Got to give the people
 Give the people what they want
 Ladies and Gentlemen
 (repeat 2X)
 Verse One: Erick Sermon
 When I came out with my first rap jam
 I had no idea that the record would slam
 It did real good without radio play
 Maybe at night but no airplay in the day
 I couldn't understand why to be exact
 Our music was good and I was far from wack
 Then came the answer, commercial was the key
 To get airplay and a spot on TV
 Like Ed Lover and Doctor Dre from Yo! MTV Raps
 A show, mainly for the black
 And still we can't ill, cause to them that's wrong
 Cause like P.E. said, we're too black and too strong
 But hey, what can I say
 (Brothers and sisters) that's a price a rapper must pay
 Chorus
 Verse Two: PMD
 As airwaves collapse rap shows at a standstill
 Some racial circuits the frequencies can't handle
 The funk tracks produced by EPMD
 But it's a fat jam, that will never win a grammy
 Unless we sellout and kill the black movement dead
 Which means swallow our pride and become flunkies instead
 And stop the rap about freedom, thoughts of a black president
 And rap about a black crack, the mayor in our residence
 Give me a break brothers, it's time to take a stand
 And kill that no sir, yes sir, and thank you ma'am
 Cuz the word is a luxury a black man can't afford
 That's why poverty's on the rise and we still ignored
 And it's a setback and yet the clock still ticks
 And if we let it, rap would be run by politics
 I read it somewhere that every man's created equal
 But not in this day and age, maybe in the sequel
 Which means next time, so observe these rhymes
 And take a stand and go for yours cause I'm going for mine
 That's why I
 Chorus
 Verse Three: Erick Sermon, PMD
 Why is that when wrong is done by the black
 It's blown out of proportion and immediately attacked
 By the press and yes, conflict is caused
 By the kids at concerts who bumrush the doors
 One child gets hurt, the press gets pesty
 But what about the Beatles, G, and Elvis Presley
 Same stuff was rough, rap does not cause violence
 So (Fight the Power) and make them understand
 But too much power and you might get banned
 So if you want airplay
 You can't be too black and hey, watch what you say, but ayo
 Chorus: to fade