Keep Ya Head Up

[Intro] Little somethin' for my godson Elijah And a little girl named Corinne [Verse 1] Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots I give a holla to my sisters on welfare 2Pac cares, if don't nobody else care And, 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 nothin', don't believe him And if he can't learn to love you, you should leave him Cause sister, you don't need him And I ain't tryin' to gas ya up, I just call 'em how I see 'em You know what makes me unhappy When brothers make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy And since we all came from a woman Got our name from a woman and our game 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 to 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 that 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're fed up ladies, but keep your head up [Refrain x2] Keep ya head up, ooh, child, things are gonna get easier Keep ya head up, ooh, child, things'll get brighter [Verse 2] Aiyyo, I remember Marvin Gaye used to sing to me He had me feelin' 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 huffed and puffed about my curfew and broke the rules Ran with the local crew and had a smoke or two And I realize Momma really paid the price She nearly gave her life to raise me right And all I had to give her was my pipe dream Of how I'd rock the mic and make it to the bright screen I'm tryin' to make a dollar out of fifteen cents It's hard to be legit and still pay the rent And in the end it seems I'm headin' for the pen I try to find my friends but they're blowin' in the wind Last night my buddy lost his whole family It's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity It seems the rain'll never let up I try to keep my head up and still keep from gettin' wet up You know it's funny when it rains it pours They got money for wars but can't feed the poor Say there 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're fed up Huh, ya got to keep your head up [Refrain x2] [Verse 3] And uh, to all the ladies havin' babies on they own I know it's kinda rough and you're feelin' all alone Daddy's long gone and he left you by your lonesome Thank the Lord for my kids, even if nobody 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 nothin' worse than when your son Wants to know why his daddy don't love him no mo' You can't complain you was dealt this Hell of a hand without a man, feelin' helpless Because there's too many things for you to deal with Dyin' inside, but outside you're looking fearless While tears is rollin' down your cheeks Ya steady hopin' things don't fall down 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 gettin' older and older and cold From havin' the world on his shoulders While the rich kids is drivin' Benz I'm still tryin' to hold on to surviving friends And it's crazy, it seems it'll never let up, but Please, you got to keep your head up