Credits
PERFORMING ARTISTS
Black Thought
Performer
Common
Performer
Mos Def
Performer
Dice Raw
Performer
Flo Brown
Performer
Jazzyfatnastees
Performer
The Roots
Performer
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Flo Brown
Composer
Scott Storch
Composer
Leonard Hubbard
Composer
Tracy Moore
Composer
Ahmir Thompson
Composer
Tariq Trotter
Composer
Mercedes Martinez
Composer
Lonnie Lynn
Composer
Dante Smith
Composer
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Scott Storch
Producer
The Grand Wizzards
Producer
Lyrics
Same story, same target, different time
Cyclical reaction from the prisoners of the blind
Trying to fight time, it's a battle of the mind
Waiting for redemption, surviving in a bind
Same story, same target, different time
Cyclical reaction from the prisoners of the blind
Trying to fight time, it's a battle of the mind
Waiting for redemption, surviving in a bind
Yo, talk about paying the ultimate price,
Hurricane been incarcerated all of his life
Started out at like twelve (Right),
Trapped in a belly of hell,
Grew into a man inside of a cell,
Yo, anger just swell up
At a early age that develop (Right)
Hot-headed, now it ain't shit y'all could tell him
They said he's on a road to become a felon
But instead, he swung blows that'll spilt your melon
He did his thing and was the king of the ring, undisputed
Started making noise, but they tried to mute it
They put him through it
For him to make the system look stupid?! (Yo...)
They rather look you in the face and shoot it
And leave your spot looted (Or what?)
Or leave your whole life blank-futured, in court,
When you scream out "I didn't do it!"
With sweat leaking from the outline of your silhouette
Don't understand the point that you at (Right), or how the hell you came to it
Flashback to images of that night, out in Patterson
They pulled him over, heading home from a gathering (Word)
And when they told him the charge, it kind of baffled him
"Murder in the first for the champ? We on that again??"
Hurricane
Accuse a Hurricane
Ain't change a damned shame
It's life for Hurricane, Hurricane
Forever, imagine you're locked down forever
Could y'all stand the weather?
Could you hold it together?
Don't tell me that you know the pain
Yo, imagine if your life was like a hurricane, a hurricane
Forever, imagine you locked down forever
Could ya'll stand the weather?
You built for that weather?
Yo, know what'm saying?
Know what'm saying?
You gotta fight for what you believe in
Nobody knows the troubles seen,
This flick left me wondering,
“What can become of kings and young kids?”
Some are dream-deferred, incident occured, freedom blurred
A freedom that would only be retrieved again in words, later on
The cops, y'all know what they be on
A ****'s life is like a field that they play upon, away and gone from
Natural life; for his soul, he had to fight
Learnin' himself – sleep days, stay up half the night,
Amongst dead men walking, he got after life, exercising,
Developing his knack to write
Never leaving his cell, in his world he trapped himself
What he loved on the outside world, detached himself
You know the cards Blacks get dealt by the system
He drew a picture of freedom with many dimensions
This picture proved to be bigger than Black and White
A young soul named Lesra brought him back to life
It's amazing to a man, what a book could do
And how certain books–seem to look for you
This is the story of a champion's fall and rise
The story left me wiping my eyes
Peace, Ru
Hurricane
Accuse a Hurricane
Ain't change a damned shame
It's life for Hurricane, Hurricane
Forever, imagine you're locked down forever
Could y'all stand the weather?
Could you hold it together?
Tell me that you know the pain
Yo, imagine if your life was like a hurricane, a hurricane
Forever, ever, yo, locked down forever
Could ya'll stand the weather?
You built for that weather?
Yo, know what'm saying?
Know what'm saying?
Yes, I am the inescapable, the irresistable
The un-negotiable, the unchallenged (Who dat?)
I am time
I scroll in measurements, control the elements
I hold the evidence, I tell the story (Say what?)
I am time
I know no prejudice, I bear no sentiment
For wealth or settlements, I move forward (Yo, who you?)
I am time
You can't recover me, conceal, or smuggle me
Retreat or run from me, crawl up or under me
You can't do much for me, besides serve
Me well, and have good dividends returned to you,
Or attempt to kill me off and have me murder you
Many have wasted me, but now they are facing me
Treated me unfaithfully, and ya now endure me painfully
Plaintively, I witness, see what history will shake to be
Who's thoughts will live or die inside the sake of me
Angel's scribe the page for me,
Keep a full account of all the names for me
And make a special mark for Hurricane, who bore me patiently
Hurricane
Accuse a Hurricane
Ain't change a damned shame
It's life for Hurricane, Hurricane
Forever, imagine your locked down forever
Could you stand the weather?
Could you hold it together?
I can't even explain the pain
Imagine your life was like a hurricane, a hurricane
Forever, imagine you locked down forever, forever, forever...
Could you hold it together?
Yo, can't explain the pain with words
Know what'm saying? So imagine your life was like a hurricane
The clouds clashed and the Heavens gave birth to a star
God placed it in a man, on the day he was born
Convicted minutes after, a true natural disaster
Framed for manslaughter, the Hurricane Carter rising
From out the South water, like torrential rains
In the ring, no opponent escaped unscathed
You can't believe–the world we live in's injust
All I see is more proof, there's no place for us
They had my man Carter locked in a cage, like an animal
Drive him to the point where the mind work mechanical
Or worst, by remote control
It was done to all of us, they tapped directly into our soul
Either it's Sing Sing, or it's bars around your mind
There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide
In a six-by-six, a guilty man cries
For repentance, Allah says where innocence is
Same story, same target, different time
Cyclical reaction from the prisoners of the blind
Trying to fight time, it's a battle of the mind
Waiting for redemption, surviving in a bind
Same story, same target, different time
Cyclical reaction from the prisoners of the blind
Trying to fight time, it's a battle of the mind
Waiting for redemption, surviving in a bind
Hurricane
Accuse a Hurricane
Ain't change a damned shame
It's life for Hurricane, Hurricane
Imagine you locked down forever
Could you stand the weather?
Could you hold it together?
I can't even explain the pain
You nahm saying? If life was like a hurricane, a hurricane
Forever, imagine, behind bars forever
Could you stand the weather? You built for that?!
Is you cut for that?!
Yo, don't tell me that you know the pain, if life was a hurricane
Same story, same target, different time
Cyclical reaction from the prisoners of the blind
(Amped up, they locked the champ up)
Trying to fight time, it's a battle of the mind
Waiting for redemption, surviving in a bind
Same story, same target, different time
Cyclical reaction from the prisoners of the blind
Trying to fight time, it's a battle of the mind
Waiting for redemption, surviving in a bind
Written by: Ahmir Thompson, Dante Smith, Falona Brown, Leonard Hubbard, Lonnie Lynn, Mercedes Martinez, Scott Storch, Tariq Trotter, Tracy Moore