and shove it in my arm
 whenever I feel life is
 comin' on too strong
 they left me in a clinic fulla
 cynical motha fuckin' bureaucrats
 and other kinda ding bats

 Livin on the tracks
 the tracks in my arm said
 it all depends which side the tracks your on.
 tellin' me what to wear
 tellin me cut my hair
 and tryin to convince me that they
 really really care
 all about my health and about my wealth
 but still they built the Stealth
 'cause everybody's
 just lookin out for they self

 So then I ask 'em
 can I have a clean needle
 "Hell no that's illegal!"

 (chorus)
 'Cause it's a crime to be broke in America!
 and it's a crime to smoke dank in America!
 (repeat)

 "Yeah hit those drums now"
 they lockin' brother's in the poorhouse
 who can't afford Moorhouse
 politicians nervous
 it's the only free service they provide
 you wanna go inside
 there's a hot meal waitin' for ya
 a deal we can score ya
 on a bed for a night or two
 or three or four months.

 They say they lockin' us up in cells
 to protect us from ourselves
 it smells like they got anotha
 plan in store house
 or should I say warehouse
 fulla niggas and other misfits
 that couldn't turn tricks in the courthouse
 it's a justice whorehouse

 (chorus)
 It's a crime to be broke in America!
 and it's a crime to be Black in America!

 But there's a mutiny on the bounty
 in ever single county
 we remember Attica
 but don't forget to pat a few
 other on the back as a matter of fact
 sister Asatta Shakur and Geronimo Pratt
 'cause Amnesty international
 is fightin' for political
 but if your analytical
 you know it's much more critical than that
 percentages black is really, really whack
 can I kick a few facts yes?

 Sx percent in college
 from livin on the block
 twenty five percent in prison
 the school of hard knocks
 fifty percent in poverty
 is livin on the rocks
 five hundred brothas on a death row box

 The punishment is capital
 for those who lack in capital
 because a public defender
 can't remember the last time
 that a brother wasn't treated like an animal.

 They say they blame it on a song
 when someone kills a cop
 what music did they listen to
 when they bombed Iraq?
 give me one example so I can take a sample
 no need to play it backwards
 if you wanna hear the devil
 cause music's not the problem
 it didn't cause the bombin'
 but maybe they should listen
 to the songs of people starving..

 (chorus)
 'Cause it's a Crime to be broke in America!
 it's a crime to smoke dank in America!
 it's a crime to be black in America!
 it's a crime to be black in America!
 it's a crime to be Puerto Rican
 African
 Native American
 Asian Hatian
 a Woman