| [Ice Cube] Now is the time...
 C'mon y'all
 
 Stand tall, live your life to the limit
 Cause haterism seem like a fucking epidemic
 And look at Ice Cube, I ain't no gimmick
 I'm straight from the hood, I got to represent it
 Now - every day I think about my color
 And all the crazy shit we do to one another
 I ain't your blood brother, but I'm your cuz brother
 Let's take it back to the love and how it was brother
 If not, we gon' pull these triggers
 Show the world we deserve to be called niggaz
 I make a fuck-up, like Don Imus
 bow on his knees, and call me yo' highness
 You can too, you got the power to
 Don't let this motherfuckin system devour you
 I won't pretend, or act like I'm knowin you
 But check it out I understand what you goin through
 
 [Chorus: sung from samples]
 But remember, brothers and sisters
 You can still, stand, tall
 Just be thankful...
 For what you got
 
 [Ice Cube]
 I know what y'all motherfuckers thinking, heh heh
 Here comes another rapper with a song about hope
 All you wanna hear is a song about dope
 And how a nigga got mo' money than the Pope
 But he'll never tell you when he drop the soap
 No~! Ice Cube is here to drop you a note
 Cause some of our folk used to hang from ropes
 And some of our people used to hang from trees
 Now the only thing hangin muh'fucker is DEEZ
 So, get your mind right, and I'ma rhyme right
 Fuck the limelight, and a blind dyke
 I'm the sunlight, too bright to look
 When it's all said and done I should write the book
 You too cool for school, too old to know?
 Get your ass off the grassroots and let 'em grow
 I understand, it ain't no love lost
 But little kids, it ain't no Santa Claus
 
 [Chorus]
 
 [Ice Cube]
 Yeah, f'real
 I was born in the mud but I came out clean
 That's 'til the government tried to intervene
 Tried to lock me up when I was only 19
 Don't never ever ever let 'em kill your dream
 I make shit raw that piss off the law
 If you want some fake shit turn this off
 If you want some realness I know you can feel this
 Maybe we can heal this just like an illness
 Black on black, I got'cho back
 People don't think that we know how to act
 Just because our neighborhood is filled with crack
 And the CIA, won't take it back
 Never on top, always on the bottom
 Never put your trust in Hillary Rodham
 Cause I can tell you now it's gon' turn out rotten
 Keep on pushin, get 'em 'til we got 'em
 
 [Chorus]
 
 [Ice Cube]
 Stand up, f'real...
 Raise your hand if you sick of this bullshit
 Heh, in the belly of the evil empire [fades]
 
 
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