Bottled Emotions

I'm sick of seeing black boys killed in the streets Disgusted by the chemicals they put in our meats Our kids hate the skin they're in Because of what they see on TV Boys will be boys if you can't teach them to respect me Children brought into this world only to be neglected Black men calling me ugly Sounds like your own insecurities projected Cause when you look at me You see yourself reflected Disgusted by a lineage You tried to deflect Way back when Like a loose-sleeve You've been trying to fit in With anything that's European And with the way I see it With the way I see it I face much adversity in the streets As I do in class Cause I don't wanna be a ghetto ignorant ass I got faith Can't look at the glass as half empty My faith exceeds my view And that's word to Corinthians 2 Still Ain't no reason for you to look at me sideways Freshly squeezed like lemonade But I wasn't Simply Made Remember the days When I shrunk myself Pre-Covid I would mask myself Yeah, trophy on the shelf Had to dust myself Now I'm hyper independent, I don't ask for help Cause reaching out has always been a task, I felt And the elderly would scrutinize In the times I was upset Bout the hand I was dealt I silenced myself Now my family keep askin' me To speak up But they don't Listen to my words And the meaning they carry I been open and honest And results may vary It ain't like on TV Got me wonderin' Do you even see me? You see my hair and my lips and my body and my clothes But I'm speakin' bout my soul, Meaning the one nobody knows Nobody knows Nobody knows Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah So let me switch the flow up Been keepin' my distance Long before Corona Back when institutions Gave us cold shoulders They scold us And told us Attempted to mold us The solution was To minimize ourselves until they fold us in two (in two) So we fit their perspective and their view Inaccurate with The picture they drew (that ain't even me) Inaccurate with The words that they spew but on cue, We buss back And I been threw the fire like I'm Shadrach (like I'm Shadrach) Making waves under the surface like a drug (like a drug) Feelin' like Stella, I finally got my groove back (aye, aye, aye, aye) The culture we be that The juice, you need that But we, decree that (that, that, that) Everything the devil stole (stole) We take it back (we take it back, back, back) (We take it back) We take it back, back, back (back) Everything the devil stole We take it back, back, back (back, back, back) We take it back, back, back Everything the devil stole We take it back, back, back (back, back, back) We take it back, back, back We take it back, (back, back,) back back We take it back, (back, back,) back, back We take it back (we take it) Back, back, We take it back, back, back We take it (we take it) back, back We take it back, back, (back) I might have bottled my emotions But I have never capped Facts