From Slave Chains To Handcuffs

They gon' take away your name
Give you a number
And say, "Get to work!"
Then they hit ya' in the head with a hammer
And that will be the story of you

I ain't lettin' this beat breathe for nothin'
Police won't let my Gs breathe, so fuck it
The penitentiary's a repeat of slavery, think deep
The labor is free, see, it's schmoney

The slave ship is on land now, and how
Your murder beef come with hot stakes, cash cow
They know poverty equal robbery, you gon' get caught and be somebody's property
Yeah, who got the bag now?
(Still remember how they used to jangle)

Oh, everybody is woke, when will it all stop?
I was woke before you got your alarm clock
Work on my block probably came for guitar shops
Niggas slangin' crack on the corner performin' hard rock

I knew it was a trap before you started trappin'
I knew you was a rat before you started rattin'
I was wearin Starter caps before you started cappin'
Why you think they took the information out the Art of Rappin'?
(Still remember how they used to jangle)

From slave chains to handcuffs
Cops shoot us with our hands up
Could've kept it real with the fans, but
Rappers rather make a dance up

I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (just walk it out)
I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (just walk it out)
I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (just walk it out)
I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (let's talk about it)

Christ, I'm still thinking 'bout the times I couldn't think about it
Niggas always send me and I don't blink about it
See that for a whip and I'mma jump up out it
I sit and ponder, and the niggas know I'm really 'bout it

I remember, I remember all them days
I remember every time my mama had me in that phase
I remember the fries my pops stole on Fridays
They wasn't the right minds, they was only right for the eighth grade
(Still remember how they used to jangle)

Hey, I used to steal cars, my mama used to smoke dope
Shagum was defendin' uncle Curry, let him tell jokes
Since he had the rolls against me, he also had the movies
He was bootleggin' sense, why don't let us smoke the goobie?

Thinkin' I got the problems, my uncles, they used to have a band
Like fuck plans, they used to watch me, I was their first fam
Made me a messenger, got my first bands
They blew shit at school, but I was first dance
(Still remember how they used to jangle)

From slave chains to handcuffs
Cops shoot us with our hands up
Could've kept it real with the fans, but
Rappers rather make a dance up

I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (just walk it out)
I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (just walk it out)
I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (just walk it out)
I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (let's talk about it)

England, France and Spain kidnapped Africans
Left us in the Caribbean, went right back again
Dropped us off in Virginia, sold us down south
Shackles on our wrists, slapped us in the mouth

Civil War then Jim Crow then 13
Private prisons were profit, you ain't free
Police detain us, the courts remand us (then what?)
Then they walk us to jail in handcuffs
(Still remember how they used to jangle)

Mangle, strangle, hung from a tree and dangle
Hands tied, the memories are painful
Instead of slaves now, they call us inmates
Free labor make them license plates, wards of the state

Cause you ain't never had rights
If you wasn't born with land, male and white
That's facts since they signed the declaration
Same slave ship, now we buying gold bracelets, damn
(Still remember how they used to jangle)

From slave chains to handcuffs
Cops shoot us with our hands up
Could've kept it real with the fans but
Rappers rather make a dance up

I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (just walk it out)
I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (just walk it out)
I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (just walk it out)
I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (let's talk about it)

Since the reconstruction, destruction has been my only function
Of the racist white establishment, freedom ain't havin' that
Slave patrol, police patrol, same KK corruption
There's a design behind your ghetto habitat

Any progress we made, now they tryin' to take it back
White supremacy deliberately placed in Supreme Court
Them judges, they there for life, killin' niggas their favorite sport
Rebirth of a new nation ain't no way to abort
(Still remember how they used to jangle)

Yeah, slaves to free to employee
Minimum wage, more for new form of slavery
If you understand economics, then you can see through the nonsense
Homelessness is a byproduct of their greed

See our sidewalks filled up with veterans
Americans, families stuffed inside of Rs and Vs
Everything has a cost and ain't nothin' been free
Welcome to the ages, on the green, these demolition men and fee
(Still remember how they used to jangle)

From slave chains to handcuffs
Cops shoot us with our hands up
Could've kept it real with the fans but
Rappers rather make a dance up

I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (just walk it out)
I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (just walk it out)
I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (just walk it out)
I ain't mad, my nigga, I ain't mad (let's talk about it)
(Still remember how they used to jangle, jangle, jangle...)