Cage Bird - Intellectual

[Intro: Ray Luv]

Dedicated to and inspired by sister Latoriya and the poet Kikaki Razu

Peep

[Verse 1: Ray Luv]

I used to wonder why they'd sink sink

When they was locked up in Sing Sing

"Let freedom ring" was just a slogan and it didn’t mean a thing

'Til my freedom was taken away

And thrown in a dirty ass dungeon with no chances of me breakin' away

I had to go deep inside myself

And at times in my mind I felt like a slave all by myself

And all the others felt the same way

But by the code of the streets

There’s certain things that a playa is ashamed to say

I thought of poets like [?]

And all the letters from home signed "Much love"

They told me beauty's in the eye of the beholder

And freedom's not in prison, it's in the heart of the soldier

Slavery and all that so-called bravery

Ain't none of my story, it's all history

My story reads like a saga

Queens and kings, leaders and warriors and all the beauty life brings

But every time I tried to shake being a victim of this system

Man, I was lied to

They told me a gat is what you need

And maybe a little crack is what you need

And if they step, make yo brothers bleed

I've been raised on greed

But since the lies is makin' me rich, who should I believe?

You better follow the kings, that’s right

Listen to the caged bird sing

[Interlude]

Listen to the caged bird sing

[Verse 2]

Sitting in my cell out of my mind

My thoughts in another land across many oceans in another time

When we was free in the garden of Eden

And still baffles you, all the many wonders out of Africa

Took from me, diamonds and gold, we’ve been robbed [?]

And when I was born I couldn't escape

You raped me from my mother’s womb

500 years now

From 1492 to 1995, wow you done had control

But now I'm as free as a bird, I roam the Earth from inside of my soul

I hear a click click click, the doors unlock, I open my eyes

I'm back in West block, concrete it still surrounds me

It's loud like a circus and the COs tryna clown me, he said

"Ain’t you that rapper that tried to get yo money on"

And save all the blacks, huh"

(Tell em) I said "Yeah that's me"

"And even if you keep me forever, I'll always be free"

But then he tried to laugh at me

But then he shut the hell up

When I told him there'll be another one following after me

This is the enemy I refuse to give up to

And I promise God made to my mama to live up to

Now here's the devil himself so this must be hell

The same snake that tricked me into this jail cell

And only death is what he brings

My eyes been open, my soul been enlightened

And this is why the caged bird sing

Listen to the caged bird sing

[Interlude]

Yeah, listen to the caged bird sing

Listen to the caged bird sing

[Verse 3]

One day then, don't have to set me free

But as long as I stay strong and black, they won't ever let me be

Because they know that we got heart

And cause there'll be some soldiers from the start

Niggas on, not afraid to march

Like how we did that day in Cali

Next time there'll be no place to hide when we ride in the city valley

We ain't taking it no mo

Try to list the LA fo, why y'all let that LA get stopped

Who do you think you are with your chest out

Better get wiser, this is a revolution and an uprising

So open your eyes and see where you're headed

Cause the year's 95 and today is the day that you've dreaded

But throughout your history books

America's first heroes was America's first crooks

Jack may be nimble but if Jack try to jack this

Jack hates black so he's gonna get his cap peeled backwards

I broke the chains of the gun

Freedom's in the heart of the soul, yeah that's why the caged bird sing

[Interlude]

Listen to the caged bird sing