Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first black man
Long ago before the white man
Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first white man
At the very moment when they looked around and said
"Fuck it, I'ma steal this land"
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way way back to the first black man
Long ago before the white man
Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first white man
At the very moment when they looked around and said
"Fuck it, I'ma steal this land"
Everybody wanna tell me what I am, what I am not
"You ain't black, you a mothafuckin' white boy
Shut ya mouth, do it right boy, a'ight boy?
Man, why you such a hype boy?"
"Why you always talk about being black?
Skin too white, nigga fuck that"
Everything you talk about, cut that
That door you trying to open, you could shut that
Grip the gat, yeah that's how I'ma buck back
Tell me what I am and what I know now
All this prejudice has got to go
Life is moving fast, it need to slow down
Come and see me when I am in yo' town
Practice what we preach before it go down
Practice what we preach before it go
Yes, I got the gift to gab fo sho
Will I have to get the gat? No, no
Yes, I got to gift to gab fo sho
But will have to get the gat, get the gat, get the, get the?
Masta deep down inside of me
The plantation deep down inside of me
Everybody fuck like sodomy
'Cause one or the other what it gotta be
Tell me why my momma gotta lie to me
Unity for everyone that lied to me
Peace on Earth what I try to be
I just wanna spread the message of equality
And yes, I got to gift to gab fo sho
Will I have to get the gat? No, no
Yes, I got to gift to gab fo sho
But will have to get the gat, get the gat, get the, get the gat?
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first black man
Long ago before the white man
Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first white man
At the very moment when they looked around and said
"Fuck it, I'ma steal this land"
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way way back to the first black man
Long ago before the white man
Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way way back to the first white man
At the very moment when they looked around and said
"Fuck it, I'ma steal this land"
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to about 1990
Shady Grove Hospital in Rockville, Maryland
7:36 a.m., where a biracial baby was born
To a black father and a white mother
Father that wasn't there
Addicted to crack cocaine, alcohol, and various other drugs
Same as his mom
(Way, way back)
So I'm gonna tell you about that, right?
And I'm gonna tell you about how
All this young boy ever wanted was happiness
All he ever wanted was positivity
All he ever wanted to do was entertain
And this boy went through hell
You gotta understand, his mother was racist, which is crazy
'Cause how in the fuck is you gonna have
All these black babies with black men but you racist
Like bitch, that don't make no sense, but it is what it is
You know, he grew up, her callin' him a nigger
The kids at school callin' him a cracker
Identifying as black, looking as white
Being told what you can or can't be
This kid went through everything
He went through
He saw narcotics in the household
Violence, murderers, drug dealers, he was kidnapped
There was crazy shit that happened to this kid
And he persevered while the whole world said
What they said?
Said you wouldn't be shit!
You ain't gon' be nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin'
Nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin', nothing
And I, and he, he said fuck that, I'ma persevere
And that's why the message is always peace, love and positivity
See, he always saw things from two sides
He always saw things from two sides
He always knew that the message
Everybody was born equal
Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation
He knew that because he saw that
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way-)
Because he was stripped and torn down
By his black brothers and sisters that were uneducated
And that did not know
And he was stripped and he was torn down
By his white side that did not know
These people that are ignorant
That cannot see the bigger picture
That must fight and kill and murder each other
But once again, all he ever wanted to do
Was spread a message of equality
For every man, woman, and child
Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way, way back to the first)
Now imagine this child growing up
And seeing the craziest shit
Being a part of the craziest shit
Running around with the wrong people
Running around with guns and knives
And fighting and stealing and, and all this
Because he didn't know, he didn't know!
But he knew deep down in his heart that it wasn't right
And he knew that he needed to get away from it
Now I want you to also imagine, that at 17 years old
This child, okay, leaves home and gets two jobs to support himself
Two jobs that he works in the morning and the evenings
And then he would then come home
To about eight or nine hours of sleep
But spend four, five, six hours of that
Working on music, persevering
Grabbing the remote control and looking in the mirror
And pretending to see thousands and thousands and thousands of people
Just chanting his name
Hoping that it would happen
But the, but the, but the world said no!
