Bodega Dreams English Class
[Verse 1]
It’s Willie Bodega; risk-taker, king of the neighborhood
Giving essentials to everyone in exchange for loyalty
I take these limits and break ‘em; have a dream and attain it
By any means necessary, these politicians ain’t caring
This is rough war, what you get for gifting us gun stores
Coming to you from the former Young Lord
Blunt force ‘cause I gotta, the country gave us nada for our hardest
Pimpin’ the ghetto for green, do you think we’re retarded?
We died in Iwo Jima, Korea, Vietnam
Read the walls, you’ll see Ortega, Rivera, Latino lives lost
And I flock with my birds of a feather
I’m burning my leather with all the work and effort I’ve put, check it
The city sees burning buildings and says whatever
But one man’s trash is another man’s treasure
We the Great Society, death to propriety tying the people down
The Barrio dynasty fighting for freedom

[Chorus]
Now you gon’ ride for me, die for me, put things to the side for me
Get in fights for me, put a life on the line for me
Eye for an eye for me, ‘til we see the light, homie
We gon’ change the world, if it means that you all gonna
Ride for me, die for me, put things to the side for me
Get in fights for me, put a life on the line for me
Eye for an eye for me, ‘til we see the light, homie
We gon’ change the world
[Verse 2]
I’ve been praying for you to come back, waiting for you to come back
Does he love you like I do? Sacrifice for my love, man
Vera, Vera, I wanna love you forever
Know your weather, know your pleasure, you make my whole world better
‘Cause I would ride for ya, die for ya, put things to the side for ya
Take a life for ya, put my whole empire to the side for ya
Lie for ya, soaring in the sky when I’m with you
Time isn’t big enough to tell you all my feelings
Chica, you’re chillin’ with the militant
Revisionist, Harlem’s very own
Got me singing a different song
Our future like the Palladium, got me feelin’ like titanium
I vibrate with ya, you my Daisy ‘til I’m pushing daisies
I’m crazy for ya, thanking the creator God
This is love, you’ve claimed my heart, my train of thought has stopped at Vera Station
Baby, we could run away, the days are short, but we’ll make them ours
I’ll take my shot and---(gunshot)

[Verse 3]
(This is from my perspective)
Another year of the canine
Fears of the same kind
Recently I’ve adhered to a bad vibe
Praying that I jump high enough, so you can hear of my hang time
Chicos sixteen with the Mag-5’s
The gringo beat the streets by a landslide
Made us think we can’t try
We wrote our stories, let me plant mine
I was only fourteen, chosen by the leading class
“How you got in the elite? Guess a kid from the ghetto can”
World changing in a flash, trying to adapt, rougher class
One day, a friend, she messages me, tells me that she’s in a gang
God damn
Innocence vanished, I began to panic
Same year, my phone got robbed, remember dashin’
Depressed and anxious is what I grew, I wish I knew what was in view
Imagine what other kids in the ghetto go through
Got relatives in the Projects, we taking chances
Door got more locks than Samson
Families barely manage, we gotta put the ball in the basket to get into Stanford
Then our raps are reprimanded
And as I look around this room today, I realize I’m beating the odds
Just standing here and speaking to y’all
King died in ‘68, since then we have evolved
Yet not enough, so his dream ain’t accomplished
I wonder where’s the education? Why we so segregated?
I’m putting the pen to paper, y’all putting our men in the pen and ending the zen
Sending us choppers and blanca, y’all expect us to bend to your will and then leave us to fend for ourselves?
And then the 12 wanna send us through hell? It’s amazing
Thinking time will just heal, but still the government’s filled with racial bias
Whites racing by us, friends staying silent ‘bout it, doubt that they even mind
You can see it to believe it, preempting us eating, materialism temptin’ us
Strengthening demons, losing sleep
He’s barely breathing, she’s scarcely feeding her children
They’d bleed the Panther, we’d reap disasters, it’s like reading el mismo chapter
I’ve been seeking answers
But it’s track and field once the po-po blasts the steel
Another man is left killed, so out of hand and left field
Using tactics that don’t appeal to the masses, for real?
It’s frightening ‘cause we’re blind to justice for Philando Castile and Tamir Rice
This is real life, I don’t feel liked
And sheer might don’t feel like enough
Real recognize fake, so I’m calling your bluff
Racism still alive, this is larger than Trump
So I understand Willie, though he fell to vice
Whole world burning, you don’t gotta tell me twice
2018, why we gotta kneel for rights?
But in the face of hate, I still will fight
[Outro]
And we all Bodegas
But we all gotta wake up
‘Cause we all Bodegas
‘Cause we all Bodegas
And we all dreamchasers
And we all wanna change the world
‘Cause we all Bodegas
‘Cause we all Bodegas