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Verse One:
The gangster – we see what they got and we sweat ‘em / But it ain’t just the dollars that you got but how you get ‘em / yo it ain’t just crooks and killers and wild west shit / it could be as subtle as your choice of investment / In a foodchain corporate culture you gonna find / A whole lotta cats with only one thing on their mind / And that’s to be the man – simple and plain – fortune and fame / Unaware the road’s paved with depression and shame / ’cause if you in line to be the man then you just as guilty / and if you breaking the line well then you know you filthy / in an economy that pays to be guilty as sin / There’s more gangsters than just godfathers and made men / some sit pretty with a view of the city / While families in the street cold shivering below / And when the corner office got you ditching your conscience / Just to decorate your paycheck with another zero / Whether you know it or not, you a gangster / thanks to an economy that puts our wealth in banks / instead of who we are and what we mean to each other / it’s time we wake up – start looking out for one another / in a system that rejects gangsterism / in other words, a system that rejects classism / and yes, this might mean some of you get less / But you’ll get more out of life when there’s more to success / than worrying how they gonna beat you – defeat you / More than comfort at the expense of those beneath you / Let’s turn this shit around before it’s too late / It might be fly right now, but just wait / The older that you get, the more that it gets clearer / That’s probably why old gangsters can’t stand mirrors
CHORUS:
There’s no gangsters in PARECON / the gangsters seen their last days / yo but we don’t want to kill off the gangsters / we want the gangsters to walk away / for the sake of their kids and grandkids / we show them a future too good not to choose / that’s how you get a gangster to walk away / make ‘em an offer that they can’t refuse
Verse Two:
You want to know what the free market really looks like / It’s the dope game – the dope game / Quick profits, quick fixes – an economy of violence / The dope game – the dope game / when it’s against the law, you make your own rules / in the dope game – the dope game / Anything you can get away with is cool / In the dope game – the dope game / Now how you gonna preach against the black market / Turn around next minute and praise the free market / I mean for real, what you think that a free market is / But anything goes – No holds barred business / Is it any wonder people are attracted to crime / In a system that says what’s yours is gonna be mine / Instead of a system that helps me find me / My only choice is what kind of gangster I want to be / the corporate ladder or the church plan / the dope game or military chain of command / From ball street to wall street and beyond / Tell me does it really matter which team you on / If the food chain is still the name of the game / Over all, the outcome’s gonna be the same / Competition causing division / Exploitation and oppression / The only road to a better reality / Is to reject the gangster mentality
CHORUS:
There’s no gangsters in PARECON / the gangsters seen their last days / yo but we don’t want to kill off the gangsters / we want the gangsters to walk away / for the sake of their kids and grandkids / we show them a future too good not to choose / that’s how you get a gangster to walk away / make ‘em an offer that they can’t refuse
Verse Three:
Being a gangster means someone always has to hurt / as long as the blood’s on someone else’s shirt / and that hurt ain’t ever enough / That’s why power ain’t respect and fear ain’t love / So at the end of the day what’s the gangster got / But a whole lot of enemies and just one shot / Still even though everybody running when they see one / in a gangster economy, everybody wanna be one / From hard knocks to Sunday school / We give up the golden rule only to play the golden fool / Getting laughed at as we fall for their traps / ’cause when it’s dog eat dog, we only fighting for scraps / Dreaming of the gangster we never gonna be / Is it worse to be a gangster or gangster wannabe / And hip hop – yeah, that goes for us too / I ain’t gonna name no names, but I think you know who / One minute’s rhyming about being revolutionaries / next minute’s getting paid by any means necessary / And yo I get how it all makes sense / In a system that celebrates gangsters and all their sins / That we would look at the hand that we’re dealt and proceed / But you can’t damn the man and then follow his lead / He ain’t your teacher – so don’t be his preacher / When you imitate ‘em, that’s when they know they done beat ya / we gotta break this cycle – and that means we got to learn / it ain’t just about flipping the script, we gotta burn it / and write a new one with an institutional base / one that don’t allow for gangsters in the first place
CHORUS:
There’s no gangsters in PARECON / the gangsters seen their last days / yo but we don’t want to kill off the gangsters / we want the gangsters to walk away / for the sake of their kids and grandkids / we show them a future too good not to choose / that’s how you get a gangster to walk away / make ‘em an offer that they can’t refuse
