [02:22.69]I try and find my friends, but they're blowin' in the wind [02:24.82]Last night my buddy lost his whole family [02:27.54]It's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity [02:30.88]It seems the rain'll never let up [02:33.41]I try to keep my head up, and still keep from gettin' wet up [02:37.09]You know it's funny when it rains it pours [02:38.88]They got money for wars, but can't feed the poor [02:41.22]Say there ain't no hope for the youth and the truth is [02:45.93]it ain't no hope for the future [02:47.23]And then they wonder why we crazy [02:49.51]I blame my mother, for turning my brother into a crack baby [02:52.72]We ain't meant to survive, cause it's a setup [02:56.32]And even though you're fed up [02:58.51]Huh, ya got to keep your head up [03:06.22]Chorus] [03:20.51]And uh [03:21.07]To all the ladies havin' babies on they own [03:23.48]I know it's kinda rough and you're feelin' all alone [03:26.33]Daddy's long gone and he left you by ya lonesome [03:28.26]Thank the Lord for my kids, even if nobody else want em [03:31.86]Cause I think we can make it, in fact, I'm sure [03:35.80]And if you fall, stand tall and comeback for more [03:37.47]Cause ain't nothin' worse than when your son [03:40.16]wants to know why his daddy don't love him no mo' [03:42.58]You can't complain you was dealt this [03:45.13]hell of a hand without a man, feelin' helpless [03:47.77]Because there's too many things for you to deal with [03:50.67]Dying inside, but outside you're looking fearless [03:53.19]While tears, is rollin' down your cheeks [03:56.26]Ya steady hopin' things don't all down this week [03:58.80]Cause if it did, you couldn't take it, and don't blame me [04:02.86]I was given this world I didn't make it [04:06.53]And now my son's gettin' older and older and cold [04:09.38]From havin' the world on his shoulders [04:11.97]While the rich kids is drivin' Benz [04:13.92]I'm still tryin' to hold on to my survivin' friends [04:15.61]And it's crazy, it seems it'll never let up, but
