lyrics
I'm the Black Colin Powell, so glad we met/
I'm the crazy lover father who ain't taking his meds/
in the middle of the stage just shaking his dreads/
who uses his words just for raising the dead/
most rappers use their gift to get the ladies in bed/
'cause the sound of his voice makes her panties wet/
he has the power to make her do what he said/
he uses that to say "shake your ass, give me head"?/
I'd rather build a nation instead/
of women bringing home the dough and baking the bread/
versed in healing the body and shaking the feds/
who know the battles we've fought and the path we've tread/
who can handle post pardom, or pre-med/
ain't worried about the stardom, or the street cred/
with a pencil or a gun, she's aiming the lead/
and when she's done all the ignorance is dead/
Chorus
This is what I fight for/
what I read and I write for/
stay up all hours of the night for/
you a soldier make sure you're in the right war/
I. Do. This. For. My. People./
My people (come on), my people (come on)/
My pe-pa-pe-pe-people!/
Hola amigo. Como esta?/
Rap last name Burton 1st one is Levar/
like Jordy Leforge who worked for Captain Pekard/
I travel to the future faster than the light from a star/
if you don't know your Roots you won't know who you are/
So I take you to a time before they brought us from afar/
to when reading a book meant breaking the law/
Like slaves eat sugar cane, have you eating it raw/
Have you chewing on the truth until it's breaking your jaw/
"till you get the picture I'll continue to draw/
connections from the past help you see what they saw/
from your great-great-grandma's great-grandma/
I know you might think this brother is odd/
or that the mission he's on is way to hard/
but I'm swearing to God, I don't need your applause/
I don't need you on my team, Man I'm raising a squad/
Chorus
This is what I fight for/
what I read and I write for/
stay up all hours of the night for/
you a soldier make sure you're in the right war/
I. Do. This. For. My. People./
My people (come on), my people (come on)/
My pe-pa-pe-pe-people!/
I'm Mr. Read a Book, the man the myth/
I"ve got the power of the force, but I ain't a sith/
I took Lil' Jones voice, and Beethoven's 5th/
and rocked the hip-hop world like a planetary shift/
Leafing through the books like I'm rolling a spliff/
putting knowledge in the air, go ahead take a wiff/
Never under estimate a man with a gift/
or a hungry young lion who can see what he sniffs/
has measured his prey, knows the height and the wiff/
ready to fight 'cause he's pissed, using his mic like a fist/
Telling the truth, ain't no need to resist/
Rap perjury needs to cease and desist/
Cointelpro rappers don't need to exist/
Spittin' fighting words but they swing and they miss/
"The harder they come the harder they fall" - Jimmy the Cliff
"I love it when a plan comes together" - Hannibal Smith
Chorus
This is what I fight for/
what I read and I write for/
stay up all hours of the night for/
you a soldier make sure you're in the right war/
I. Do. This. For. My. People./
My people (come on), my people (come on)/
My pe-pa-pe-pe-people!/
credits
from
The Watermelon Man,
released August 1, 2020
Written, Recorded and Produced by Bomani D. Armah from Bomani Armah Publishing
Congas and Keyboards by Bomani Armah
Drums by Charles Stewart
Bass by David White
Mastered by William Vaughan IV
license
all rights reserved