I know it's difficult, but You know, the odds really are in our favour, man Things just ain't the same for gangsters The whole world 's changed, everybody's a stranger These young dude's running around, saying they bangers Quit the law bangers, the click and bang yah" And I done seen too many teens chasing their dreams End up blood in, contaminated and feening And I didn't lean on any words that he said Or She said, we said, look at him, he dead See, we ain't ever know Martin Luther the King Most of us probably couldn't tell you much about his dream We like malcom x, cause" spike made a movie With his arms stretched up with the AK's and uzzy's So excuse me, You tryna" connect to, a whole generation is raised by gangsters Who probably never knew pops, had Tupac And all boom box, chilling in our tube socks And plus Dre' taught how to roll a 64 And Snoop Dogg taught us how to roll a sticky drow So if they wanna reach us with Jesus They gotta do better than some screaming preachers Cuz homie, we don't believe ya, we've seen grandmas, Raw bodies, cold knees with heels So we're skeptical, it's easier to believe That there's a Heaven for a thug then to mess with you It's hard to rise Listen to the melody Because we're together Ay, shout out to Ninth wonder, now you ain't gotta ask We both know the same page like a paragraph And all music ain't the target of discussion But it seems the radio has got it fine in playin' substance Listen, partner, they're lying to us, they're selling pies to us They teach us how to be gang bangers and nine shooters I've been where you've been, seen what you've seen Group up with old dawg, looking mean on the screen When Nas was street dreamin, Biggy was still breathin And the cash ruled everything around me, creamin The folks tryin' make the hood life a good life While they in the 'burbs wishing us a good night And some rappers teach us how to jam, check them But I still ain't heard a song about being movie directors We ain't your hood, man, we've been where you've been Been stabbed, been shot, been been in the 'pen Difference is now when we picked up the pen We articulate how God has made us all better man I'm a college graduate, yes I got to be role models With daughters who do not inspire to be pole models You are not what the media impose on you God made you and he rose for you So you rise