What is Real?

Will you you talk about being from the hood, like we're glad Wear it proud, like it's a badge But I'll be damned if, when I'm a dad my kids don't have more than I had Please don't confuse your situation, with identity, it's not the same thing You were pharaohs and scholars, long before the day you were armed robbers But, whatever, it's dumb to be clever, better to act like your brains been severed Like these Americans so called “artists” boasting about their latest garments But the same labels make it very clear, they don't make clothes for dark skin Can't you see they're laughing? The question that I'm asking Real Is it real, really? Now is it real really? Real Is it real, really? (Is it real really?) I doubt it's real really Real Is it real, really? (dolla dolla bill y'all) Now is it real really? Real Is it real, really? I doubt it's real really. (uh, get money) Pop champagne got my chain, act like you got no brain Pop champagne got my chain, act like you got no brain Pop champagne got your chain, act like you got no brain! Come on let's pop champagne! Come on let's pop champagne! Sorry, if I don't dance enough for the radio to play my stuff And got no girls in the video playing the city ho loco shakin' their butts I thought that rap was about content, I see now that's just nonsense We judge MC's by the Bentleys, and how much they can have no conscience How many chains can you wear, and not care, the cost was a village somewhere Stones of begets, slowly forget, this ain't the first time there were chains on your neck It was much worse, choose to accept, but now vexed, just perplexed Of course that's all us people do all day, is pop champagne and have sex! Why am I lying, I can't stand it, Chip on my shoulders the size of a planet! I organic on the mike and the flames I will fan it To burn down the galaxy I'm up to the challenge Burn down the fallacy, scorch it with talent Burn down the anarchy, restore the balance I am the war with New York to Paris No fun now around me, I'm far too savage Yeah, hittin with knowledge, 'cuz we import it, ignoramus You're playin' the stereotype, so of course you're famous If for just one second you took your head from out your anus You would see the motivation for your elevation What is real? Is it how much you make in the dollar bills? What is real? Is it how many you say you're gonna kill? What is real? Or is it something that I can truly feel? Please tell me, please tell me, please tell me What is real? What is real? Is it how much you make in the dollar bills? What is real? Is it how many you say you're gonna kill? What is real? Or is it something that I can truly feel? Please tell me, please tell me, please tell me What is real? Still, I got love for you, though it's very clear that you hate yourself I'm just saying don't food for the crap, being from the ghetto don't make you more black Also the fact: this is bigger than the color of your skin It's a matter that we're all in Dumber you act, the bigger the cheer The bigger the fool, the bigger career It's about playing a role, the educated can't be controlled It's about playing a role, the educated can't be controlled So by keeping yourself dumb, keeping yourself under the thumb By keeping yourself dumb, keeping yourself under the thumb (Feeding your face on the foods that are?) dumb, keeping yourself eating the crumbs Elevating some fool with a gun, keeping ourselves numb So we can fit in in a world where the price of life is less than the cost of living So we can fit in in a world where the price of life is less than the cost of living Have you forgotten what is real? Close your eyes and don't believe that all you see is all you feel Got few tattoos, few bullet wounds? Silly songs? Deliver the tunes? That tattoo may as well say coon, may as well grunt just like a baboon That's what people see when they look at me, though they may applaud my stupidity It's like sharks in a shark tank, watch them tear each other apart Find the sharks entertaining, but that don't mean that we think they're smart Or are for that matter, you maybe call yourself a rapper Disrespect women, but, but you are the one who is a slapper You get paid to degrade yourself, publicly castrate yourself What is real? Is it how much you make in the dollar bills? What is real? Is it how many you say you're gonna kill? What is real? Or is it something that I can truly feel? Please tell me, please tell me, please tell me What is real? What is real? Is it how much you make in the dollar bills? What is real? Is it how many you say you're gonna kill? What is real? Or is it something that I can truly feel? Please tell me, please tell me, please tell me What is real? We all play our positions, convinced that we are so different Accept these doctrines, and this nonsense, and we take these options Without one second, never questioning just what the cost is You're not a hater, you can't relate to the lowest denominator, dominator! No, I don't wanna read the Source, I'd rather read some of Plato's thoughts Of course, let us not ever forget, the place in which where he was taught So if it ain't clear, none of these clown rappers could be my peers It's philosophical, historical, speculations that I thought were rhetorical Like what's real, is it my face if an atom is nothing but empty space? Why the rock feel solid when I'm on it and a comet could collide with the Earth and dislodge it? Or maybe sonnets, metaphoric, promises the tonic for all that (is chronic?) Illness, apathy, ignorance tapestry that they weave to turn us into batteries What is real? What is real? What is real? Please tell me, please tell me, please tell me What is real? Please tell me, please tell me, please tell me What is real? Have you forgotten what is real? Close your eyes and don't believe that all you see is all you feel