Mothafucka, little mothafucka no-no, no-no, no-no, no-no
Ya nigga, ya cracka, ya white boy, ya black mothafucka
No-no!
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way, way back to the first)
And he said fuck that
He said peace, love, and positivity
He said equality for all men
Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation, yeah
Now I want you to also imagine
People telling him that he did not live this life
"You just a white boy
You ain't never experienced that shit
You from Gaithersburg, Maryland, nothing happens there
Oh no, no, we know, we weren't there
We didn't live with you, we didn't live in your Section 8 household
We didn't live with the narcotics and violence in your household
We just saw it from the outside, outside, outside, outside
Outside, outside, outside, outside
And since you white, you gotta have money, right?"
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way, way back to the first black man)
And this young man persevered in spite
Of what people told him he was, wasn't, would and would never be
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way, way back to the first black man)
And that man is here today, proud
A lover of all human beings
Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, sexual orientation, yeah, yeah
And he's here to say
Even though we're all born and created equal
We are not treated equally
There's extremists on every side
And you should just do your best to live life
And let other people believe whatever they wanna believe
As long as they're not hurtin' anybody
You can believe they're going to hell
You can believe it's not right
You can believe you're superior, fine
Just stop killing each other
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first black man
Long ago before the white man
Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first white man
At the very moment when they looked around and said
"Fuck it, I'ma steal this land"
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way way back to the first black man
Long ago before the white man
Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first white man
At the very moment when they looked around and said
"Fuck it, I'ma steal this land"
Everybody wanna tell me what I am, what I am not
"You ain't black, you a mothafuckin' white boy
Shut ya mouth, do it right boy, a'ight boy?
Man, why you such a hype boy?"
"Why you always talk about being black?
Skin too white, nigga fuck that"
Everything you talk about, cut that
That door you trying to open, you could shut that
Grip the gat, yeah that's how I'ma buck back
Tell me what I am and what I know now
All this prejudice has got to go
Life is moving fast, it need to slow down
Come and see me when I am in yo' town
Practice what we preach before it go down
Practice what we preach before it go
Yes, I got the gift to gab fo sho
Will I have to get the gat? No, no
Yes, I got to gift to gab fo sho
But will have to get the gat, get the gat, get the, get the?
Masta deep down inside of me
The plantation deep down inside of me
Everybody fuck like sodomy
'Cause one or the other what it gotta be
Tell me why my momma gotta lie to me
Unity for everyone that lied to me
Peace on Earth what I try to be
I just wanna spread the message of equality
And yes, I got to gift to gab fo sho
Will I have to get the gat? No, no
Yes, I got to gift to gab fo sho
But will have to get the gat, get the gat, get the, get the gat?
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first black man
Long ago before the white man
Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first white man
At the very moment when they looked around and said
"Fuck it, I'ma steal this land"
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way way back to the first black man
Long ago before the white man
Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way way back to the first white man
At the very moment when they looked around and said
"Fuck it, I'ma steal this land"
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to about 1990
Shady Grove Hospital in Rockville, Maryland
7:36 a.m., where a biracial baby was born
To a black father and a white mother
Father that wasn't there
Addicted to crack cocaine, alcohol, and various other drugs
Same as his mom
(Way, way back)
So I'm gonna tell you about that, right?
And I'm gonna tell you about how
All this young boy ever wanted was happiness
All he ever wanted was positivity
All he ever wanted to do was entertain
And this boy went through hell
You gotta understand, his mother was racist, which is crazy
'Cause how in the fuck is you gonna have
All these black babies with black men but you racist
Like bitch, that don't make no sense, but it is what it is
You know, he grew up, her callin' him a nigger
The kids at school callin' him a cracker
Identifying as black, looking as white
Being told what you can or can't be
This kid went through everything
He went through
He saw narcotics in the household
Violence, murderers, drug dealers, he was kidnapped
There was crazy shit that happened to this kid
And he persevered while the whole world said
What they said?
