Yeah
Picture yourself bein' ten years old
And havin' visions stuck in prison 'cause of stories that were told
Around you when you was young and now that's all you can see
Thinkin' more than likely that could be
Seen my unc' on TV for a prison escape
And at the age of sixteen, I thought I'd seen my fate
Always thought it was inevitable, what more can I say?
To this day, I get the feeling they might lock me away
I'm a Black man living in this country where it's normal to be sent
To a place where my people make almost fifty percent
That's half of the population in our prisons today
We only make up three percent of this country, ain't that a shame?
Yeah, that's fucked up, man, they got us cuffed up
People out here dyin', but we'd rather fill our cups up
Fathers leavin' sons and turn around and say it's tough love
Makin' up excuses, spittin' rubbish like a dump truck, huh
But am I being realistic?
For tryna get this message to the ones that might've missed it?
We only get one life, so why risk it?
Man, fuck bein' a statistic
It's time to change the way we see the world
But more important, it's time to change the way we see ourselves
How we supposed to spread our wings before we see this hell?
We are kings and we are queens before we're anything else
It's got me thinkin' while I'm makin' this
We plan funerals before we plan eightieths
'Cause you're expected to die young if you're indigenous
The poison's in the food and the substances that they've given us
They put our elders on a ball and chain
Stop their kids from learning culture, now we think it's shame
Took our fathers, never knew if they'd be seen again
And wonder why there's deadbeat dads, a generation's pain
So tell me what are we to do?
I chase dreams for the kids who haven't dreamed yet too
So many youngins with a passion never see it through
Our kids are popping pills and smokin' rocks the size of Uluru
And suicide is oh too common
About ten that I've known myself
So many teens that I've seen in coffins
Too many times, I thought I'd kill myself
Where I'm from, we try to find our idols
Out of mind and they was out of sight
I fell victim to a vicious cycle
Before I ever learned to ride on bike
I'm well aware what they portray us as
Alcoholics with our houses full of vacant dads
Call us criminals for trying to numb the pain we have
Invest a couple millions in more prisons and think less rehabs
We're so much more than what they say we are
Yeah, we don't fit inside the lines 'cause we're a work of art
The first to walk along our matriarchs
The first astronomers, that's how I knew I'd be a superstar
So am I being realistic?
For tryna get this message to the ones that might've missed it?
Only get one life, so why risk it?
Man, fuck bein' a statistic
Said, fuck bein' a statistic
Shit, man, I ain't tryna be no statistic
Fuck bein' a statistic
Yeah, yeah
