[Chorus]

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

It's not the poverty, it's the inequality

We live with everyday that will turn us insane

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

It's not the poverty, it's the inequality

We live with everyday that will turn us insane

[Verse 1]

In a scheme of livin' my life wasn't hard

But as far as Britain goes, shit I practically starved

Sleeping in a tracksuit, gas meter runnin' out

Electric cut off as well, candles lightin' up the house

Lookin' in my mother's eyes, I see how she feels

The strain and the pain of just paying bills

It ain't real, and thats how I grew like so many more

And it is part of who I am, I am very sure

You wanna know the rage I feel in my stomach

Knowing my mum and dad split up when I was still in her stomach

And not everything that happened I will put in sixteens

But I will tell you enough so you will know what I mean

My boy's mother got cancer the same time as mine

But his mother died and mine survived

The shit was fucked back then

When I was like ten already had the mental strength, more than many grown men

[Chorus]

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

It's not the poverty, it's the inequality

We live with everyday that will turn us insane

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

It's not the poverty, it's the inequality

We live with everyday that will turn us insane

[Verse 2]

This was a couple of years after my step-dad left

Did he really know the crazy mess that he left?

'Cause Mum's done recovered from the lumps in her neck

But being poor and alone, couldn't cope with the stress

Her and my big sis fought, so much so

That Ni hadn't left school, when she left home

I was 13 by now, still a little kid, innocent

Next couple of years though would turn into a militant

That is the result of no food in the fridge

And every other day you getting searched by the pigs

Plus these patronizing teachers don't want my grades sick

Tryna emasculate me, yeah, turn me to a bitch

And I don't mean a woman, please let me be clear

I mean a spineless man because what do they fear

More than a working class black male with a brain?

When our energy is harnessed, everything changed

Look at Pac, look at Marley, look at Hendrix, look at Garvey

This is the potential that is wasted on a daily basis

A racist, classist world that we live in

Still we comin' from nothing but we educate millions

[Chorus]

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

It's not the poverty, it's the inequality

We live with everyday that will turn us insane

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

It's not the poverty, it's the inequality

We live with everyday that will turn us insane

[Verse 3]

I understand why it scares you, it's like how dare you

Overcome obstacles that we have been careful

To place in your way every step of the way

In this so called democracy where kids get sprayed

Blacks and the Asians, Turks and the chavs

Crowded in council flats, living like ants

Who's more confused than the poor white trash

Talking the bullshit about they want their country back

Never was yours, you should read more

What they did to brown people they did to their own poor

People's memories short, so much that I'm seeing

Black and Asian kids cuss Eastern Europeans

No pot to piss in makes competition

I fail to see how this is an effective system

Cats and dogs in America and Britain

Eat better food than most of humanity

We spend our technology only on killing

How is this more than sophisticated savagery

It's like it's said, the world is a stage

Each person just an actor with a part to play

Like the middle class kids, kids of the rich

Have everything, but yet still they're pissed

On coke and ketamine, strung out on heroin

I ain't generalizing, look at the evidence

[Chorus]

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

It's not the poverty, it's the inequality

We live with everyday that will turn us insane

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

It's not the poverty, it's the inequality

We live with everyday that will turn us insane

[Verse 4]

Go to Glastonbury any year you will see

Unlike carnival, it won't be crawling with police

This is London, kids on the very next street

Had a very different life experience from me

In my experience they can't help but be smug

After a lifetime of what they think's just good luck

They're still more anxious and more thankless

Unearned privilege weighs like an anchor

That's why they copy what we do, tryna be what they not

They will grow up though and get better jobs

And maintain the system they claim that they hated

But they can't burn it down they got a stake in this matrix

Hip-hop is just a fad to them, you didn't know?

But to us, this our living breathing soul

And yeah they might backpack in South America

Or even volunteer in an African village

But all said and done, push comes to shove

And shit hits the fan, they're middle class and British

That's just how it is

Most rich black people are just as full of shit

So more concerned with their cars and jewels

But most of the world's poor looks just like you

So more concerned with their cars and jewels

Most of the world's poor looks just like you

[Chorus]

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

It's not the poverty, it's the inequality

We live with everyday that will turn us insane

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

It's not the poverty, it's the inequality

We live with everyday that will turn us insane