for the shook ones
theres a war going on inside/
no man is safe from/
you try to grow but you stay froze forever/
from these, thoughts that keep you shook/
you walk around with your head down, scared to look/
like a crook / or a woman on a bus with her head up in a book/
'cuz you got hit with right hooks from the turns your life took/
and now you can't be free of the things you had to see/
now there are goals you won't achieve, or so you're told to believe/
well this here is a decree: ya'll might have been deceived.
just breathe. and know your breath's a gift/
then shift through all your words for their power to uplift/
get rid of all the shit/
that coulda-shoulda shit with your keep-it-real clique/
'cuz the things that keep us real are the things that make them rich/
so switch/
do it like big poppa did/
take the negatives you started with, find a way to make 'em positive/
i'm positive, out there is where the knowledge is/
it's hidden in the trees among the apples and the oranges/
it's out there on the streets just as much as its in colleges/
so get up in the morning and know that God is in your audience/
it's obvious: each birth is a love so deep that it hurts/ then it bursts/
so no one standin' on this planet can tell You what You are Worth/
and your thoughts that might occur / all your words though they're absurd/
this here is your Home Turf, we call your stage The Earth/
so speak! the crowd is on its feet, ya gotta speak/
'cuz staying real to how you feel is the opposite of weak/
now obviously, some of ya'll wanna come off cold as ice/
but you don't look old or wise/
you wanna be the boldest? fine/
don't go hold a nine / walk your block tall with a loaded mind/
held tightly and ready to speak/
to describe what you see, to defend your beliefs/
now get up/
and the things that terrify you, look 'em in the eye and say Whaddup?/
never shut up but be still so truth can reach you/
conversate with those you hate, those are the ones who truly teach you/
i ain't no preacher, i don't pretend to be/
but i know that Fear is your only enemy/
so fight it like the disciples fought sleep in Gethsemane/
and just when you're ahead of me, i'm gone again/
but if it ever gets too hard again / my words hold you like a cardigan/
go back to the gift of your breath, take a deep one...
and start again.
no man is safe from/
you try to grow but you stay froze forever/
from these, thoughts that keep you shook/
you walk around with your head down, scared to look/
like a crook / or a woman on a bus with her head up in a book/
'cuz you got hit with right hooks from the turns your life took/
and now you can't be free of the things you had to see/
now there are goals you won't achieve, or so you're told to believe/
well this here is a decree: ya'll might have been deceived.
just breathe. and know your breath's a gift/
then shift through all your words for their power to uplift/
get rid of all the shit/
that coulda-shoulda shit with your keep-it-real clique/
'cuz the things that keep us real are the things that make them rich/
so switch/
do it like big poppa did/
take the negatives you started with, find a way to make 'em positive/
i'm positive, out there is where the knowledge is/
it's hidden in the trees among the apples and the oranges/
it's out there on the streets just as much as its in colleges/
so get up in the morning and know that God is in your audience/
it's obvious: each birth is a love so deep that it hurts/ then it bursts/
so no one standin' on this planet can tell You what You are Worth/
and your thoughts that might occur / all your words though they're absurd/
this here is your Home Turf, we call your stage The Earth/
so speak! the crowd is on its feet, ya gotta speak/
'cuz staying real to how you feel is the opposite of weak/
now obviously, some of ya'll wanna come off cold as ice/
but you don't look old or wise/
you wanna be the boldest? fine/
don't go hold a nine / walk your block tall with a loaded mind/
held tightly and ready to speak/
to describe what you see, to defend your beliefs/
now get up/
and the things that terrify you, look 'em in the eye and say Whaddup?/
never shut up but be still so truth can reach you/
conversate with those you hate, those are the ones who truly teach you/
i ain't no preacher, i don't pretend to be/
but i know that Fear is your only enemy/
so fight it like the disciples fought sleep in Gethsemane/
and just when you're ahead of me, i'm gone again/
but if it ever gets too hard again / my words hold you like a cardigan/
go back to the gift of your breath, take a deep one...
and start again.