The War Dance

[Verse 1: Paris] It's a true story 'bout two homies called "them" Any two'll do, call 'em "him" and "him" One's from the ghetto, the other from the burbs First is a rebel, the other is a nerd In a two parent household, mom's and pops They so well off, sellin' bonds and stocks But fell off cause he don't bond with pops And not comfortable with moms a lot, that's the nerd Compared to the rebel on the hood plantation The pimps and the macks and the gangbangers laced him Moms straight smokin', pops is M.I.A The chance for advancement for him ain't great Both from two different worlds but they both the same Both idolize hip-hop style and slang Both thinkin manhood is defined by thangs Emphasized in the raps we sang, shit, but we'll see [Hook: Paris] It's the war dance, this the way it usually start It's the war dance, everybody playin' a part In the war dance, maintain, gotta stay hard It's that bang bang boogie, bang bang the boogie oogie It's the war dance, got 'em all caught in the game It's the war dance, don't matter what you reppin' or claim It's the war dance, we all die one and the same From the bang bang boogie, bang bang the boogie oogie [Verse 2: Paris] Repetitive negativity combined With music can afflict and affect the mind Rap lies take lives to the pen with rhymes Thinkin' prison finna get 'em they stripes, look here This time lemme tell you just how the crime went Rebel met nerd on some down to die shit The nerd met rebel, found a cat to ride with Now they outside of the store lookin' in One come from bad circumstance, never had a family One did, but he felt they didn't understand him Young kids doin' what society demanded Companies that owned jails AND music planned it Nerd brandished the gun, seen the money, grabbed it Rebel waited for him in the car, music blastin' Cashier shot, then cops and they captured Both hit the pen laughin' "this is blackness" [Hook: Paris] It's the war dance, this the way it usually start It's the war dance, everybody playin' a part In the war dance, maintain, gotta stay hard It's that bang bang boogie, bang bang the boogie oogie It's the war dance, got 'em all caught in the game It's the war dance, don't matter what you reppin' or claim It's the war dance, we all die one and the same From the bang bang boogie, bang bang the boogie oogie [Verse 3: Paris] The first night big homie said he want his ass licked Nerd said 'no' so he got his ass kicked The rebel got his ass kicked and his ass split It wasn't no more laughin' and shit Two black men, brainwashed from the start Never knew back then, these corporations play the part To pursue black men for slave labor on the yard Rhyme stars lead 'em to a life behind bars, follow The countries that own companies and trade publicly Invest in the music companies and praise thuggery The money from the thuggery they put it into jails Just for criminal, young black males All from the sound, penitentiary bound While the sheep just follow 'em and swallow it down Either working for the system or we dead in the ground Even with a new nigga in town, it's the…