Keep Ya Head Up (Madukey Remix) (Expanded Edition Bonus Track)

(album: Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. - 1993)

Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
I say the darker the flesh, then the deeper the roots (Oh)
I give a holler to my sisters on welfare
2Pac cares if don't nobody else care (Oh)

And, uh, I know they like to beat you down a lot
When you come around the block, brothers clown a lot
Please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up
Forgive, but don't forget, girl, keep ya head up

And when he tells you you ain't nothing, don't believe him
And if he can't learn to love you, you should leave him
'Cause, sister, you don't need him
And I ain't trying to gas you up, I just call 'em how I see 'em (You don't need him)

You know what makes me unhappy? (What's that?)
When brothers make babies
And leave a young mother to be a pappy (Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah)
And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman (Yeah, yeah)
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?
(Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?)

I think it's time to kill for our women
Time to heal our women, be real to our women
And if we don't, we'll have a race of babies
That will hate the ladies that make the babies (Oh, yeah-yeah)
And since a man can't make one
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one
So will the real men get up?
I know you're fed up, ladies, but keep ya head up

Don't cry, dry your eyes
(Keep ya head up)
You gotta keep your head up
Don't cry, dry your eyes
(Keep ya head up)

Don't cry, dry your eyes
(Keep ya head up)
You gotta keep your head up
Don't cry, dry your eyes
(Keep ya head up)

Ayo, I remember Marvin Gaye used to sing to me
He had me feeling like black was the thing to be
And suddenly the ghetto didn't seem so tough
And though we had it rough, we always had enough

I huffed and puffed about my curfew and broke the rules
Ran with the local crew and had a smoke or two
I realize mama really paid the price
She nearly gave her life to raise me right (Oh, yeah-yeah)

And all I had to give her was my pipe dream
Of how I'd rock the mic and make it to the bright screen
I'm trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents
It's hard to be legit and still pay your rent
And in the end, it seems I'm heading for the pen'
I try to find my friends, but they're blowing in the wind

Last night, my buddy lost his whole family
It's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity (Oh, no, no, no)
It seems the rain'll never let up
I try to keep my head up and still keep from getting wet up, huh

You know, it's funny, when it rains it pours
They got money for wars, but can't feed the poor
Said it ain't no hope for the youth
And the truth is it ain't no hope for the future

And then they wonder why we crazy, huh
I blame my mother for turning my brother into a crack baby
We ain't meant to survive 'cause it's a set-up
And even though you're fed up, huh, you got to keep ya head up

Don't cry, dry your eyes
(Keep ya head up)
You gotta keep your head up
Don't cry, dry your eyes
(Keep ya head up)

Don't cry, dry your eyes
(Keep ya head up)
Still you gotta keep your head up
Don't cry, dry your eyes
(Keep ya head up)

And, uh, to all the ladies having babies on they own
I know it's kinda rough and you're feeling all alone
Daddy's long gone and he left you by your lonesome
Thank the Lord for my kids even if nobody else want 'em

'Cause I think we can make it, in fact, I'm sure
And if you fall, stand tall and come back for more (Oh-oh)
'Cause ain't nothing worse than when your son
Wants to know why his daddy don't love him no mo'

You can't complain, you was dealt this hell of a hand
Without a man, feeling helpless (I know you were)
Because there's too many things for you to deal with
Dying inside, but outside you're looking fearless
While the tears is rolling down your cheeks
You're steady hoping things don't all fall this week (Yeah)

'Cause if it did, you couldn't take it (Yeah)
And don't blame me, I was given this world, I didn't make it (Oh, yeah)
And now my son's getting older and older
And cold from having the world on his shoulders

While the rich kids is driving Benz
I'm still trying to hold on to surviving friends (Oh, yeah)
And it's crazy, it seems it'll never let up
But, huh, please, you got to keep your head up