[Intro: James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni]

I lived in the ghetto, and I watched it

You know, the little guys that are standing around crossing their arms. They're not lovable, they're not giving any love. They couldn't give a damn about me

I understand it all too well

[Hook: Rhymefest]

Hip Hop is pop, Busted Open in pop

World finna go pop, can't stop the pop

Ben Willis a cop, Young Thug got popped

Pop Smoke got popped, Tupac was popped

[Verse: Rhymefest]

Right hand of the Pac, stand back when I pop

Snap, crackle, and pop, trap jack in the box

Drive fast when they pop, the crabs in the pot

[?]

Let's get it popping, who's the most popular?

Rappers writing op-eds about their soap operas, prosperous

Send Black kids to colleges

Meanwhile, on the west side, there's an apocalypse

Hood lessons, grandma's blessings

I was Flintstone, y'all was living like the Jetsons

Now they all threaten when they see us, said gent

It's hard to be a king in this world without peasants

Mama got popped up, when her son popped up at the pop-up

Bullets flew toward the whole shop-up, fuck the product

It's a miracle that he got up

What's a profit to a man when he lets his debts pile up?

Fabulous, impoverished

Propagandist, politics

False prophets, promises

People ain't the problem, power is

[Verse: EP Da Hellcat]

Little Kim got popped, Stallion got popped

I was Riding with Bad Boy and Drake got popped

And Pac got shot, Big Pop was popped

Rap turned to Pop, everybody's the opps

Guns, they're only props, Alec Baldwin popped

Still stunned mumbling, niggas got all the guap

They all sound pop, same shit, new pot

When you lame spit that bullshit, we all get popped

This a hip-hop stickup, proper when I popped in

Can't nobody stop us, [?] the problem

Probably ain't possible, the proof's in the audible

It's plausible, this particular puzzle's unsolvable

Everybody sweet now, suckers for lollipops

Puppets for popularity, who's the Bugatti-est

Gods and goddesses, power they got us in

Monuments and metropolis, we're the opulent occupants

Killing dominance, fulfilling the promises

They create policies, we deal with the consequences

Shorties is visible but feeling anonymous

We build on principle, while they playing politics

Projects, prospects

Prominence, progress

It's the process for our kids

People ain't the problem, power is

[Hook: Rhymefest]

Hip Hop is pop, Busted Open in pop

World finna go pop, can't stop the pop

Ben Willis a cop, Young Thug got popped

Pop Smoke got popped, Tupac was popped

[Refrain: EP Da Hellcat]

Little Kim got popped, Stallion got popped

I was Riding with Bad Boy and Drake got popped

And Pac got shot, Big Pop was popped

When you lame, spit that bullshit we all get popped

[Interlude: James Baldwin]

The proof of this is nobody cared as long as our kids were dying

[Refrain: EP Da Hellcat]

Little Kim got popped, Stallion got popped

I was Riding with Bad Boy and Drake got popped

And Pac got shot, Big Pop was popped

Rap turned to pop, everybody's the opps

[Hook: EP Da Hellcat]

Hip Hop is pop, Busted Open in pop

World finna go pop, can't stop the pop

Ben Willis a cop, Young Thug got popped

Pop Smoke got popped, Tupac was popped

[Outro: James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni]

...is a victim like me, a brother like me. I ain't no better than he is; I really am not any better than he is. We're in the same trap for the same reasons. It's the same way the great powers can use a tribal war in [some unknown country]. Set them against each other, then blame both parties

They both are to blame. Because they have to stop and think about it

Of course

There was no point in it

But, baby, it takes people a very long time to learn very little