Said you wouldn't be shit!
You ain't gon' be nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin'
Nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin', nothing
And I, and he, he said fuck that, I'ma persevere
And that's why the message is always peace, love and positivity
See, he always saw things from two sides
He always saw things from two sides
He always knew that the message
Everybody was born equal
Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation
He knew that because he saw that
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way-)
Because he was stripped and torn down
By his black brothers and sisters that were uneducated
And that did not know
And he was stripped and he was torn down
By his white side that did not know
These people that are ignorant
That cannot see the bigger picture
That must fight and kill and murder each other
But once again, all he ever wanted to do
Was spread a message of equality
For every man, woman, and child
Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way, way back to the first)
Now imagine this child growing up
And seeing the craziest shit
Being a part of the craziest shit
Running around with the wrong people
Running around with guns and knives
And fighting and stealing and, and all this
Because he didn't know, he didn't know!
But he knew deep down in his heart that it wasn't right
And he knew that he needed to get away from it
Now I want you to also imagine, that at 17 years old
This child, okay, leaves home and gets two jobs to support himself
Two jobs that he works in the morning and the evenings
And then he would then come home
To about eight or nine hours of sleep
But spend four, five, six hours of that
Working on music, persevering
Grabbing the remote control and looking in the mirror
And pretending to see thousands and thousands and thousands of people
Just chanting his name
Hoping that it would happen
But the, but the, but the world said no!
Mothafucka, little mothafucka no-no, no-no, no-no, no-no
Ya nigga, ya cracka, ya white boy, ya black mothafucka
No-no!
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way, way back to the first)
And he said fuck that
He said peace, love, and positivity
He said equality for all men
Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation, yeah
Now I want you to also imagine
People telling him that he did not live this life
"You just a white boy
You ain't never experienced that shit
You from Gaithersburg, Maryland, nothing happens there
Oh no, no, we know, we weren't there
We didn't live with you, we didn't live in your Section 8 household
We didn't live with the narcotics and violence in your household
We just saw it from the outside, outside, outside, outside
Outside, outside, outside, outside
And since you white, you gotta have money, right?"
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way, way back to the first black man)
And this young man persevered in spite
Of what people told him he was, wasn't, would and would never be
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way, way back to the first black man)
And that man is here today, proud
A lover of all human beings
Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, sexual orientation, yeah, yeah
And he's here to say
Even though we're all born and created equal
We are not treated equally
There's extremists on every side
And you should just do your best to live life
And let other people believe whatever they wanna believe
As long as they're not hurtin' anybody
You can believe they're going to hell
You can believe it's not right
You can believe you're superior, fine
Just stop killing each other
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first black man
Long ago before the white man
Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first white man
At the very moment when they looked around and said
"Fuck it, I'ma steal this land"
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way way back to the first black man
Long ago before the white man
Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first white man
At the very moment when they looked around and said
"Fuck it, I'ma steal this land"
Everybody wanna tell me what I am, what I am not
"You ain't black, you a mothafuckin' white boy
Shut ya mouth, do it right boy, a'ight boy?
Man, why you such a hype boy?"
"Why you always talk about being black?
Skin too white, nigga fuck that"
Everything you talk about, cut that
That door you trying to open, you could shut that
Grip the gat, yeah that's how I'ma buck back
Tell me what I am and what I know now
All this prejudice has got to go
Life is moving fast, it need to slow down
Come and see me when I am in yo' town
Practice what we preach before it go down
Practice what we preach before it go
Yes, I got the gift to gab fo sho
Will I have to get the gat? No, no
Yes, I got to gift to gab fo sho
But will have to get the gat, get the gat, get the, get the?
Masta deep down inside of me
The plantation deep down inside of me
Everybody fuck like sodomy
'Cause one or the other what it gotta be
Tell me why my momma gotta lie to me
Unity for everyone that lied to me
Peace on Earth what I try to be
I just wanna spread the message of equality
And yes, I got to gift to gab fo sho
Will I have to get the gat? No, no
Yes, I got to gift to gab fo sho
But will have to get the gat, get the gat, get the, get the gat?
