Crime To Be Broke In America Lyrics

I take the needle off the record and shove it in my arm
Whenever I feel life is comin' on too strong
They left me in a clinic fulla cynical and mothaf*ckin' bureaucrats
And other kinda ding bats, they're livin' on the tracks
The tracks in my arm said
It all depends which side the tracks you're on

Tellin' me what to wear, tellin' me cut my hair
And tryin' to convince me that they really really care
All about my health and about my wealth
But still they built the Stealth
'Cause everybody's just lookin' out for they self
So then I ask 'em can I have a clean needle, hell no that's illegal

It's a crime to be broke in America
And it's a crime to smoke dank in America

Yeah, hit those drums now, yeah
They lockin' brother's in the poorhouse
Who can't afford Moorhouse, politicians nervous
It's the only free service they provide, you wanna go inside
There's a hot meal waitin' for ya, a deal we can score ya
On a bed for a night or two, or three or four months

They say they lockin' us up in cells
To protect us from ourselves
It smells like they got anotha plan in store house
Or should I say warehouse fulla niggaz and other misfits
That couldn't turn tricks in the courthouse
But it's a justice whorehouse

And it's a crime to be broke in America
And it's a crime to be black in America, come on

But there's a mutiny on the bounty, in ever single county So, we remember Attica but don't forget to pat a few others
On the back as a matter of fact
Sister Asatta Shakur and Geronimo Pratt
But Amnesty international is fightin' for political
But if your analytical, you know it's much more critical
Than that percentages black is really, really whack
Can I kick a few facts, yes?

Six percent in college, from livin' on the block
Twenty five percent in prison, the school of hard knocks
Fifty percent in poverty is livin' on the rocks
Five hundred brothas on a death row box
The say, the punishment is capital
For those who lack in capital
Because a public defender can't remember the last time
A brother wasn't treated like an animal

They say, they blame it on a song when someone kills a cop
What music did they listen to when they bombed Iraq?
Well, give me one example so I can take a sample
No need to play it backwards if you wanna hear the devil
'Cause music's not the problem, it didn't cause the bombin'
But maybe they should listen to the songs of people starving

'Cause it's a crime to be broke in America
And it's a crime to smoke dank in America

And it's a crime to be black in America
And it's a crime to be black in America, come on now

Keep on comin' now, yeah
It's a crime to be Puerto Rican
It's a crime to be African
Crime to be native American
A crime to be Asian, Hatian, a woman

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