I tell you, there are no big shots in reality, y'all
We're all in the same boat, dealing with the same issues, same problems, same stuff
Don't even buy it
All the perpetration, you know, all this... Well, you know, uh
"We don't have problems." That's a lie. That's a lie
I know that the enemy is doing the same thing to me that he's doing to everybody else
I just know now that the only way to get out is through confrontation, see
We always thought it was retreat, you know, run away
And I'm telling you, you got to confront it
Ah, let's see, how are we doin' as far as the tunin', okay
This, this is a strange song because this song, this is when everything sort of-
When this song was written, this is when everything sort of stopped
It was, it was written a long time ago, but it was right before God just snatched me out of everything
And because I didn't understand...
Initially it was written about ah, the who-
I'd written it about the whole Amadou Diallo situation
When it first happened, and I went to the studio, and I laid it down
And it was like, strong, for the first day
And then it just regressed every day after that
And I said, "What's going on? What's happening?"
And at the end of it there was a word that I used, "rebel"
And I guess I was afraid that it was such a hot time in the city at that point
I was afraid that if I put the record out, people would misunderstand what I meant by "rebel"
And they'd just take it to the streets
So I was very intimidated and afraid
And before I knew it a whole host of things happened
Everything stopped after that
And the creativity stopped
Everything stopped
That's when I realized I had to understand what I was talking about
Before I could tell somebody else what I was talking about
And I had to be, you know, a living example
It's real crazy because I don't know what the press is saying
Because I don't listen to the press too much
But I know the view is that I'm emotionally unstable, which is reality. Like you aren't?
I'm laughing because what I've realized
I've become is one of those meds scientists who does the tests on themselves first
You see, to make sure that they work
And that's when you know, OK look, I got something that works
You know what I'm saying? I'm not gonna give you something that I haven't tested for myself
And you go through, and you're learning by way of experience
And you're making mistakes, and you're getting up
A friend of mine once said to me, he said, look
If we weren't supposed to turn around, why does a car have a steering wheel?
You know, we just supposed to crash into the wall?
No, we're supposed to say, Listen, I was going the wrong way... Reverse
In this particular song, now I realize that this song is about freedom
You see? We could look at one human being
But it's about the spirit of freedom being taken out, and how it's taken out in all of us
The song is called "I Find It Hard to Say." Bear with me a little bit