young lords
New to the world
Fresh out the barrio
I was an outlaw rebel
Out of my mind, young and wild
My existence defined in one word: Survive
If it could be sold, I can sell it; if it can’t, that’s cool
I’ll fix it up make it look good enough to catch some fools
It started when I was young with my Genesis games
He traded me John Madden for--I don’t remember the name
But it was weak though
The streets though, they play with perico
So Tito became my hijo, he had cheap blow
And each O like three, four times, I flipped ones
But it’s evil, the people I deal with'll stick nuns
With big guns, the diesel, that diesel never change
The custies still nod like they agree with everything
The weed ain’t the same, all the colors is new
It ain’t just green, the haze is purple, and them berries is blue
I don’t care if it was pink, as long as they still smokin'
I'll have them bags packed until they damn near open
The hustle’s in my veins, I could bleed in a pot
And make a soup that’d go for 10 dollars a pot
En la calle
On a collision course with incarceration
Consumed by the lies of the streets
They were an illusion
But I awoke, caged like an animal
They got me locked in a cell
Where I’m feelin' like an experiment
My spirit sharper than lasers they used to build pyramids
Writin' on the walls keep me sane
Knuckle push-ups on the concrete 'til I bleed out the pain
Thoughts of my freedom lingerin' in my brain
I’m stronger and much quicker, I appreciate the gain
Buildin' with my a-alike, brown power reunite
Tattoos of my flag, PR pride, Jesus Christ
But I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy
So when I’m free I’ll teach and spread the speech
Of how they try to divide us (to make us weak)
Find us (and break a piece)
So I got it (to make a peace), honest (I play for keeps)
This is the life of your forefathers that fought hard
Four corners of backyards, power in numbers
So they subtract us and add bars
If they want it, we gonna take ‘em to war
We not a gang or a clique, we Young Lords
I came to my senses, un esclavo no soy
That is now my past
I came to know me and my people
Red, brown and black helped me paint the future
The world got a template, to turn us into inmates
Caged in a state pen, man, fuck goin' to Penn State!
Bonded to slave ships to punch in your timecard
Walk my oasis spacin' jungle behind bars
Got my epiphany like Malcolm X
Prison to the bricks, but I’m stuck in this global house arrest
I’m a free man, so I changed my mannerisms
This Greenspan system wanna dent my activism
Estilo machetero get my people out the ghetto
21st century Grito De Lares estate quieto (stay calm)
We vocal minorities, no pookie man trail
Guess the local authorities to be the Ho Chi Minh trail
From robbin' bodegas and boostin' like low-lives
The medium figures totin' the 4-5
Revolutionary gangsters in your presence
Tryin' to dead us with cancer through chemical testin'
¡Unidos por fin!
We seize the time, free at last
Learn to love, live to fight
Not just for me, but for others
Teach the new blood
And live for freedom!
I survived the COINTELPRO assassinations
AIDS-epidemic crack era fractured the nation
The interpretation of American democracy
Is best exemplified in its foreign policy dichotomy
I live a double-life of political philosophy
But revolution follows me, the struggle for equality
Against the morally bankrupt, claimin' to be born again
It's a civil war again, like MS-13's origin
Banned ethnic studies claimin' our culture will swallow them
But you can’t conquer people
And build a country on top of them
And then feel offended that they breathe the same oxygen
Your family values lack the wisdom of Solomon
But Operation Condor and Operation Bootstrap
Are Poli Sci 101, research for the New Jack
It’s hard to reach Communist Utopia tomorrow
When your hands are in a fuckin' glass jar, like Che Guevara
Forget the distorted historical facts you were given
Slave trade was the capital for capitalism
Trapped in a prison mentally, dyin' existentially
Separated from people you can’t see yourself to be
Then racially integrated into a burnin' house
Colony of an empire economically burnin' out
Can’t win a debate, so they sponsor every threat to me
I wonder if Agent 800 is standin' next to me
In Puerto Rico, the main problem we have es que somos colonia. We are a colony, we are fighting for freedom
Because we will not be a slave nation por favor
The struggle here is to make universities
The struggle here is in the community
It's against the police and violence
It's against discrimination
It's against the crime against humanity on this beautiful Caribbean Island. This is Panama
Young lords, revolutionary always, from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Que viva Puerto Rico libre!