Open Letter

Open letter to Those needing a mentor Growing up in a ghetto No telling where you may end up DJs may not play this And my friends might not share it And I can't expect anyone in Entertainment to say it They may have made it And the way that they portray it Makes it seem like the greatest But it's part of a bigger matrix Ain't no way, we supposed to Traffic drugs and make hits While corporations profit Without taking the same risks We face jail, no bail Imagine to raise a kid Being taken away And for years nobody Came to visit Getting a 2nd chance But nobody wanna take you in Jobs don't bother calling bac' When applications are labeled felon Record labels Pay entertainers for fable telling Ain't no way in hell Folks innocent with all the coke they selling I understand the reasoning For loc'n Cosby up But what about R Kelly Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump The system full of contradictions And double standards Industry manufactures Blow-up dolls and mumble rappers Who were these actors Before claiming to be gangsters Media made 2Pac a thug Homies smoked him and Then they smoked his ashes Yet we idolize these guys who die From violent crimes Never once asking why We really want this kind of life I Wonder what hip hop would be Without murder, misogyny How much talent would still exist In what we label - artistry Would it be pop or r&b Electronic or Roc'n'roll Maybe funk and jazz'll come bac' When cats find their souls Bet you they're lost in the contracts That the labels made The irony in them owning your masters Making you their slave It's in the game They try to play us like chumps We see each other as competition Not equals, which sux Because we building up And tearing someone else down Ego the biggest reason We don't leave off the ground You've never seen yourself Without a mirror or photograph Reflective surface or Some other form of glass You don't know yourself If you let others control your path How to think for yourself I don't know how to show you that How you should live your life Nobody should dictate Don't give nobody power over you That's a mistake If you don't put in work Don't expect any big break Every regret in life Comes from risks that you didn't take Are you real or fake With the image that you portray Can people even relate With the things that you convey Is it true what you say Or is it to entertain If people choose to follow you Is it a better way Or is it a maze To lead folks to where they started from Will they respect your legacy If it was left in martyrdom Huey, Malcolm and Martin gone Same as god's begotten son The half god that didn't smite those who put the cross on him I'm skeptical of Information people feed to me Much of what we consume Are things that we don't really need The way the stories change Things aren't what they seem to be To raise your kids right Be mindful what you teach your seed That means no spreading Of any -isms and phobias Accept people for who they are Coexist, and show em love We gotta do better With messages we promoting now Make positivity trendy Spread it, so it goes around