All Boys Out

16 years old, young soul, watching my life unfold

My interest were video game, girls, designer clothes

Durags, head bands, and sagging baggy clothes

Rowdy House parties loud that's how my era goes

Youthful exuberance, peak adolescence

90 percent ego, 10 percent pride and sense

Stepped into the place looking like I drive a Benz

When really, I took a bus close and walked beside my friends

Girls in yellow and black taxi and cars for Rentlooking flyer than a live event

Could’ve been in Segun’s dad's car if he aint had an accident

Tires bent, side dent, they’ll never let him drive again

Back to the party, it was looking almost crowded when

All boys Out, felt like an act of violence

All boys out, you got to pay before you enter

my first encounter with separation of gender

Ladies free but all the boys got to pay a fee

I aint had no money had to get my girl to pay for me

got me thinking back to the times my dad favored sis

While me and my bros struggled for approval from fathers' lips

Now I think about my father's shift, 5 to 6

Coming home tired and weak, trying to find some time to sleep

When the rain poured, he had to light the fire quick

Still, we blamed him and pointed fingers like we sadistic

think about the time me and dad had a rift

now I’m grown enough to know I was really on some childish shit

That’s why I strived to make It quick like a catalyst

To give my own kids things I was never provided with

never appreciated sometimes was even hated

Always alienated I pray that I don’t die like this

ALL BOYS BOYS OUT till you get your day in heaven

Father Time is not a blessing

Now I’m close to 40 and still watching my life unfold

priorities are family, investments, reaching my goals

Black t-shirt, Black Jeans no brand logos

Used to be fat Albert shirts FUBU baggy clothes

10 percent ego, 98 percent intelligence

looking like I don’t drive a car When I really drive Benz

Never go to parties I'm home hanging with my friends

Many failed relationships sometimes it’s hard to comprehend

Looking at life through blurry lens, let’s not pretend the measure up a man is now by how much money spent

Some resort to violence to provide the rent

The grass is not greener on either side of the iron fence

Soldiers with prosthetic legs and prescription meds

Post traumatic stress disorder early retirement

It’s a man's world to protect the fight never ends

Trying to keep up with the pressure of social media trends

Black tax on young boys cos dad's pension is bare-

Minimum, it's worth nothing when your vessel is frail

The result of putting pressure on your body for years

Boys Pick up bad habits from the pressure of peers

Drug addicting to help with depression and fear

Too much pressure to bear no intention and care

ALL BOYS OUT, lay your life down for your spouse

2024 and boys are still counted out

...Did you know? In order to be born, you needed two parents,

four grandparents, and generations of ancestors.

For you to be born today from 12 previous generations,

you needed a total of 4094 ancestors over the last 400 years.

Think for a moment. How many struggles? How many battles?

How many difficulties? How much sadness?

How much happiness? How many love stories?

How many expressions of hope for the future did

your ancestors have to undergo for you to exist

 in this present moment?

You are who your ancestors sang about in their ceremonies.

You are their revolutionary prayer. You are their sacred gift to the world.