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!/