Block Party

[Intro]

[Verse 1: Jean Grae]
Listen. I don’t wanna
Preach or come off bitter. This is a commentary auditory
Editorial about the state of things, state of mind
And state of being. What the fuck is going on? How the fuck
We gonna make it out? It’s hectic, from asbestos-filled classrooms
To the stench of death that’s still in New York—the air is thick
With it, but it reaches further like the world murder rate
Circulate, cultivate your mind and soul, your heart and your body
So stagnant. Niggas, get off your block and travel
Stop acting like your flesh is metal and your hood’s a magnet
We need to globalize, further spread on this earth
To appreciate the full value of individual worth
To realize how ridiculous the thought of ownership is and protecting your turf
It’s bullshit, man. That’s how we got colonized
Missionaries create foreign schools and change the native way in thinking
So, in ten years, we can have a foreign Columbine
In some small village in the Amazon. Come on, man
We’re better than that

[Hook: Jean Grae]
You need
To get out your house, get off your block, and see something
Go do something, go change something, or else
We’ll fall for nothing. You need to travel the world
And when you come back, tell your girl and your girl and your girl
And your girl and your man and your man
And your man. You understand?
So spread the word

[Verse 2: Jean Grae]
It’s every
Man for himself—that’s why the black community
Is lacking in wealth—there’s no unity. We’d sooner be
Chilling with rich white folk, and that means that we made it
Let our kids go hungry before our wardrobe is outdated
Rap careers are drug-related. Ballplayers, we need more lawyers
More housing and jobs created—why we waiting for it to be given?
We need to get up and get out and make our own living
Instead of just making more inner-city children
More doctors in your building, righteous cops next door. If the system’s
Corrupt, then change it. Fought for the right to vote, don’t even use it
Forget electoral winning. The way the world’s going, we’re in
The ninth inning, heh, and we still aren’t up to bat
Niggas is happy just to have the rights to sit on a bench
Like, “Floor seats is alright,” and that’s as far as we reach
Materialistic values, not morals—that’s what we teach
I see it in the youth hungry for fame and money, not for knowledge
And pursuit of the truth. Pick up a book or a newspaper
Take a free class in politics or human behavior. We need
To stop acting victimized. It’s like we’re day-walking blind
Open your eyes. There’s a whole world out there

[Hook: Jean Grae]
You need
To get out your house, get off your block, and see something
Go do something, go change something, or else
We’ll fall for nothing. You need to travel the world
And when you come back, tell your girl and your girl and your girl
And your girl and your man and your man
And your man. You understand?
So spread the word

[Verse 3: Jean Grae]
And you don’t
Have to agree or just be happy, content to lose
Your hunger, push further ‘cause I don’t believe that pipe dreams exist
The world is what you make it, your life is all that you got
So take it to the limit. Why would you deny your spirit
Growth and happiness? And if your peoples hold you back
They’re not your peoples at all. You know the misery cliché
Ladies, know your worth. The way we’re giving it up, we might as well
Auction ourselves on eBay to the lowest bidder. So what
If his dough is better? Money doesn’t make the man. Maybe self-
-sufficiency would better make you understand. Let’s get it together
There’s so much promise and it’s just going to waste. We turn crude
Lack of class, lack of taste, and, trust, they’re laughing at us
It’s slow genocide, and I don’t care how many bottles
Of Cristal you pop. It won’t un-expose you as a known pedophile
Native child running wild to the edge of the Earth
I’ll see y’all at that last hundred miles. Bet

[Hook: Jean Grae] (x2)
You need
To get out your house, get off your block, and see something
Go do something, go change something, or else
We’ll fall for nothing. You need to travel the world
And when you come back, tell your girl and your girl and your girl
And your girl and your man and your man
And your man. You understand?
So spread the word

[Outro: Conversation Between Apani B and Jean Grae]