Speak Ya Mind

[Intro]
(All you have to)
Well, I say (I say, I say)
(All you have to, all you have to)
(Tha Biz, Tha Bizness)

[Verse 1]
I'm nice in my skin, I love every colour
I got the body God gave me, don't want another
Well, well, I'm a woman, it don't matter the shade
And what you really, really want is a lady that's paid
Paid on her terms, not this ditsy-ditsy
Take these look-good girls and miss me, miss me
'Cause half of y'all wouldn't last a minute in my circle (Uh-uh)
Shade, shade, shade, in a minute, watch 'em curdle (Ow)
And this is not an attack at them
I just want them to do better than they're doing with their men (Yeah)
I just want them to aim higher, stop the gripping and the grins (Yeah)
I just want them to pull out The Miseducation again (Lauryn)
It's crucial times and we're here to base it (Uh-huh)
I've gotta tell the truth, yeah, face it

[Chorus]
All you have to do is speak your mind and let 'em know (Let 'em know)
Tell them everything you meant to say and never said before (Never said before)
All you got to do is (All you have to do is)
All you got to do is (It's all you have to do)
All you got to do is speak your mind and let 'em know (Let 'em know)
Let 'em know

[Verse 2]
Now what would happen if we got up and rejected?
Demanded more for yourself, they got to respect that
Well, well, I rejected it, yep, I rejected it
And all I had to do was speak my mind, tellin' it
Tellin' my story, now everybody’s feeling me
Dodged all around those that came with the scenery
Now all my heroes, they put me on a pedestal
I underestimated my worth, I'm special
Most women have a thing and don't show it
The only difference is you, you don't know it
Please don't blow it, don't get on your knees
Sing, "All I have to do is be me"
And all we have to do is speak our minds
We're, we're the unstoppable, I'm taking what's mine

[Chorus]
All you have to do is speak your mind and let 'em know
Tell them everything you meant to say and never said before
All you got to do is
All you got to do is
All you got to do is speak your mind and let 'em know
Let 'em know

[Bridge]
'Cause all you have to do is
All you have to do is
Said all you have to, said, said, all you have to
Uh, all you have to do is
All you have to do is
Said all you have to, said, said all you have to
Yeah, said all you have to, said, said, all you have to
Let 'em know

[Chorus]
All you have to do is speak your mind and let 'em know
Tell 'em everything you meant to say and never said before
All you got to do is
All you got to do is
All you got to do is speak your mind and let 'em know
Let 'em know

[Outro]
(Let them know)
(Let them know)
(Let them know)
(Let them know)
(Let them know)
(Let them know)
(Let them know)
(Let them know)
Speak your mind and let them know
(Let them know)
(Let them know)
(Let them know)

[Spoken Outro]
(Yeah)
No, honestly, the, the thing I had to overcome
The biggest challenge was coming from a very, um, traditional Latin family
Being the girl who wanted to break out and do their own thing
And not just get married and have kids
So I was called the gypsy for most of my life
The girl who's always running around, who gets in the car and just drives to Boston
Who gets on a plane and just goes to France but doesn't know how to speak French
The girl who just does this, this and that
And my, you know
Not my mom, but my dad was a person who never left where he came, like where he was born
So he couldn't understand it
So he was always like
"Just sit and down, get married and have some kids
That's what you're supposed to do"
And I was just kinda like, "Sorry, that's not what I'm supposed to do
That's what other people are supposed to do, but not me"
So it was just one of those moments where it was just kind of like
You have a choice, you can either have a daughter like this and support it or not
I was like do I need to have a dick to go to college?
You can bleep that out
Called my mother, he's like, "This is what you're teaching your daughter?"
And it's like, no, she didn't teach me that, she didn't teach me that
That's who I am and you need to understand that
I love you and I'm, I'm—you gave me everything
But I need to go do this
Maybe not with the credentials that other people get impressed by
But I'm still doing it
(Well, we're the ones that have to live with ourselves, so)
Exactly, exactly