White Privilege II (feat. Jamila Woods)

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Pulled into the parking lot, parked it

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Zipped up my parka

Joined the procession of marchers

In my head like, this is awkward

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Should I even be here marching?

Thinking if they can't

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

How can I breathe?

Thinking that they chant

What do I say?

I wanna take a stance

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

'Cause we are not free

And then I thought about it, we are not we

Am I in the outside looking in

Or am I in the inside looking out?

Is it my place to give my two cents

Or should I stand on the side and shut my mouth?

No justice, no peace

Okay, I'm saying that

They're chanting out, "Black Lives Matter!"

But I don't say it back

Is it okay for me to say?

I don't know, so I watch and stand

In front of a line of police that look the same as me

Only separated by a badge

A baton, a can of Mace, a mask, a shield, a gun with gloves

And hands that gives an alibi

In case somebody dies

Behind a bullet that flies out of the .9

Takes another child's life on sight

Blood in the streets

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

No justice, no peace

No racist beliefs

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

No rest 'til we're free

There's blood in the streets

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

No justice, no peace

No racist beliefs

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

No rest 'til we're free

Blood in the streets

(Probably shouldn't be here)

(You have white supremacy)

No justice, no peace

(Don't fuckin' come here)

No racist beliefs

(Culture Vulture)

(Oh, what are you doing Ben?)

No rest 'til we're free

(Black Lives Matter, say it)

(Wow)

There's blood in the street)

(Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter)

(You should not have done that)

No justice, no peace

(Why the fuck would you do that?)

(Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter)

(Police brutality, they're not doing shit about it)

(What are you doing here?)

No racist beliefs

(It's the Grammys!)

No rest 'til we're free

(There you go again)

(White racist)

Ben, think about it

You've exploited and stolen

The music, the moment

The magic, the passion

The fashion, you toy with

The culture was never

Yours to make better

You're Miley, you're Elvis

You're Iggy Azalea

Fake and so plastic

You've heisted the magic

You've taken the drums

And the accent you rapped in

Your brand of hip-hop

It's so fascist and backwards

That Grandmaster Flash'd go slap it, you bastard

All the money that you made

All the watered down

Pop-bullshit version of the culture, pal

Go buy a big-ass lawn

Go with your big-ass house

Get a big-ass fence, keep people out

It's all stolen, anyway

Can't you see that now?

There's no way for you to even that out

You can join the march

Protest, scream and shout

Get on Twitter, hashtag

And seem like you're down

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

But they see through it all

People believe you now?

You said publicly

Rest in peace, Mike Brown

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

You speak about equality

But do you really mean it?

Are you marching for freedom

Or when it's convenient?

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Want people to like you

Want to be accepted

That's probably why you are out here protesting

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Don't think for a second you don't have incentive

Is this about you

Well, then what's your intention?

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

What's the intention?

What's the intention?

(Well, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Hands up! Don't shoot!

Psst, I totally get it

You're by yourself

And the last thing you want to do is take a picture

But seriously

My little girl loves you

She's always singing, "I'm gonna pop some tags"

I'm not kidding, my oldest

You even got him to go thrifting

And One Love, oh my God

That song, brilliant

Their aunt is gay

When that song came out

My son told his whole class

He was actually proud

That's so cool

Look what you're accomplishing

Even the old mom like me likes it

'Cause it's positive

You're the only hip-hop that I let my kids listen to

'Cause you get it

All that negative stuff it isn't cool

Yeah?

Yeah, like, all the guns and the drugs

The bitches and the hoes

And the gangs and the thugs

Even the protest outside

So sad, and so dumb

If a cop pulls you over

It's your fault if you run

Huh?

So, they feel that the police are discriminating against the

The black people?

I have an advantage?

Why? 'Cause I'm white? What? No

See, more people nowadays are just pussies

Like, this is the generation to be offended by everything

Black Lives Matter thing is a reason to take arms up over perceived slights

I'm not prejudiced, I just

99% of the time, across this country

The police are doing their job properly

Damn, a lot of opinions

A lot of confusion, a lot of resentment

Some of us scared

Some of us defensive

And most of us aren't even paying attention

It seems like we're more concerned with being called racist

Than we actually are with racism

I've heard that silence is an action

And God knows that I've been passive

What if I actually read an article

Actually had a dialogue

Actually looked at myself

Actually got involved?

If I'm aware of my privilege and do nothing at all

I don't know

Hip-hop has always been political, yes

It's the reason why this music connects

So what the fuck has happened to my voice

If I stay silent when black people are dying

Then I'm trying to be politically correct?

I can book a whole tour

Sell out the tickets

Rap entrepreneur

Built his own business

If I'm only in this for my own self-interest

Not the culture that gave me a voice to begin with

Then this isn't authentic

It is just a gimmick

The D-I-Y underdog, so independent

But the one thing the American dream fails to mention

Is I was many steps ahead to begin with

My skin matches the hero

Likeness, the image

America feels safe with my music in their systems

And it's suited me perfect

The role, I've fulfilled it

And if I'm the hero

You know who gets cast as the villain

White supremacy isn't just a white dude in Idaho

White supremacy protects the privilege I hold

White supremacy is the soil, the foundation

The cement and the flag that flies outside of my home

White supremacy is our country's lineage

Designed for us to be indifferent

My success is the product of the same system

That let off Darren Wilson, guilty

We want to dress like, walk like, talk like, dance like

Yet we just stand by

We take all we want from black culture

But will we show up for black lives?

We want to dress like, walk like, talk like, dance like

Yet we just stand by

We take all we want from black culture

But will we show up for black lives?

Black Lives Matter, to use an analogy, is like if

If there was a subdivision and a house was on fire

If the fire department wouldn't show up

And start putting water on all the houses because all houses matter

They would show up and they would turn their water on the house that was burning

Because that's the house that needs the help the most

My generation's taken on the torch

Of a very age-old fight for black liberation

But also liberation for everyone

Injustice anywhere is still injustice everywhere

The best thing white people can do is talk to each other

Having those very difficult, very painful conversations

With your parents, with your family members

I think one of the critical questions for white people in this society is

What are you willing to risk?

What are you willing to sacrifice to create a more just society?

Your silence is a luxury, hip-hop is not a luxury

Your silence is a luxury, hip-hop is not a luxury

(Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

Your silence is a luxury, hip-hop is not a luxury

(Yeah, yeah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah)

Your silence is a luxury, hip-hop is not a luxury

(Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever)

What I got for me, it is for me

(Yeah, ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay)

What we made, we made to set us free

(Yeah, ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay)

(Yeah, ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay)

What I got for me, it is for me

What we made, we made to set us free

(Yeah, ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay)

What I got for me, it is for me

What we made, we made to set us free