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For the Hood

🎧 Dead Prez - For the Hood

 

[Intro - Stic]

Goin’ out to the block, come on

All the homies in front of the liquor store

Little girls jumpin’ rope

Grandmas hanging out the windows

All the hustlas tryin’ to get that dough

The whole hood

Walk with me

 

[Hook]

It’s the congressman, and the policeman

And the businessman, working hand in hand

And the way they play, we don’t have a chance

Gotta give my life in my own black hands

Because I can’t take it anymore

 

[Verse 1 - Stic]

I seen the pigs harassing this little kid on my block

So I stopped my car and jumped out like why not

What y’all doin’ to that man I’m sayin’

Them handcuffs too tight for his hands, at least pull up his pants

Undercover van jumped out on ‘im, he shoulda ran

They talkin’ about they had something in his hand

Then them crackers tried to intimidate me

They even threatened to arrest me

But I’m thinking to myself these motherfuckers can’t touch me

Plus I know my rights, and I’m lookin’ out for his

I got a right to stand on this block, this is where I live

I’m stayin’ right here, folks start crowdin’ around

Niggas at the liquor store seen it all go down

They say police been on the creep , all this week

Doin’ sweeps grabbin’ anybody standing on the street

And we outnumber these motherfuckers a hundred to one

They think they can’t get it cuz they got a badge and a gun

But then, little man’s mom came downstairs

She was screamin’ on them crazy when she seen her son in tears

We’ve been goin’ through this same bullshit for years

Livin’ in fear, you have no fuckin’ idea

What it’s like to be the prey, all day, every day

Don’t want minds to grow up and catch the same way

So I stayed until the lil’ homie got released on the spot

It felt good to see the hood push police off the block

Cuz the…

 

[Hook]

It’s the congressman, and the policeman

And the businessman, working hand in hand

And the way they play, we don’t have a chance

Gotta give my life in my own black hands

Because I can’t take it anymore

 

[Verse 2 - M-1]

It was a hot day, record hot, hundred degrees

Niggas irritated and broke, perfect for summer beef

Franklin Avenue crews, wore wifebeaters and brews

Then my homie’s sister came through with the bad news

Niggas threw on they shoes with straps ready to move

My nigga Ryder got cut because of his shoes

On Washington Avenue, where niggas don’t like blue

And if niggas don’t know you then niggas don’t like you

But I know them niggas too, yeah they know the rules

Why I gotta come to the tools before we catch dues

And since I be comin’ through, I'mma see what it’s bout’

Check it out, if I see a spark, imam put it out

By the time I arrived, it was live, the war was on

I’ve seen blazed hands into shirts, I knew where it was goin’

So I threw my hands up, tried to reason with them soldiers

Blood was in they eyes and they was shoulder to shoulder

(?) that’s a nigga in jail, not to mention another nigga up in the white man’s hell

They said, move out the way before somethin’ happen to you

Call me crazy or brave, I said do what you gots to do

Yeah, we quick to retaliate when the enemy us

But when it’s pigs on the block I don’t see nobody bust

Yeah, we quick to retaliate when the enemy us

But when it’s pigs on the block I don’t see nobody bust

Word up

 

[Outro]

These are the hard facts, time for the hood to uprise

We gotta organize ourselves, we gotta mobilize

But there can’t be no confusion, ‘bout our collective solutions

If not for ourselves than for our kids, cuz we know who our enemy is

 

[Hook]

It’s the congressman, and the policeman

And the businessman, working hand in hand

And the way they play, we don’t have a chance

Gotta give my life in my own black hands

Because I can’t take it anymore

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Uploaded on February 3, 2025