Swoope - Black Boy lyrics

But, you are more than a
Descendant of a slave
Tonna, I hate that I have to
Talk to you about this you just a boy
When does a boy become a
Man? How do you know?
I think it's when you can honor the
Cloud of witnesses who came before you
And respond to hatred with
Love that transforms

Uh, black boy, black boy
Did you know that the world is yours?
Your Father built it
Presented it to you without a blemish
Your Father's gifted
Your Father's gift is a sinless existence
No cause for tears when your
Eye lid is dripping
Wild up with liquid as your soul cries
Water falls from those eyes


Cheek rivers roll by, dropping
To the concrete, making a rose rise
Black boy, black boy
Did you know that the world is yours?
Your Father built it
And he made it with His hands alone
And then He left you with Emmanuel
How to produce fruit
Engage your culture that can't elope
Let 'em know that the antidote ain't the Pope
How to produce truth
Call 'em like you see 'em like a camera phone
Facetime as a luxury and a loan
You got it but you can't have it
What an anecdote black boy, black boy
You can waste it, you can kill
It, you can use it, uh
You can spend it on the worthy or the useless
But, you'll never get it back
Like that old thing
Or the Love from that song
That En Vogue sings
So what you finna do with these seconds
It's thanksgiving
To the one that's serving blessings
Or you wastin' all this time you got to
Invest in your stuff and how you dressin'
Haha what, you tryna get the yams
On the first date?
For your plans 'cause you slammed
On your first plate
You ain't notice was a gift
In the first place
Why you think he gave grace for you first
Ayy it's all yours, but it's all in time
Some stuff you gotta wait for
So fall in line, uh huh

Uh, black boy, black boy
Did you know that the world is yours?
And don't let 'em tell you different
Yeah, I know that your
Father made you different
But not less than the rest 'cause
Of your shade of pigment you better light
Remember that when the shade is given
You wasn't made to fit in
Small expectations given
By the thoughts of baby homo
Sapiens with jaded memories
Clouded by decades of a racist system
To a child of the Savior risen
Yeah, that's all I got
Uh, black boy, black boy, it's yours

When you can see the wickedness of the
Land that you live in and still
Stand for truth and
Righteousness, your ancestors
Son, they lived and they died, prayin' for
You, that you would be free, that you
Would love, that you would fight, that
You would protect, that you would strive
That you would grow black man
Don't you know the world is yours?

Black man, black man, you
Know it's still yours, right?
Life came, death left, so your birthright
You never really outgrow it but
Could easily forget it if
You're not knowin' history has tried
To dumb you down
With whips and chains to keep
You from the underground
Give you the runaround
Have you thinkin' what's under your crown
It's not a kings mind and your worth is
What you pick up from the ground, it's false
Black man, black man, you forgot
You was a king, huh?
And your kingship, it's from the Kinged One
You was a slave, smart, so son, please
Don't let that change what your free dumb
(freedom) emancipation was gifted
So each man pay son attention
So he can raise younger
Generation racin' for image
Imagine a masses of masses making the killing
Then Abraham Lincoln, a modern Moses for
Most us slaves leaving Egypt, let us go
We dipped, then we meet Jim
Re-lynched on tree limb that
Belonged to the Crow
From the Crow to ghetto
We still hear the echoes
Of "We Shall Overcome" in
Mahalia's strong falsetto
Black man, black man
You know that the world is yours?
Your Father built it with all
Of these cards against ya
One thing you cannot forget is
You was made in your Father's image: king