A Tree Never Grown

Lyrics

[Intro: 88 Keys] Yo, this is 88 This is for Amadou Diallo – our tribute Rest in peace, you still here [Fre] Yo, I'm in a brownstone singin' like Brownstone Bird's eye view of the bodega, No Omega Like Rakim, thinkin' about brother Diallo I find it hard to swallow 'cause 41 is a hard act to follow Or is it? It can happen tomorrow Goes down all the time in some African community This one just hit closer to home 'Cause it happened in our backyard This that [*shit*] bring us closer to home They ask "What you writin fo'? What you writin on that paper fo'?" Don't ask me nothing, just tell me Who Howard Safir got it safer for, that's why my raps sour My peoples screamin "Black power!" and "La Raza!" From the Bronx, police bustin', it's redemption time [J-Live] Now on the squad car, CPR's supposed to be the motto But in they minds, they be like "Yo, I'ma do Diallo" I guess master's noose was a bitter pill to swallow 'Cause nowadays, tips ain't the only things that's hollow Constitution, 41 more holes in it And cops swingin' sticks like they tryin to win the pennant And stickin' sticks places where they ashamed to admit it But that's the straw that broke the camel's back THEY GON' GET IT!! [Rubix] Possessed by a nervous twitch and itchy writing finger 41 strokes through the barrel of pen for Amadou And more than a few of my personal friends Since the beginning, it seems like it never ends The story, ancient as Biblical allegory and it's all gory The Little Shop of City Hall Horrors Who bakes infiltrate, agent, provocateur mission statement: Assassinate the Senate candidate, heavenly mandate [Hook: Mos Def] We proceeded on a country road His mother's eyes withered swoll Her child was never comin home Said a prayer for his soul As the coffin had closed, committed to the earth below First seed she had sewn, would be a tree never grown Shade that was never known Who controls the Terrordome? The men with hearts made of stone Who love only what they own [Invincible] Stay on your toes for a troop whose description match Blue suits, walkin' round wit' a stinkin' [ass] Ready to blast with the wrath of a hollow tip And the fact is my taxes are scholarship I feel it in my chest cavity The only death's apathy, so I change it for who's next after me And that's the fullest reward Keep the face of the lost on my bulletin board [Wordsworth] Yo yo yo... it's blue uniform, sirens, names, and badge numbers Clubs, walkie-talkies, recipes for bad summers Frisked, pissed after I tuck in my stuff I really think they just like touchin' my [*nuts*] What's real stain they thoughts Swear, but they won't say it in court All they do is change the report Riots, tryin' to keep the crowd in control They even got shows, Cops, and LAPD, Highway Patrol, yo, yo... [A.L.] From the cradle to the grave, they made you a slave Brainwashed to kill each other, that's the plague that they made I search 'em like readin scripts that could save you today "White is right, black is wrong," that's the label they gave Fryin' in hell, applyin' jails, they got you dyin' in cells Triple six in the mix, Leviathan spell Prepare for the worst, and try to hope for the best I take a stare at the hearse, can we cope wit' the stress? [Kofi Taha] See, I live in the land of plungers Illegal chokeholds and excessive gunshots Where there's one millionaire for every million empty pot And Adolf Guili' think we static, but he's in for a shock They come wit' automatics but we flip it Use the one, create the four Glocks and while stocks get washed While school doors get locked and when jobs get blocked The confi-dence get's rock And when the welfare's drop into the jails we stock now After Amadou wrestlin wit freedom tacks my mind into a headlock But [*fuck*] H&R, I'm a true cat Refundin power back to our Blocks [Hook: Mos Def] We proceeded on a country road His mother's eyes withered swoll Her child was never comin home Said a prayer for his soul As the coffin had closed, committed to the earth below First seed she had sewn, would be a tree never grown Shade that was never known Who controls the Terrordome? The men with hearts made of stone Who love only what they own [Tame One] Good life, you can bubble or struggle But use your brain muscle if you hustle Don't let nobody touch you Don't even trust the ones that trust you 'Cause the ones you showin' love to might bust you Snakin' is a cancer, my man got shot by Haitians or Jamaicans Confrontations and school my mind's racin I cried in sensations over this, now I'm hopin' this We shine for, I never got a chance to rhyme for My role models sold bottles and stole cars And when they got locked, I accepted all the phone calls That's when [*niggas*] was real Back before I had a deal Back when people called Vailsburg Hoodaville ILL!!! [Jane Doe] My mind wonders on melodic jams An exotic bird, caged with the rage and the violence of my words The same things I down I turn around and do The white cops say [nigga], but I say [nigga] too Truth be told we hypocrites In a materialistic society, spirituality shunned or While young kinds get gunned on Hibernatin in projects, which you project-ing The pigs is crucifyin' but Africans is resurrectin' – Jane Doe [Grafh] Pataki sending cops to come and catch me He better send a running back to run a track meet When I'm running through the back streets The rat teeth of the beast loving the black meat Eatin' brothers like our pigment color is that sweet To lock a man up in prison, the standard of living Thinkin' they make a better brand of man than the man when he went in Reprimand em' for sinnin Handcuff his hands to the system, banned from his wisdom With insanity in him, his mind roams like a cyclone Damagin' victim, his eyes hold savage within him Wrath with the venom, poisonous life No ointment or Boysen for bites? If it's on the left, walk to the right Until death, do your part through your life Like a boyfriend and wife, because the day-time's shorter than night You know? [Hook: Mos Def] We proceeded on a country road His mother's eyes withered swoll Her child was never comin home Said a prayer for his soul As the coffin had closed, committed to the earth below First seed she had sewn, would be a tree never grown Shade that was never known Who controls the Terrordome? The men with hearts made of stone Who love only what they own (what they own... what they own...) [Outro: 88 Keys] Yo, life is fragile, remember that Cherish everyday Live life to the fullest Aight...