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Born in the Struggle
E‐40 feat. Cornel West & Mike Marshall
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🇬🇧 English · Original
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Lyrics
Original
Translation
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And so then the question becomes
How do we try to educate and teach
And exemplify in our own lives as older folk
To young folk, there's other ways of dealing with this
Then there's the larger issue of crime
How do we go about fighting crime?
Mandatory sentence, differential treatment
Poor and the rich end up in prison
Disproportionate black, brown, working class poor brother
I had to hand wash my clothes
Didn't have a washing machine or a dryer, ugh
Momma used to have to hang her period panties
Out on the clothesline wire, ugh
The vacuum broke, used the broom
We got company coming over this afternoon
You know our family like to gossip
Clean up your room, throw everything in the closet
I like to talk to the old schoolers, OG players
'Cause they was my age, I ain't never been theirs
I count on them for guidance, leadership and advice
'Cause everything I'm going through
They done been through twice
Or three or four times, five, six, seven, eight
We can learn from they mistakes before it's too late
Communication is everything, conversation's abandoned
People die every day because of misunderstandings
The highs and lows, the ups and downs
Pissy sidewalks, human shit on the ground
The ins and outs, whys and won'ts
History repeats itself, opportunities don't
Sad true story, unintentionally, not on purpose
Only time I see my family's at a funeral service
Her stomach keep hurting, but she didn't bother
'Cause you and I both know that black folk
Don't like to go to the doctor
One thing about us, man, we creative
And at the end of the day, we all related
Through the slaves and the Indians and Natives
They brought us here on a boat, whipped us and raped us
Scraps from a pig they gave us
So we cooked pork chops, chitlins, ribs and bacon
Fucked around and got addicted to swine, which wasn't 'posed to be
Now we love it, in our mind it's a delicacy
I was born in the struggle
I was born in the struggle
Yeah, our life, it gets harder, the youth, they die younger
The time, it gets harder, that's just what we used to
Ugh, you got a ride to school, I had to walk
We had rent-a-sin, the furniture, yours was bought
Paid for, your parents had more
You had a bed to yourself, I had to share mine with four
Sometimes I slept on the floor
That's probably why to this day sometime my back be sore
Ugh, hard times, we was borderline poor
Far from being the richest
If we didn't do our chores, we would get beat with switches
Born in the struggle where we all wanna bubble
Where it's hard to do good, but easy to get in trouble
Can't be soft as table butter, can't be no punk
And every neighborhood be having they own internal funk
Boarded-up houses, unsafe sex
Teenager at the bus stop smoking meth
Good girl gone bad, weak-minded without a doubt
Her parents didn't find out until her teeth fell out
Oil stains in the driveway, church on Sunday
Every time I go, seem like the preacher teaching to me
Pointing at me, looking at me
Heaven or hell, mayne, which one it's gon' be? Hoo
I was born in the struggle
I was born in the struggle
Yeah, I was born a black man
I was born in the struggle
Yeah, our life, it gets harder, the youth, they die younger
The time, it gets harder, that's just what we used to
Sometimes we sit back and watch things go by (Uh-huh)
Like that's the way they're supposed to be
Nah, nah (Nah, nah)
This ain't how it was meant to be
(This ain't how it was meant to be, mayne)
Turn around, look at your neighbor
Ask somebody (How cold is it?)
It's cold, cold, cold out here (Man, what you talking 'bout?)
And I'm not talking 'bout the weather (Say it one more time, brother)
I say it's cold, cold, cold, cold, cold out here (It's cold out here)
And I'm not talking 'bout the weather (What was you born in?)
I was born in the struggle (In the struggle)
I was born, I was born, I was born, I was born in the struggle
I was born in the struggle
Yeah, our life, it gets harder, the youth, they die younger
The time, it gets harder, that's just what we used to
Young folk don't come out of the sky
They come out of families, they come out of neighborhoods
They come out of mass media influence and so forth, you see?
So by the time a young person's six years old
How many commercials have they seen?
How many killings have they seen?
They're exposed to a very violent society