I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black
It's time to fight back that's what Huey said
And only time we chill is when we kill each other
You gotta operate the easy way
Aww, yeah
Don't let 'em jack you up, back you up
It's time for us as a people to start makin' some changes
Try to show another way but you stayin' in the dope game
First ship 'em dope and let 'em deal the brothers
Come on, come on, that's just the way it is
My mama didn't raise no fool
Things will never be the same, that's just the way it is
You see, the old way wasn't working so it's on us to do
I don't trust this, when they try to rush I bust this
They get jealous when they see ya, with ya mobile phone
Well hey, well, that's the way it is
We ain't ready, to see a black President
'Cause I always got to worry 'bout the pay backs
That's just the way it is
I'd love to go back to when we played as kids
We gotta start makin' changes
There's war in the streets and war in the Middle East
It ain't a secret don't conceal the fact
And still I see no changes, can't a brother get a little peace?
Things will never be the same, that's just the way it is
And let's change the way we treat each other
Aww, yeah
Some buck that I roughed up way back
And although it seems heaven sent
We gotta make a change
Give 'em guns, step back, watch 'em kill each other
That's just the way it is
And I ain't never did a crime, I ain't have to do
We under, I wonder what it takes to make this
Comin' back after all these years
Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live
Aww, yeah
And that's how it's supposed to be
Things will never be the same, that's just the way it is
That's the sound of my tool, you say it ain't cool?
'Cause mo' black and white is smokin' crack tonight
Aww, yeah
You gotta learn to hold ya own
My stomach hurts, so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch
Crack you up and pimps smack you up
Is life worth living, should I blast myself?
Two shots in the dark, now Huey's dead
And as long as I stay black, I gotta stay strapped
Take the evil out the people they'll be acting right
Come on, come on, that's just the way it is
Unless we share with each other
Sellin' crack to the kid, I gotta get paid
It takes skill to be real, time to heal each other
Come on, come on, that's just the way it is
So the police can bother me
I see no changes, all I see is racist faces
Things will never be the same, that's just the way it is
Aww, yeah
Now tell me, what's a mother to do?
Come on, come on, that's just the way it is
Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares
I made a G today, but you made it in a sleazy way
Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero
But things changed, that's the way it is
What we gotta do, to survivem
One less hungry mouth on the welfare
Things will never be the same, that's just the way it is
I got love for my brother but we can never go nowhere
The penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks
Learn to see me as a brother instead of two distant strangers
Cops give a damn about a negro
Aww, yeah
But now, I'm back with the facts givin' 'em back to you
How can the devil take a brother, if he's close to me?
But some things will never change
But tell the cops, they can't touch this
One better place, let's erase the wasted
And I never get to lay back
Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
Instead of war on poverty, they got a war on drugs
Rat-a-tat, tat, tat, tat, that's the way it is
Bein' real don't appeal to the brother in you
Things will never be the same, that's just the way it is