Back in the day when the bus was less than three quarters Lloyd met Beverly and took her out to Sweet Waters "Boy what a looker" he thought, "Let me court her" He musta been a playa cause she popped out three daughters Brenda the oldest by herself for a little while That's 'til Joanne showed up she was the middle child Then came Loretta next she was a little wild Beverly was fly so her daughters had a little style Brenda the first in the family to go to college With dreams of being properly addressed as doctor Insert the name of the man who gonna sweep her off her feet In a heartbeat sharper than shark's teeth Just cause a brother say he love you don't make it so So when she was lookin' for suitors she had to take it slow Someone to run fingers through her Angela Davis 'fro And dedicate herself to like songs on the radio The ratio of black men to black woman at this college is preposterous If you a scholar you already know So she decided she should focus on her studies She couldn't have boyfriends, she could have buddies When she get out on her own she can bring men home But there was one in particular breaking out the friend zone It's déjà vu the way this came to me And it explain how I came to be I'm from...
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Yeah Back in the days it was hard for black actors They had to lighten they skin with makeup like Max Factor My grandfather Stan wasn't Nothin' But a Man He fell in love with Jivote so he took her by the hand They had two sons, Stanley and Perry They go together like Brandy and Sherry or Coke and Mary and Barry Simply put they don't always get along They used to travel as a family doing shows singing songs But this was through the Segregated South And before someone got punched in they segregated mouth, Perry was out Livin' like a hippie in the sixties, Pop's chillin Headin' to The Village to see Bob Dylan, when he was top billin' But Perry was not feelin' complete, he had to get on his feet He said, "God willin', I can get into this school, that's smarter for real Plus I got this draft card in the mail" The champ said, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong" Momma leaning on caskets they shootin' blacks, faggots, and Catholics People bleeding on TV is so tragic Creating the catalyst for the people to get active Got into NYU and took classes The world was changing he knew he couldn't look past this Who knew goin' to school would make him want to give his name to a girl And have children that would change the world...
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Back in the day we used to barbeque a little beach Bit up cause I got the sweet blood that mosquitoes eat My cousin Warren used to hook up the speakers each Fourth of July We can meet and my people be listening to 'BLS, KISS FM Mastermix Some dopes pass the fifth we watchin' fireworks after this Momma bought the biscuits, everything is all delicious as usual It's beautiful we all can kick it Touch football we get in the huddle and the twins steady get into trouble Me and Abaena blowin' the bubbles, little Lloyd such a happy little boy It can rain, it can pour, ain't nothin' gonna kill his joy Jamal playing in the pool Noel playin' it cool Times is hard but we makin' it through I'm taking you through the scene of the family reu' The family tree no matter what I'm standin' with you Insanity Please, jail time, death is trouble Through the stress and the mess and the debt I love you I go out in the world and represent the family name It used to hang on people from a tree like a candy cane Now I'm standing on the shoulders of my ancestors And I'm throwing up the sign of the times like hand gestures And no matter, where in the world, in Rome I get the money and always bring it back to...