Appendix Multimedia - Open Letter Lyrics

Open letter to
Those needing a mentor
Growing up in a ghetto
No telling where you may end up
DJs may not play this
And my friends might not share it
And I can't expect anyone in
Entertainment to say it

They may have made it
And the way that they portray it
Makes it seem like the greatest
But it's part of a bigger matrix
Ain't no way, we supposed to
Traffic drugs and make hits
While corporations profit
Without taking the same risks

We face jail, no bail
Imagine to raise a kid
Being taken away
And for years nobody
Came to visit
Getting a 2nd chance
But nobody wanna take you in
Jobs don't bother calling bac'
When applications are labeled felon

Record labels
Pay entertainers for fable telling
Ain't no way in hell
Folks innocent with all the coke they selling
I understand the reasoning
For loc'n Cosby up
But what about R Kelly
Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump

The system full of contradictions
And double standards
Industry manufactures
Blow-up dolls and mumble rappers
Who were these actors
Before claiming to be gangsters
Media made 2Pac a thug
Homies smoked him and
Then they smoked his ashes

Yet we idolize these guys who die
From violent crimes
Never once asking why
We really want this kind of life
I Wonder what hip hop would be
Without murder, misogyny
How much talent would still exist
In what we label - artistry

Would it be pop or r&b
Electronic or Roc'n'roll
Maybe funk and jazz'll come bac'
When cats find their souls
Bet you they're lost in the contracts
That the labels made
The irony in them owning your masters Making you their slave

It's in the game
They try to play us like chumps
We see each other as competition
Not equals, which sux
Because we building up
And tearing someone else down
Ego the biggest reason
We don't leave off the ground

You've never seen yourself
Without a mirror or photograph
Reflective surface or
Some other form of glass
You don't know yourself
If you let others control your path
How to think for yourself
I don't know how to show you that

How you should live your life
Nobody should dictate
Don't give nobody power over you
That's a mistake
If you don't put in work
Don't expect any big break
Every regret in life
Comes from risks that you didn't take

Are you real or fake
With the image that you portray
Can people even relate
With the things that you convey
Is it true what you say
Or is it to entertain
If people choose to follow you
Is it a better way

Or is it a maze
To lead folks to where they started from
Will they respect your legacy
If it was left in martyrdom
Huey, Malcolm and Martin gone
Same as god's begotten son
The half god that didn't smite those who put the cross on him

I'm skeptical of
Information people feed to me
Much of what we consume
Are things that we don't really need
The way the stories change
Things aren't what they seem to be
To raise your kids right
Be mindful what you teach your seed

That means no spreading
Of any -isms and phobias
Accept people for who they are
Coexist, and show em love
We gotta do better
With messages we promoting now
Make positivity trendy
Spread it, so it goes around