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 full of
Cynical mother fuckin' bureaucrats
And other kinds of ding bats

Livin' on the tracks
The tracks in my arm, said
It all depends which side of 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 their self

So then i ask 'em
Can I have a clean needle
"Hell no, that's illegal!"

'cause it's a crime to be broke in america!
And it's a crime to smoke dank in america!

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 another
Plan in store house
Or should i say warehouse
Full of niggas and other misfits
That couldn't turn tricks in the courthouse
It's a justice whorehouse

It's a crime to be broke in america!
And it's a crime to be black in america!

But there's a mutiny on the bounty
In ever single county
We remember attica
But don't forget to pat a few
Other on the back as a matter of fact
Sister asatta shakur and geronimo pratt
'cause amnesty international
Is fightin' for political
But if you're analytical
You know it's much more critical than that
Percentages black is really, really whack
Can i kick a few facts yes?

Sx 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 punishment is capital
For those who lack in capital
Because a public defender
Can't remember the last time
That 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?
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