[Verse 1: King Tee]
It's straight up madness everywhere I look
Used to be a straight-A student, now he's a crook
Robbing people just to smoke or shoot up
Used to have a crew cut, now he's a pooh-butt
Dropped out of school and he joins the neighborhood gang
Hanging on the streets selling 'caine
To his own people
And when I say people I mean color
You a stupid motherfucker
I'm trying to stress the fact that you're dumb
Get yourself presentable, son, and just come
Together, you're better, 'cause pretty soon it's gonna be too late
A message from King Tee The Great
[Verse 2: Body & Soul]
Sisters, since we are the mothers of this earth
It's time we start being good mothers from the birth
Of our children, no time for sleeping
Teach them to fight and win for the right reason
It's your time, it's your life, live it
Proud to be Black, young and gifted
Lifted by the knowledge and taking the right route
Gang violence needs to be wiped out
A-L-M-I-G-H-T-T and D-Z-I-R-E
We see the F-U-T-U-R-E should be a positive thing
Body & Soul and you, we're in the same gang
[Verse 3: Def Jef]
One and the same, everyone came in the same chains
Caught with the same aim, brain games and names changed
To protect the innocent bystander
Lies, slander and the master-planner
Destroy the Black male
Crack jail and semi-automatic for static if the crack fails
So since we all talk the same slang
Stop killin', my brother, 'cause we're all from the same gang
[Refrain: Michel'le]
Don't you know we've got to put our heads together?
Make the change 'cause we're all in the same gang
[Interlude: Dr. Dre | Tone-Loc]
Yo, tell 'em what's up, Loc
Light this up
[Verse 4: Tone-Loc]
Now as a youth, I used to get my bang on
And on the ave, get my part-time slang on
This point of time for me was no joke, though
They knew I was crazy, so they labeled me Loco
Khakis creased, golf hat, feelin' sporty
Low-ridin' and tossin' up a 40
Thinkin' in my mind that no one could handle us
The downest brothers ever touched Los Angeles
But I chill and found life was much more suitable
'Cause I'm the brother that makes Black so beautiful
I ain't slippin' or down with a head trip
I'm talkin' to all the Bloods and all the Crips
Throw down your rag and get on the right track, man
It's time to fight, unite, and be a Black man
Tone-Loc is on a positive change
'Cause remember, we're all from the same gang
[Verse 5: (Above the Law): KMG | Cold 187um]
Bein' the pimps that we are
We're here to speak on a situation that has gone too far
Here at home in the ghettos of L.A. (What's up?)
Where a young Black brother's not promised to see the next day
'Cause we used to clock on the streets before we made a beat
But fools just lay and prey on the weak
It don't depend on the color of a rag
'Cause if you got what they want you know they gonna take what you have
'Cause violence don't only revolve from drugs and thugs and gangs that bang
Most times it's a political thang
Yeah, a couple of spots'll get popped
And if the government wanted to freeze it, it could all get stopped
But see, they don't, because they want it like that
Because the system's been set up to hold us back
Yeah, Above The Law means that we can do whatever
So why don't we stick together?
("You, you got it")
[Verse 6: Ice-T | Hen-G]
Ice-T rippin' the microphone the way I do
Listen close, my brothers, 'cause I'm talkin to you
The problem is we got a suicidal lifestyle
'Cause 90 percent of us are livin' foul and wild
I say "job", you say "Bad joke
I'd rather jack another brother, watch the gun smoke"
Livin' in the fast lane, flippin' like you're insane
You won't stop until your blood runs down the street drain
I got an idea, give me a minute
And if it makes sense, then get with it
What if we could take our enemies, feed 'em poison
Under-educate their girls and boys and
Split 'em up, make 'em fight one another
Better yet, make 'em kill for a color
Keep 'em drunk and high so they won't know what's up
Make 'em think jail is where you go if you're tough
Keep 'em unemployed and then they'll probably steal
Give 'em more dope and that they'll probably deal
Or kill theirselves off, think about it, dope plot
Somebody parties every time one of us gets shot
All my brothers need to know one thing
No matter what you think, we're all in the same gang
[Refrain: Michel'le]
Don't you know we've got to put our heads together?
