Little something for my godson Elijah
And a little girl named Corin

Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice

I say the darker the flesh, then the deeper the roots
I give a holla to my sisters on welfare
2Pac cares if don´t nobody else care
And I know they like to beat you down a lot
When you come around the block, brothers clown a lot
But please don´t cry, dry your eyes, never let up
Forgive, but don´t forget, girl, keep ya head up
And when he tells you you ain´t nothin´, don´t believe him
And if he can´t learn to love you, you should leave him
‘Cause, sister, you don´t need him
And I ain´t tryin´ to gas you up, I just call ´em how I see ´em
You know what makes me unhappy?
When brothers make babies

And leave a young mother to be a pappy
And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women — do we hate our women?
I think it´s time to kill for our women
Time to heal our women, be real to our women
And if we don´t we´ll have a race of babies
That will hate the ladies that make the babies
And since a man can´t make one
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one
So will the real men get up?
I know you´re fed up, ladies, but keep ya head up

Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things are gonna get easier

Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things´ll get brighter
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things are gonna get easier
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things´ll get brighter

Ayo, I remember Marvin Gaye used to sing to me
He had me feelin´ like black was the thing to be
And suddenly the ghetto didn´t seem so tough
And though we had it rough, we always had enough
I huffed and puffed about my curfew and broke the rules
Ran with a local crew and had a smoke or two
And I realize Mama really paid the price
She nearly gave her life to raise me right
And all I had to give her was my pipe dream
Of how I´d rock the mic and make it to the bright screen

I´m tryin´ to make a dollar out of fifteen cents
It´s hard to be legit and still pay the rent
And in the end it seems I´m headin´ for the pen
I try to find my friends, but they´re blowin´ in the wind
Last night my buddy lost his whole family
It´s gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity
It seems the rain´ll never let up
I try to keep my head up and still keep from gettin´ wet up
You know, it´s funny, when it rains it pours
They got money for wars but can´t feed the poor
Say there ain´t no hope for the youth
And the truth is it ain´t no hope for the future
And then they wonder why we crazy
I blame my mother for turnin´ my brother into a crack baby

We ain´t meant to survive, ‘cause it´s a set-up
And even though you´re fed up, huh, you got to keep ya head up

Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things are gonna get easier
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things´ll get brighter
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things are gonna get easier
Keep ya head up, ooh, child
Things´ll get brighter

And uh, to all the ladies havin´ babies on they own
I know it´s kinda rough and you´re feelin´ all alone
Daddy´s long gone and he left you by your lonesome

Thank the Lord for my kids even if nobody else want ´em
‘Cause I think we can make it; in fact, I´m sure
And if you fall, stand tall and come back for more
‘Cause ain´t nothin´ worse than when your son
Wants to know why his daddy don´t love him no mo´
You can´t complain you was dealt this
Hell of a hand without a man, feelin´ helpless
Because there´s too many things for you to deal with
Dyin´ inside, but outside you´re lookin´ fearless
While tears is rollin´ down your cheeks
You steady hopin´ things don´t fall down this week
‘Cause if it did, you couldn´t take it
And don´t blame me — I was given this world, I didn´t make it

And now my son´s gettin´ older and older
And colder from havin´ the world on his shoulders
While the rich kids is drivin´ Benz
I´m still tryin´ to hold on to survivin´ friends
And it´s crazy, it seems it´ll never let up
But please, you got to keep ya head up