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first black man
Long ago before the white man
Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to the first white man
At the very moment when they looked around and said
"Fuck it, I'ma steal this land"
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way way back to the first black man
Long ago before the white man
Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way way back to the first white man
At the very moment when they looked around and said
"Fuck it, I'ma steal this land"
Take it back, take it way back
Take it way, way back to about 1990
Shady Grove Hospital in Rockville, Maryland
7:36 a.m., where a biracial baby was born
To a black father and a white mother
Father that wasn't there
Addicted to crack cocaine, alcohol, and various other drugs
Same as his mom
(Way, way back)
So I'm gonna tell you about that, right?
And I'm gonna tell you about how
All this young boy ever wanted was happiness
All he ever wanted was positivity
All he ever wanted to do was entertain
And this boy went through hell
You gotta understand, his mother was racist, which is crazy
'Cause how in the fuck is you gonna have
All these black babies with black men but you racist
Like bitch, that don't make no sense, but it is what it is
You know, he grew up, her callin' him a nigger
The kids at school callin' him a cracker
Identifying as black, looking as white
Being told what you can or can't be
This kid went through everything
He went through
He saw narcotics in the household
Violence, murderers, drug dealers, he was kidnapped
There was crazy shit that happened to this kid
And he persevered while the whole world said
What they said?
Said you wouldn't be shit!
You ain't gon' be nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin'
Nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin', nothing
And I, and he, he said fuck that, I'ma persevere
And that's why the message is always peace, love and positivity
See, he always saw things from two sides
He always saw things from two sides
He always knew that the message
Everybody was born equal
Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation
He knew that because he saw that
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way-)
Because he was stripped and torn down
By his black brothers and sisters that were uneducated
And that did not know
And he was stripped and he was torn down
By his white side that did not know
These people that are ignorant
That cannot see the bigger picture
That must fight and kill and murder each other
But once again, all he ever wanted to do
Was spread a message of equality
For every man, woman, and child
Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way, way back to the first)
Now imagine this child growing up
And seeing the craziest shit
Being a part of the craziest shit
Running around with the wrong people
Running around with guns and knives
And fighting and stealing and, and all this
Because he didn't know, he didn't know!
But he knew deep down in his heart that it wasn't right
And he knew that he needed to get away from it
Now I want you to also imagine, that at 17 years old
This child, okay, leaves home and gets two jobs to support himself
Two jobs that he works in the morning and the evenings
And then he would then come home
To about eight or nine hours of sleep
But spend four, five, six hours of that
Working on music, persevering
Grabbing the remote control and looking in the mirror
And pretending to see thousands and thousands and thousands of people
Just chanting his name
Hoping that it would happen
But the, but the, but the world said no!
Mothafucka, little mothafucka no-no, no-no, no-no, no-no
Ya nigga, ya cracka, ya white boy, ya black mothafucka
No-no!
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way, way back to the first)
And he said fuck that
He said peace, love, and positivity
He said equality for all men
Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation, yeah
Now I want you to also imagine
People telling him that he did not live this life
"You just a white boy
You ain't never experienced that shit
You from Gaithersburg, Maryland, nothing happens there
Oh no, no, we know, we weren't there
We didn't live with you, we didn't live in your Section 8 household
We didn't live with the narcotics and violence in your household
We just saw it from the outside, outside, outside, outside
Outside, outside, outside, outside
And since you white, you gotta have money, right?"
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way, way back to the first black man)
And this young man persevered in spite
Of what people told him he was, wasn't, would and would never be
(Take it back, take it way back, take it way, way back to the first black man)
And that man is here today, proud
A lover of all human beings
Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, sexual orientation, yeah, yeah
And he's here to say
Even though we're all born and created equal
We are not treated equally
There's extremists on every side
And you should just do your best to live life
And let other people believe whatever they wanna believe
As long as they're not hurtin' anybody
You can believe they're going to hell
You can believe it's not right
You can believe you're superior, fine
Just stop killing each other