As an avid rap and hip-hop fan and a huge music enthusiast, I take pride in trying to expand my favorite genre beyond the stereotypical subject matter and predominantly black influences that give many people a distaste for rap. To integrate some of my firmly held beliefs with my favorite music and try to reach a larger audience, I decided to make this video for a class last semester. I view rap lyrics as a distinct form of poetry, and I took great care in shaping these lyrics to be more than clever metaphors and generic subject matter in an attempt to demonstrate the potential for a rap song to be meaningful and moving. I don’t claim to be a talented rapper, so I politely request that you examine my lyrics before wasting time making fun of how white I am. I care about what I wrote, not about what you think of me, so that would just be a waste of your time.
Here are the lyrics!
Sometimes I try to rap so here’s an introduction
The passion in my voice is how I make it function
I’ll give you food for thought, call it a wisdom luncheon
If you think I’m sour, then your face be scrunchin,
But you don’t gotta listen, just let the beat keep bumpin
Fighters keep punchin, Movers keep jumpin
When you break a trend, you might feel like a munchkin,
But in this day and age, it’s good to smash a pumpkin.
I don’t bullshit, I tell it how I see it.
The grass always look greener, yeah you best believe it.
We all got problems, but we still keep on dreamin.
Hope is everything when you just feel like screamin
Depression got me stressin, how should I be dressin?
We focus on the problems when we should count our blessins.
Each day is a new lesson, but for many, class ain’t in session
We all got our secrets, worries, and confessions.
World full of vices, addiction is apparent
Kids get in to trouble, disappoint their parents
Cliques and pointless drama, high school is transparent
Teach togetherness, then we could repair it
People always judgin, make you feel obsolete
Don’t admit defeat, it’s too easy to retreat
Be proud of who you are, that’s it, and life’s complete
Find that inner peace and then lather, rinse, repeat
Life’s too short to be fake or artificial
Society pressures you to follow every whistle
Just follow your passions like a heat-seeking missile
Don’t try to please others and never be superficial
The fallacy of reality is that money’s all you need
When really lots of green leads to lots of greed
Accumulate enough wealth to have security
Then focus on helping others and loving easily
Life is really fulfilling when you embrace your soul
Use your talents like you should and break away from the mold
View others with an open-mind and love until you’re old
Never stop persisting and always set new goals
Inevitably life can feel like hot coals
You get burned from time to time and shoulders feel cold
Get knocked down a hundred times but get up one more
The rusty times in life make us appreciate the gold.
So whether you got a new Mercedes or use the bus station
Whether you white, black, Hispanic, Indian, or Asian
Draw energy and inspiration from frustration
Wave bye to temptations and embrace elation
Love family and friends; marriage precedes procreation
Respect yourself, take everything in moderation
Rain is temporary, laugh at precipitation
Haters gonna hate, make ’em your motivation
People-Watching 