Take It Back

[Chorus] Take it back, take it way back Take it way, way back to the first black man Long ago before the white man Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand Take it back, take it way back Take it way, way back to the first white man At the very moment when they looked around and said "Fuck it, I’ma steal this land" Take it back, take it way back Take it way way back to the first black man Long ago before the white man Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand Take it back, take it way back Take it way, way back to the first white man At the very moment when they looked around and said "Fuck it, I’ma steal this land" [Verse 1] Everybody wanna tell me what I am, what I am not "You ain't black, you a mothafuckin' white boy Shut ya mouth, do it right boy, a'ight boy? Man, why you such a hype boy?" "Why you always talk about being black? Skin too white, nigga fuck that" Everything you talk about, cut that That door you trying to open, you could shut that Grip the gat, yeah that’s how I’ma buck back Tell me what I am and what I know now All this prejudice has got to go Life is moving fast, it need to slow down Come and see me when I am in yo' town Practice what we preach before it go down Practice what we preach before it go Yes, I got the gift to gab fo sho Will I have to get the gat? No, no Yes, I got to gift to gab fo sho But will have to get the gat, get the gat, get the, get the? Masta deep down inside of me The plantation deep down inside of me Everybody fuck like sodomy 'Cause one or the other what it gotta be Tell me why my momma gotta lie to me Unity for everyone that lied to me Peace on Earth what I try to be I just wanna spread the message of equality And yes, I got to gift to gab fo sho Will I have to get the gat? No, no Yes, I got to gift to gab fo sho But will have to get the gat, get the gat, get the, get the gat? [Chorus] Take it back, take it way back Take it way, way back to the first black man Long ago before the white man Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand Take it back, take it way back Take it way, way back to the first white man At the very moment when they looked around and said "Fuck it, I’ma steal this land" Take it back, take it way back Take it way way back to the first black man Long ago before the white man Could paint the black man with a gun in his hand Take it back, take it way back Take it way way back to the first white man At the very moment when they looked around and said "Fuck it, I’ma steal this land" [Outro] Take it back, take it way back Take it way, way back to about 1990 Shady Grove Hospital in Rockville, Maryland 7:36 a.m., where a biracial baby was born To a black father and a white mother Father that wasn’t there Addicted to crack cocaine, alcohol, and various other drugs Same as his mom (Way, way back) So I’m gonna tell you about that, right? And I’m gonna tell you about how All this young boy ever wanted was happiness All he ever wanted was positivity All he ever wanted to do was entertain And this boy went through hell You gotta understand, his mother was racist, which is crazy 'Cause how in the fuck is you gonna have All these black babies with black men but you racist Like bitch, that don’t make no sense, but it is what it is You know, he grew up, her callin' him a nigger The kids at school callin' him a cracker Identifying as black, looking as white Being told what you can or can’t be This kid went through everything He went through... He saw narcotics in the household Violence, murderers, drug dealers, he was kidnapped There was crazy shit that happened to this kid And he persevered while the whole world said What they said? Said you wouldn’t be shit! You ain’t gon' be nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin' Nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin', nothin', nothing And I, and he, he said fuck that, I’ma persevere And that’s why the message is always peace, love and positivity See, he always saw things from two sides He always saw things from two sides He always knew that the message Everybody was born equal Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation He knew that because he saw that (Take it back, take it way back Take it way) Because he was stripped and torn down By his black brothers and sisters that were uneducated And that did not know And he was stripped and he was torn down By his white side that did not know These people that are ignorant That cannot see the bigger picture That must fight and kill and murder each other But once again, all he ever wanted to do Was spread a message of equality For every man, woman, and child Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation (Take it back, take it way back Take it way, way back to the first) Now imagine this child growing up And seeing the craziest shit Being a part of the craziest shit Running around with the wrong people Running around with guns and knives And fighting and stealing and, and all this Because he didn’t know, he didn’t know! But he knew deep down in his heart that it wasn’t right And he knew that he needed to get away from it Now I want you to also imagine, that at 17 years old This child, okay, leaves home and gets two jobs to support himself Two jobs that he works in the morning and the evenings And then he would then come home To about eight or nine hours of sleep But spend four, five, six hours of that Working on music, persevering Grabbing the remote control and looking in the mirror And pretending to see thousands and thousands and thousands of people Just chanting his name Hoping that it would happen But the, but the, but the world said no! Mothafucka, little mothafucka no-no, no-no, no-no, no-no Ya nigga, ya cracka, ya white boy, ya black mothafucka No-no! (Take it back, take it way back Take it way, way back to the first) And he said fuck that He said peace, love, and positivity He said equality for all man Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, and sexual orientation, yeah Now I want you to also imagine People telling him that he did not live this life “You just a white boy You ain’t never experienced that shit You from Gaithersburg, Maryland, nothing happens there Oh no, no, we know, we weren’t there We didn’t live with you, we didn't live in your Section 8 household We didn’t live with the narcotics and violence in your household We just saw it from the outside, outside, outside, outside Outside, outside, outside, outside And since you white, you gotta have money, right?” (Take it back, take it way back Take it way, way back to the first black man) And this young man persevered in spite Of what people told him he was, wasn’t, and would never be (Take it back, take it way back Take it way, way back to the first black) And that man is here today, proud A lover of all human beings Regardless of race, religion, color, creed, sexual orientation, yeah, yeah And he’s here to say: Even though we’re all born and created equal We are not treated equally There’s extremists on every side And you should just do your best to live life And let other people believe whatever they wanna believe As long as they’re not hurtin' anybody You can believe they’re going to hell You can believe it’s not right You can believe you’re superior, fine Just stop killing each other