[Interlude]
I'll stop calling you "niggas" when you start acting like Black men
[Verse 7: (N.W.A.): MC Ren | Dr. Dre | Dr. Dre & MC Ren]
Yo, we're not here to preach (Yeah) because we're not ministers
We're telling like it is 'cause Ren and Dre is like sinister
Reality speaks for itself when it's spoken
A basehead cluck can't blame nobody for smoking
Yo, bullets flying, mothers crying, brothers dying
Lying in the streets, that's why we're trying
To stop it from falling apart and going to waste
And keeping a smile off a white face
N.W.A never preaching, just teaching
The knowledge of the streets to each and
All that don't understand, that's why we came
To let you know that we're all in the same gang
[Verse 8: J.J. Fad | Dr. Dre]
The J double, F, the A, the D, that is
And if you want the solution to the quiz
What's black and black, yo, and kills another?
An ignorant sucker that isn't labeled as a brother
But another
So now it's time we evolve
And get together and solve it
'Cause the world is revolvin'
Around a terrible situation
One will kill another for a reputation
So it's time we stop and realize that we're all the same
Yo Dre, tell 'em (We're all in the same gang)
[Verse 9: Young MC]
Brothers killin' other brothers
I thought the idea was to love one another?
Openin' up the paper to one more death
If y'all keep this up then there'll be no one left
Now I try my best to set an example
Sayin' hype lyrics over hip-hop samples
Not just to brag or to boast but to inform
'Cause we're livin' in the calm before the storm
You see, I believe that the children are the future
But what's it all about if in the future they shoot ya?
We're all human beings, if we're cut we'll bleed
And I want to see all young people succeed
Do 9 to 5, not 5 to 10
Just go to work and not the state pen
'Cause you live better when you're out there free
And that's comin' straight to ya from the Young MC
[Verse 10: (Digital Underground): Shock G | Humpty Hump]
I'm in a rage
(Oh yeah? Yo, why is that G?)
Other races, they say we act like rats in a cage
I tried to argue, but check it, every night in the news
We prove them suckers right and I got the blues
America (Get busy, Humpty)
The red, the white, the blue and
The blue and the red for Crips and Bloods
The white for who's got you doing time
Busting caps on one another
The Underground's down for peace among brothers
Kill a Black man? (What?)
Yo, what, are you retarded?
(Tell 'em, Hump, tell 'em)
Do you work for the Klan?
(Do what ya like)
Unless you like gangbangin'
Let's see how many brothers leave us hangin'
[Verse 11: Oaktown's 3.5.7.]
The gang that should hang is the one that contains
The sisters and the brothers who are all in the same frame of mind
Now listen, get loose, it's unity time
Yeah, yeah
Peace is a presence that we all need
The future's in our hand in word and deed
I'm Terrible T and I'm Sweet LD
We're 3.5.7. totally
[Verse 12: MC Hammer]
Kickin' on the ave 'bout a quarter to 9
All the homies gettin' blind in an eight ball line
Now on this tip they started runnin' at the lip
Jumped in their deuce and took a little trip
Hit the block about 12 on the tick
The windows went down and the 9's went click
People started yellin', bodies started bailin'
Bullets cold flyin' sendin' some to hell and
It's gotta stop, we don't need all the violence
Peace in the hood and a moment of silence
We got together not for ego or fame
We got involved 'cause we're all in the same gang
[Verse 13: Eazy-E]
Last but not least, yo, Eazy's no sellout
And if you can't hang in the streets, then get the hell out
I'm not tryna tell ya what to do
You have your own freedom of choice who to listen to
You knew good from bad, fair from foul, right from wrong
Now your mother's singing that sad song
("My baby ain't never hurt nobody!")
But he still got smoked at BeBe's party
But you're not the first or the last
You're just another short story from the past
You're dead now, not number one but a zero
Take notes from Eazy-E, the violent hero
[Refrain: Michel'le]
Don't you know we've got to put our heads together?
Don't you know we've got to put our heads together?
Don't you know we've got to put our heads together?