Afro Angel

(Ooh, Ohh) Here I stand before you - brown Color of the mountains Colossal as the earth Wrapped so deliciously within my own joy and misery Feathers of my wings paralyzed by the distance of my mind Here I stand before you, the color of the night Frozen by the potential of me (Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh-uh-uh-uh-uh) An Afro Angel Afro Angel off your pedestal from perchin above You on the prowl now, downtown, searchin for love In all the wrong places, outside your radio stations Hopin he with new hit single, is tryin to mingle Today, he is in your town, puttin it down You in the car with your friends, followin my limo around Puttin a bug in my boy's ear, your "S" is for free You'll do anything for Omar or Phil, bring you to me And then me, hypnotized by the devil as well Hold out my hand as an invitation into my hotel No need to RSVP, place your hand in my palm As all your girlfriends getting jealous, damn she landed the bomb Willing to trade your spirit for some crass, whack wage Something small, something simple as a pass back stage But now I lay me, down to creep And I - pray the Lord my soul to keep Chorus: Afro Angel, born against the world You don't have to sell your soul and throw away your pride Afro Angel, sent from heaven above Never forget that you are loved You know that you are loved Lil Bobby got a gun now, age fifteen Destined to spend his life inside a cage it seems Rage inside, pride, been denied respect He can't take it though he gotta earn it But he ain't learned that yet Out on the town, reckless abandon he's been bullied before But now he straps, and no more Attitude high Flexin on every guy that walk by But don't start pal Cuz if the gun came from the whiz, Cowardly Lion, got heart now Let's pull it on a stranger Ahh, fun for the crew Surprised when he realized, damn dude got one too Smile's upside down now, games ain't so cute Bobby's a deer in a headlights Pump, drop it or I'll shoot Then like a sniper, cleanin his rifle, Bobby disobeys his commands One shot rings out (gunshot) then only the stranger stands Could of sworn Bobby's blood formed the shape of an angel's wings But for what? Chorus: Afro Angel, born against the world You don't have to sell your soul and throw away your pride Afro Angel, sent from heaven above Never forget that you are loved You know that you are loved Back in high school, Tamika was the sweetest, the bomb Hot to death, though in tenth grade a teenage mom Knocked up by some thug named Russ in the drug game But had the cutest kid you ever seen Then all the pressure from her mom She stepped to Russ Told him it's either them drugs or us Either them thugs or us The ultimatum, either continue bein a thug in the world Or start lovin your girl And say God, bear me witness, no doubt, lovin ya dear But to go from $50 Gees a week to $30 Gees a year That ain't happenin I guess he wasn't that strong He came back the next week, and the whole family was gone Yo they straight moved away, without as little as a word Well, needless to say, Russ was a little perturbed Then in a fury put the pressure on her girlfriend Shawn And like a clumsy chef she spilled the beans on where they had gone Upstate Schenectady Tamika answered the door It was the last person she expected to be They just stared He said you love me for me? You can do without the cars, vacations, and jewelry? Down with me? Period Through life's stress and strife She said, Yeah, He said in that case Would you please be my wife? Then like a sign from the sky, the baby cried Like an angel sings I love y'all more than anything Chorus: Afro Angel, born against the world You don't have to sell your soul and throw away your pride Afro Angel, sent from heaven above Never forget that you are loved You know that you are loved (Repeat Chorus)