[Sample]
“…we perpetuate it now because it’s dead. That word’s dead. We men and women, we come from, we come from the first people on the earth. You know?”
[Hook: Torae]
Now when my nigga calls me his nigga, I ain’t tripping ‘cause I figure
That he love me, so I feel it’s all good
But when they’re treating us like we’re niggas, they’re choking and pulling triggers
Then we wonder how to put a hold to it, put some fall to it
[Bridge: Torae]
See I don’t want to cry no more
See young brothers die no more
And if it mean I got to walk away from my nigga
And I ain’t by his side no more
[Verse 1: Torae]
(“Niggas”)
See I remember from the beginning
In every line, every conversation, the sentence
It’s always been my word, but word, I might end it
(“Nigga”) making change to make a difference
[Hook: Torae]
Now when my nigga calls me his nigga, I ain’t tripping ‘cause I figure
That he love me, so I feel it’s all good
But when they’re treating us like we’re niggas, they’re choking and pulling triggers
Then we wonder how to put a hold to it
Now when my nigga calls me his nigga, I ain’t tripping ‘cause I figure
That he love me, so I feel it’s all good
But when they’re treating us like we’re niggas, they’re choking and pulling triggers
Then we wonder how to put a hold to it, put some fall to it
[Verse 2: Torae]
And then almost like it was planned
Overseas on stage talking to fans
And whether German or Poland, I always cringe at the moment
They say “you killed it, my nigga, you the man”
(“Nigga”) Damn, ‘cause they don’t even know the origin
They just heard it in every song I perform for them
Be the change you want to see
So who really looking crazy, them or me?
[Torae speaking]
See I came up using the word, you know? I always took it as not as a term of endearment, but the older I get, the more mature. It’s like I understand it’s not. Our forefathers fought and died for that, you know what I mean, that word and it’s like, no matter how much we march and protest and say we want respect, we got to learn how to respect ourselves first
[Hook: Shaquawna Shante]
Now when my nigga calls me his nigga, I ain’t tripping ‘cause I figure
That he love me, so I feel it’s all good
But when they’re treating us like we’re niggas, they’re choking and pulling triggers
Then we wonder how to put a hold to it
Now when my nigga calls me his nigga, I ain’t tripping ‘cause I figure
That he love me, so I feel it’s all good
But when they’re treating us like we’re niggas, they’re choking and pulling triggers
Then we wonder how to put a hold to it, put some fall to it
[Outro: Shaquawna Shante]
Put some fall to it
How we gon’ be change
How we gon’ be the change
If we don’t change ourselves