[Sample]

“…we perpetuate it now because it’s dead. That word’s dead. We men and women, we come from, we come from the first people on the earth. You know?”

[Hook: Torae]

Now when my nigga calls me his nigga, I ain’t tripping ‘cause I figure

That he love me, so I feel it’s all good

But when they’re treating us like we’re niggas, they’re choking and pulling triggers

Then we wonder how to put a hold to it, put some fall to it

[Bridge: Torae]

See I don’t want to cry no more

See young brothers die no more

And if it mean I got to walk away from my nigga

And I ain’t by his side no more

[Verse 1: Torae]

(“Niggas”)

See I remember from the beginning

In every line, every conversation, the sentence

It’s always been my word, but word, I might end it

(“Nigga”) making change to make a difference

[Hook: Torae]

Now when my nigga calls me his nigga, I ain’t tripping ‘cause I figure

That he love me, so I feel it’s all good

But when they’re treating us like we’re niggas, they’re choking and pulling triggers

Then we wonder how to put a hold to it

Now when my nigga calls me his nigga, I ain’t tripping ‘cause I figure

That he love me, so I feel it’s all good

But when they’re treating us like we’re niggas, they’re choking and pulling triggers

Then we wonder how to put a hold to it, put some fall to it

[Verse 2: Torae]

And then almost like it was planned

Overseas on stage talking to fans

And whether German or Poland, I always cringe at the moment

They say “you killed it, my nigga, you the man”

(“Nigga”) Damn, ‘cause they don’t even know the origin

They just heard it in every song I perform for them

Be the change you want to see

So who really looking crazy, them or me?

[Torae speaking]

See I came up using the word, you know? I always took it as not as a term of endearment, but the older I get, the more mature. It’s like I understand it’s not. Our forefathers fought and died for that, you know what I mean, that word and it’s like, no matter how much we march and protest and say we want respect, we got to learn how to respect ourselves first

[Hook: Shaquawna Shante]

Now when my nigga calls me his nigga, I ain’t tripping ‘cause I figure

That he love me, so I feel it’s all good

But when they’re treating us like we’re niggas, they’re choking and pulling triggers

Then we wonder how to put a hold to it

Now when my nigga calls me his nigga, I ain’t tripping ‘cause I figure

That he love me, so I feel it’s all good

But when they’re treating us like we’re niggas, they’re choking and pulling triggers

Then we wonder how to put a hold to it, put some fall to it

[Outro: Shaquawna Shante]

Put some fall to it

How we gon’ be change

How we gon’ be the change

If we don’t change ourselves