White Privilege

Now nod your head and wake up

I see so many people lost who really try to pretend

But am I just another white boy who's caught on to the trend?

When I take a step to the mic is hip-hop closer to the end?

'Cause when I go to shows, the majority have white skin

They marketed the windmill, the air flair and head spin

And white rappers' albums really get the most spins

The face of hip-hop, it's changed a lot since Eminem

And if he's takin' away black artists' profits, I look just like him

Claimed a culture that wasn't mine, the way of the American

Hip-hop is gentrified and where will all the people live?

It's like the Central District, Beacon Hill to the south end

Bein' pushed farther away because of what white people did

Now where's my place in a music that's been taken by my race

Cultural appropriated by the white face?

And we don't want to admit that this is existence

So scared to acknowledge the benefits of our white privilege

'Cause it's human nature to be wanna be part of something different

Especially when your ancestors are European Christians

And most whites don't wanna acknowledge this is occurrin'

'Cause we got the best deal, the music without the burden

Of bein' black in a system that really wants you to rock

'Cause all you need is a program and you can go and make hip-hop

And we hate the mainstream 'cause we're the ones that took it

Now we listen to Aesop Rock and wear t-shirts that say Brooklyn

But it's not about black and white, right?

I mean, good music is good music, regardless of what you look like

But when you don't give 'em props, isn't that selfish?

That's like saying rock was actually started by Elvis

So where does this leave me?

I feel like I pay dues, but I'll always be a white MC

I give everything I have when I write a rhyme

But that doesn't change the fact that this culture's not mine

But I'm gonna be me, so please be who you are

This is something that's effortless and that shouldn't be hard

I said I'm gonna be me, so please be who you are

But we still owe 'em forty acres, now we've stolen their sixteen bars

Hip-hop started off in a block that I've never been to

To counteract a struggle that I've never even been through

If I think I understand just because I flow too

That means I'm not keepin' it true, nope

Hip-hop started off in a block that I've never been to

To counteract a struggle that I've never even been through

If I think I understand just because I flow too

That means I'm not keepin' it true, I'm not keepin' it true

Now I don't rap about guns, so they label me cautious

But I don't rap about guns 'cause I wasn't forced into the projects

See, I was put in the position where I could choose my options

Blessed with the privilege that my parents could send me to college

Now, who's goin' to shows, the kids on the block starvin'

Or the white people with dough that can relate to my content?

Marketed the music, now adapted to the lifestyle

What happened to jazz and rock and roll is happening right now

Where's my place in the music that's been taken by the media

With white corporations controllin' what they're feedin' ya?

I brought up Aesop Rock, but I'm not even dissin' dude

We love hip-hop, and what do you think that caucasians are listenin' to?

And I speak freely when I write this

If a black MC examined race, there goes half their fan base

White kids, and this is so true

And we didn't even have to fight this system

We just went and picked up the microphone too

And we got good at it, so we should be rappin'

But only supporting them is like burning Jimmy and buying Clapton

Now, Clapton's incredible, but no Jimmy, no foundation

So here comes history and the cultural appropriation

White kids with do-rags tryna practice their accents

From the suburbs to the upperclass, masterin' a language

But hip-hop's not just memorizing words

It's rooted in authenticity, something you literally can't learn

But I'm gonna be me, so please be who you are

It's something that's effortless and it shouldn't be hard

I said I'm gonna be me, so please be who you are

But as I'm blessed with the privilege, they're still left with the scars

Come on

Hip-hop started off in a block that I've never been to

To counteract a struggle that I've never even been through

If I think I understand just because I flow too

That means I'm not keepin' it true, nope

Hip-hop started off in a block that I've never been to

To counteract a struggle that I've never even been through

If I think I understand just because I flow too

That means I'm not keepin' it true, I'm not keepin' it true