Stay Down

How many days we gonna live our life struggling on the streets
 How many days we gotta live our life searching for a way to eat
 You gotta stay down stay down just to see a brighter day
 Stay down stay down just to live a better way
 Stay down stay down just to live a brighter day
 Stay down stay down just to live a better way
 How many blacks gotta die by the hands of another
 Don't you understand that man's the same color so that man is your brother
 That's what happens when that man is from the gutter
 And that man is a hustler trying to survive, moving grams of that butter
 See, his momma was a dope fiend, poppa was a rolling stone
 he never knew what family was he grew up in a broken home
 Ever since twelve years old he was known as grown
 'cause ever since twelve years old he was on his own
 And even though it seemed like school was the best plan
 his only choice was distributing the rock like Def-jam
 While everybody else was getting diplomas
 he graduated from the middle of the strip to the corner
 But I don't knock him cause he tryin to bubble
 there's no food on the table, the rents past due and that's why he hustles
 and I ain't sayin that its right to be dealin
 All I'm sayin is I feel him I guess
 I just see eye 2 eye wit his struggle you know
 How many days we gonna live our life struggling on the streets
 How many days we gotta live our life searching for a way to eat
 You gotta stay down stay down just to see a brighter day
 Stay down stay down just to live a better way
 Stay down stay down just to live a brighter day
 Stay down stay down just to live a better way
 Now baby girl's got a promising future
 But her moms passed away while she was younger and her father's a loser
 He'd always abused her but what else you expect from a coward
 He wasn't even proud when she got accepted to Howard
 And even though she loves college everyday it would stress her
 but it wasn't cause of exams or she hate her professor
 it was her financial situation here she couldn't pay a semester
 And the only means of making it better was totally reversing the role
 lap dancing working that pole even though deep down its hurting her soul
 And even if it meant taking off her clothes
 she was down for what ever to help her accomplish her personal goals
 And I ain't trippin off a-how shortie livin
 She gotta pay her tuiton put food in the kitchen and that's why she strippin
 and I ain't sayin I agree with her job but shit times is hard
 I guess I just see eye to eye with her vision you know
 How many days we gonna live our life struggling on the streets
 How many days we gotta live our life searching for a way to eat
 You gotta stay down stay down just to see a brighter day
 Stay down stay down just to live a better way
 Stay down stay down just to live a brighter day
 Stay down stay down just to live a better way
 Now see the moral of the story is this
 if you ain't tryin to help stop our troubles then don't knock our hustle
 cause really at the end of the day its not ya'll struggle
 but you always got something to say
 well hear this fuck you
 Yeah that's right I'm talking to you come try to sleep in our beds
 eat off our plates, take a walk in our shoes
 look at the world from our view try to live by our rules
 drink the same water we do, put your kids in our schools
 I guarantee you won't maintain your health you'll probably try to end it all
 and hang yourself or bang yourself
 You couldn't possibly understand all pain we felt
 and without folding your hands play the games we dealt
 I'm being real I ain't tryin to be evil
 Look how we live, look how ya'll live
 c'mon be serious how is we equal
 Matter fact I feel I'm wasting my time
 I'm finished writing this rhyme
 Ya'll never gonna see eye to eye with my people you know
 How many days we gonna live our life struggling on the streets
 How many days we gotta live our life searching for a way to eat
 You gotta stay down stay down just to see a brighter day
 Stay down stay down just to live a better way
 Stay down stay down just to live a brighter day
 Stay down stay down just to live a better way (Repeat 2X)