[Hook]
It ain't gotta be the same, cousin
Believe me when I tell you that change doesn't
It ain't gotta be the same, cousin
Believe me when I tell you that change doesn't
It ain't gotta be like this (no no no)
It ain't gotta be like this
It ain't gotta be like this (no no no)
It ain't gotta be like this
[Verse 1]
Some play for world peace, but mostly don't want it
Don't believe the world will end until we [?] it
To the point streets run red with the blood of our sеas
Trying to accumulate the [?]
The nеcessary items for surviving onslaughts
Things at most wasting, they often see yard-toss
We don't take the shit we see serious enough
It could easily be us, man I'm furious as fuck
The tsunami's just a joke for folks at Hot 97
Imagine if Asia poked fun at 9/11
Every U.S. citizen would have his panties in a bunch
[?] losing your entire family ain't enough
Everybody got something to say but ain't doing a damn thing
Yet we claim that we're doing the damn thing
I can't bring nothing to the table, kinda like the U.S.A for tsunamis that [?] in Africa
It's nothing new, it just serves as a reminder
Considering they didn't even do shit in Rwanda
'Cuz being African is worse than African American
It's embarrassing when you witness a country's arrogance
It's sickening, to think the car that you're sitting in is running off the blood of a United States citizen
Gas prices went from Jeffersons to Benjamins
And they wondering why my poor folks are giving in
[Hook]
It ain't gotta be like this (no no no)
It ain't gotta be like this
It ain't gotta be like this (no no no)
It ain't gotta be like this
It ain't gotta be the same, cousin
Believe me when I tell you that change doesn't
It ain't gotta be the same, cousin
Believe me when I tell you that change doesn't
It ain't gotta be like this (no no no)
It ain't gotta be like this
It ain't gotta be like this (no no no)
It ain't gotta be like this
[Verse 2]
While everybody's chasing dead presidents, I feel like I wanna make a dead president
Outta George Jr., modern day Hitler
Same shit you asked hoe, get the picture
Hell yes, I agree with Kanye West, who spoke from his heart so fuck all y'all press
And anyone that says this guy's a moron is evident when that statement better describes our current president
Took his time before he even know his [?]
Waiting a week, then view it from a plane window
While I [?] loot what I can to stay alive
Gathering I could to survive
I realized we can't tell what's true for real
The shit I been seeing on the news is ill
Whites find things, Blacks loot and steal
How's that helping when you order cops to shoot and kill?
What's popping? Other than cops, guns and Blacks
Wanna send us to a place where we can't come back
So what do we do?
How do we change our fate?
Well it starts with you, don't make the same mistake-- of not believing in us
That's what's weakening us
Ever since the slave master plant that seed into us
But honestly, I don't have a solution that will put a stop to world hunger and pollution
Or stop global warming and provide for the poor
Nor the cure for aids or the end of the war
Only thing that I know for sure is change doesn't
Before the curtains close on the show, I change something
I try to make it better before my body is dust
Don't expect the change to come without it starting from us
Don't expect the change to come without it starting from us
Don't expect the change to come without it starting from us
[Hook]
It ain't gotta be the same, cousin
Believe me when I tell you that change doesn't
It ain't gotta be the same, cousin
Believe me when I tell you that change doesn't
It ain't gotta be like this (no no no)
It ain't gotta be like this
It ain't gotta be like this (no no no)
It ain't gotta be like this