I believe in heaven more than hell, lessons more than jail.
In the ghetto, let love prevail with a story to tell.
My eyes see the glory, and well,
The world waiting for me to yell, “I Have A Dream!”
I believe in heaven more than hell, lessons more than jail.
In the ghetto, let love prevail with a story to tell.
My eyes see the glory, and well,
The world waiting for me to yell, “I Have A Dream!”
Me? I got no jewels on my neck.
Why? I don’t need ‘em, I got your respect.
I mastered The Art of War before a nigga read Sun Tzu,
Third degree black-belt, master of Gun-Fu.
Pop pills, smoke weed, even get drunk too;
And you do what you can, and I do what I want to.
Dutch in my ear, Olde E in my palm,
I Freddy Krueger your face, Michael Myers your moms.
You botherin mine? That’s when I’m sparkin the nine.
You can tell by the rhyme it’s my time to shine;
Let’s eat, motherfucker, I don’t dine on swine.
I don’t beef with turkeys, I told you the God’ll fold you,
Hard to digest: I suggest that you take tofu.
I mastered The Art of War before a nigga read Sun Tzu,
Third degree black-belt, master of Gun-Fu.
Pop pills, smoke weed, even get drunk too;
And you do what you can, and I do what I want to.
I think if Adam would have had another squeeze he might
Not have ate those fruits from the leaves of life.
Far as Eve…there couldn’t have been a more deceiving wife;
Seeing the nigga had a weak spot, and she was right.
If you admire somebody, you should go on ‘head tell ’em;
People never get the flowers while they can still smell ’em.
You download it for free, we get charged back for it.
I know you’re saying, “They won’t know, they won’t miss it,
Besides, I ain’t a thief, they won’t pay me a visit.”
So, if I come to your job, take your corn on the cob,
And take a couple kernels off it, that would be alright with you?
Dutch in my ear, Olde E in my palm,
I Freddy Krueger your face, Michael Myers your moms.
You botherin mine? That’s when I’m sparkin the nine.
You can tell by the rhyme it’s my time to shine;
Let’s eat, motherfucker, I don’t dine on swine.
I don’t beef with turkeys, I told you the God’ll fold you,
Hard to digest: I suggest that you take tofu.
Everything has a price…
No matter if it’s fortune, fame or your life.
I understood later that it’s all about paper,
Everything has a fee in the land of the free.
Niggas running around fantasizing like they’re Peter Pan…
Your life’s a scam and I’mma fuck it up like Neverland.
You can call it hell…
But I say it’s below the heavens.
What’s up with this nonsense?
Wack ass jams with a built-in dance?
Rappers snap they fingers in a b-boy stance?
Radio play it all day, but real rap no chance?
Real rap don’t mean “take ‘em to school.”
I like bitches, cars and money, but I use my brains too.
My genes tie me to those that despised me.
Fuck jewels: I think my soul glows bright enough.
And fuck whips: I learn more when I ride the bus.
And fuck, it’s bad enough that we fight for bucks.
And fuck hoes: cause in the end I need a wife to love.
You gotta try hard to be yourself…
Cause you can’t go to heaven being anybody else.
If you’re crying under fire, then you wasn’t built for war.
If a pimp took your girl, then your girl was never yours.
Burn a Bush cause for peace he no push no button.
Killing over oil and grease, no weapons of destruction,
How can we follow a leader when this a corrupt one?
Common, “A Letter to the Law,” from Def Poetry Jam, 2007
Sean Hannity’s latest race-baiting “controversy” stems from the invitation that First Lady Michelle Obama extended to Common for a White House poetry event tonight. Up next, a complementary quote from Nas’ “Sly Fox.”