Keep Ya Head Up

Little something for my godson Elijah And a little girl named Corin

Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice I say the darker the flesh, then the deeper the roots I give a holla to my sisters on welfare 2Pac cares if don't nobody else care And I, I know they like to beat you down a lot When you come around the block, brothers clown a lot But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up Forgive, but don't forget, girl, keep ya head up

And when he tells you you ain't nothin', don't believe him And if he can't learn to love you, you should leave him 'Cause, sister, you don't need him And I ain't tryin' to gas you up, I just call 'em how I see 'em You know what makes me unhappy? When brothers make babies And leave a young mother to be a pappy

And since we all came from a woman Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman I wonder why we take from our women Why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it's time to kill for our women Time to heal our women, be real to our women And if we don't we'll have a race of babies That will hate the ladies that make the babies

And since a man can't make one He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one So will the real men get up? I know you're fed up, ladies, but keep ya head up

Keep ya head up, ooh, child Things are gonna get easier Keep ya head up, ooh, child Things'll get brighter (oh-oh) Keep ya head up, ooh, child Things are gonna get easier Keep ya head up, ooh, child Things'll get brighter

Ayo, I remember Marvin Gaye used to sing to me He had me feelin' like black was the thing to be And suddenly the ghetto didn't seem so tough And though we had it rough, we always had enough I huffed and puffed about my curfew and broke the rules Ran with a local crew and had a smoke or two

And I realise Mama really paid the price She nearly gave her life to raise me right And all I had to give her was my pipe dream Of how I'd rock the mic and make it to the bright screen I'm tryin' to make a dollar out of 15 cents It's hard to be legit and still pay the rent And in the end it seems I'm headin' for the pen I try to find my friends, but they're blowin' in the wind

Last night my buddy lost his whole family It's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity It seems the rain'll never let up I try to keep my head up and still keep from gettin' wet up You know, it's funny, when it rains it pours They got money for wars but can't feed the poor

Say there ain't no hope for the youth And the truth is it ain't no hope for the future And then they wonder why we crazy I blame my mother for turnin' my brother into a crack baby We ain't meant to survive, 'cause it's a set-up And even though you're fed up, huh You got to keep ya head up

Keep ya head up, ooh, child Things are gonna get easier Keep ya head up, ooh, child Things'll get brighter (oh-oh) Keep ya head up, ooh, child Things are gonna get easier Keep ya head up, ooh, child Things'll get brighter

And uh, to all the ladies havin' babies on they own I know it's kinda rough and you're feelin' all alone Daddy's long gone and he left you by your lonesome Thank the Lord for my kids even if nobody else want 'em 'Cause I think we can make it, in fact, I'm sure And if you fall, stand tall and come back for more

'Cause ain't nothin' worse than when your son Wants to know why his daddy don't love him no more You can't complain you was dealt this Hell of a hand without a man, feelin' helpless Because there's too many things for you to deal with Dyin' inside, but outside you're lookin' fearless

While tears is rollin' down your cheeks You steady hopin' things don't fall down this week 'Cause if it did, you couldn't take it And don't blame me, I was given this world, I didn't make it And now my son's gettin' older and older And cold from havin' the world on his shoulders

While the rich kids is drivin' Benz I'm still tryin' to hold on to survivin' friends And it's crazy, it seems it'll never let up But, huh, please, you got to keep ya head up