(...problem with 'negro' was not the word itself

It was that a stereotype had been attached

to that word 'negro'

and that people were forced to live in accords to that stereotype)



Stereotype me, dislike me or fight me

My hustle is hip-hop, you can't indict me

Behind the light of intelligence

Critics will probably say the title's irrelevant

But the powerful fail to see the battle being fought

Wise words verbally put forth from negro thoughts

It's critical, the news programs of pitiful

Sights and sounds of a negro's background

First fired, last hired

Granny picked cotton till she died, what a way to retire

Watermelon's sellin but the seeds are black

I don't spit em out, I plant em so they come back

Music of soul cause my lyrics are funky

You stereotype we're the offspring of monkeys

I tie ya up and gag ya mouth with cornbread

And lead ya the bright way, seems ya been mislead

I enter the store on one thought - to purchase

They follow me around like a muthafuckin hostess

I see what I want, but before I can step to

They're up in my face, "Sir, can I help you?"

Out of step they seem to be with reality

Needless to say I represent a nationality

That's been linked to a Kodak

Once truth is exposed, negatives can't be kept back

Couldn't take us for what we has, took us for what we had

KKK - 3 kicks up the ass

All anti-negros ground is sinking sand

Painting false and visionary pictures

Revolting language bound to mentally hitcha

Stand still while I'm talkin

From abstract thoughts fingers completed the walkin



These are

Thoughts of a Negro



(Wonder, wonder)

(Blinkin I'm thinkin)



Alone on the corner, awaiting a red light

A van pulls up, the passengers are white

My feet's in progress, are my ears deceivin me?

I pause and down came the locks on the doors

A typical stereotypical outlook

How could a man's color betray him as a crook?

I'm on Amtrak, enroute to Atlanta

In first row, drinkin a grape Fanta

Dressed to impress and I'm a walkin jewelry store

I'm gettin lynchin looks from the conductor

Sweatin my jewels but it's cool

He's not the first or the last to

Learn first class was made for a black ass

Fuck the back, it's '91, jack

Another thought I render to be evident

Would I be treated equally if we had a black president?

In this race everyday's suspense

From death to seein infants born as chemical dependents

Skillfully prepared for a ignorant war

But all I encounter I express through metaphors

Like 'nigga', 'black', 'negro'

3 five letter words to describe me, bro

Even excepting we make good athletes

And in bed knowin no other culture can compete

So let's get right down to it

Those who now accept it always knew it



These are

Thoughts of a Negro



(Wonder, wonder)

(Blinkin I'm thinkin)



I try to make it hard for them to hate me

Alienate me, you still gotta face me

But I ain't the stereotype

Understand what I'm sayin or do all niggas sound alike?

Rap's the trade so it's made to live good

My neighbor's kids are sayin, "There goes the neighborhood"

And their dog comes in my yard and takes a shit

Then barks like tellin me, "Clean it"

But I made em all believers

Hit their daughters with a dose of this jungle fever

It was undercover but her parents discovered

Turned her out, now forever she's a nigger lover

I never feed into the stuff about the other man

Cause my destiny is planned around a mic stand

At the table of brotherhood I sit

Calling preachers, wisemen and prophets

To unravel the riddle of our existence

Domestic relations and those of distance

I'm hearin the same statements I feel are prejudiced

One day blacks will rise on their side of the fence

Stories still spread through history books in groups

Tampering with truth, telling tales of twisted roots

Stereotypes living lives of illusions

Leapin to their death, jumping to confusions

I see what I'm faced with, racist congregations

Lord be merciful to a helpless nation



These are

Thoughts of a Negro



(Wonder, wonder))