Young Black Male

But we're prone to play a poor hand well

It takes dollars to academically excel

So we sell, but not out

College doesn't come free, no doubt

An international problem made domestic

Drug sellin', a hell of an investment

Corner to corner, street to street, block to block

Fast money will take more than cops to stop

A situation that's hotter than the third rail

Seen through the third eye of a young black male

Don't go there and tell a cat, "Look here, man

You got to give up that stuff

'Cause I got somethin' better, or it might be better

It might be better

It might, but you tellin' that cat to give up somethin' that, you know

The way he knows how to live, that's his skill

You tellin' that cat to give up somethin' that, you know

The way he knows how to live, that's his skill

For a program that he ain't never tried

For a program that you don't know if it's gon' work"

Late for school again, it didn't faze me

Missed my job interview and mom says I'm lazy

But I woke up time enough to hear the phone ring

Just got hired at the local Burger King

$3.50 An hour, I wanna refuse

But mom says if I do, she'll buy my walkin' shoes

I probably won't last a week

And I'm in a uniform that has me lookin' like a freak

So early to bed, early to rise

Tomorrow I'll be gettin' burnt by the grease from the fries

And my boss is an ex-Klan member

I says, "When's you quit?" He says, "Just past December"

Poor timin', so I'm burnin' shit by 12 o'clock

The grand dragon is cold sweatin' the time clock

Peepin' me out like he just caught a slave

I wanna step, but I know crime don't pay

How long can I hang like a hooker

And at the counter is thirty onlookers?

Too many burgers on the grill

The smoke inhalation is about to kill

Trippin' off this mental roller coaster

I look to the left, ah shit, the toaster

Only eighty-five dollars a week after tax

I'm thinkin' 'bout moms, but I gotta face facts

$3.50 An hour, I left the mop in the bucket

Burgers on the grill and told my boss, "I quit"

Just another tale of a young black male

You tellin' that cat to give up somethin' that, you know

The way he knows how to live, that's his skill