Some say the blacker the better, the sweeter the juice I say the darker the flesh, and the deeper the roots I give a holler to my sister's own welfare, Tupac is, if don't nobody else care I know they like to beat you down a lot, when you come around the block, brothers clown a lot, but please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up, forgive but don't forget, girl keep your head up And when he tells you you ain't nothing, don't believe him, and if you can't learn to love you, you should leave him, cause sister you don't need me, and I ain't trying to gas you up, I just call him how I see You know what makes me unhappy, when brothers make babies, and leave a young mother to be a cat, and since we all came from a woman, got our name from a woman, and I came from a woman I wonder why we take from our women, why we rape our women, do we hate our women, I think it's time we kill for our women, time to heal our women, be real to our women And if we don't we'll have a race of babies, that will hate the ladies, and make the babies, and since a man can't make one, he has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one, so will the real men get up, I know you fed up ladies, but keep your head up keep your head up ooh child things are gonna get easier keep your head up ooh child things will get brighter I remember Marvin Gaye used to say to me he had me feeling like black was the thing to be and suddenly the ghetto didn't seem so tough and though we had it rough we always had enough I've been buffered by my curfew and broke the rules ran with the local crew and had a smoke or two I realized momma really paid the price she nearly gave her life to raise me right and all I had to give her was my fight scream for how I'm off the mic and make it to the fight screen I'm trying to make a dollar out of fencing sin it's hard to be legit and still pay your rent and in the end it seems I'm heading for the pen I try to find my friends but they're blowing in the wind last night my body lost it's whole family it's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity it seems the rain will never let up I try to keep my head up and still keep em getting wetter you know it's funny when it rains it pours they got money for wars but can't feed the boys said it ain't no hope for the youth and the truth is it ain't no hope for the future and then they wonder why we crazy I blame my mother for turning my brother into a crack baby we ain't meant to survive cause it's a setup and even though you fed up give me your pedicure things are gonna get easier and to all the ladies having babies on they own I know it's kinda rough when you're feeling all alone daddy's long gone and he left you by your lonesome thanks the lord for my kids even if somebody else want em cause I think we can make it in fact I'm sure and if you fall stand tall and come back for more cause ain't nothing worse than when your son wants to know why his daddy don't love him no more you can't complain you were stealthless hell of a hand without a man feeling helpless because there's too many things for you to deal with dying inside but outside you're looking fit while the tears is rolling down your cheek your daddy hoping things don't all fall this week cause if it did you couldn't take it and don't blame me I was given this world I didn't make it and now my son's getting old drank old drank cold from having the world on his shoulders while the rich kids are driving bigs I'm still trying to hold on to surviving friends and it's crazy it seems I'm never let up but please you gotta keep your head up