Now, is it a Hood requirement
to be a hot mess?
Young single mothers
with children who remain Pops-less
Maybe it's because their pops left
Or maybe its the scars their pops left
That has disrupted proper progress
Into a beautiful young Goddess
With respect for herself
making brothas try their hardest
Walking tall and standing proud
While finding time to remain modest
But instead these young women take their worth
For a hell of a lot less
known as no more than jump-offs, tricks, and baby-mamas
to mothafuckas who stay pot-less
So where the fuck are THEY pissin'?
I think there's something missin'
They pledgin' allegiance to drug and gunslingers
Livin' lives so unforgiven
but this ain't the wild west
Yet these damsels in distress
cling to urban cowboys
whose everyday lives remain a test
Guns in holsters or maybe tucked in their jeans
Under their white tees and vest
Mean muggin' block huggin'
And all without a second guess,
Threatenin' to leave haters layin' with a hot chest
All the while provokin' a future
An inevitable cop shot death
Damn, how much love y'all got left
For this life, young men and young ladies
This was not the forefathers' dream of how
we should be raisin' our babies.
It's almost got me thinkin' lately
Am I the one that's crazy?
To not adore hood life and uphold
how my momma raised me?
Heh, I'd rather have rabies.
So anyone who doesn't like that
may pants ain't saggin' can bite me.
Me join the black man statistic
band wagon not likely
My aim is to do the right thang
So call me Spike Lee
Now I'm not sayin' hood stars
should be just like me
But you get what you put out in this world
Let no man, no society, no location define you
Only God is your judge, so live a life of divine truth
Pull ya pants up, put ya guns down
Shut down the hot block circus
And stop acting like ghetto clowns
Young women, you are the most beautiful things
On God's green earth
Look in the mirror and realize that NO man
can validate your beauty and your worth
Be masters of your own destiny
Fuck what these music videos depict
Don't let them get the best of thee
Those are lies, the only truth is self
And that's a truth more valuable
than any amount of wealth
What good are dreams
not physically manifested?
How can you truly be free
When you glorify being arrested?
Life should be grabbed by the horns
Leave every obstacle contested
and overcome them
Paint a bigger, better picture
than the one hangin' on the fridge
You can't see life from a different side
If you don't cross the bridge
Got too many brothas seein' the other side
Strapped to chairs
or spending their last days starin at cell block walls
in a life that may not be fair
I just know it hurts to know
that so many of us are there
So as I wake up every mornin'
and walk through my Hood
dreaming of a life that would be so good
I ask in the mind
Is it really a Hood requirement
to be a hot mess
or to count down the days
your young life has got left
I close my eyes, shake my head...
And all I can say is...
God Bless.