Yeah…
Tayo, they say it take a village…
But the village packed up and left.
Left us with the bill… and the blame.
⸻
HOOK (this is the banger part)
They say it takes a village, but nobody stayed long enough
Bright mind in the dark, they ain’t love me, they just gave me cuffs
No love, no touch, no hug, nobody gave a fuck
Now they asking why we numb the pain, why we stuck on drugs
Yeah—
Born in the streets, yeah we know how to run
From the cops who gun for fun, killing daughters and sons
They call us thugs, but look at what we come from
Misguided youth—that’s the outcome
(Repeat hook once, ad-libs like “yeah”, “uh”, “look”)
⸻
VERSE 1
They say step back, let the government take charge
But they only show up when it’s time to break hearts
Easier to do nothing than to play a part
So we grew up cold, no heat, just the dark
No mentor, no guidance, no hands to hold
Just sirens at night and a mattress on the floor
Bright mind, but the light got ignored
Now I’m writing pain in these lines, trying to settle the score
They love statistics, charts, and numbers
But never count the nights we went under
Never count the tears from the mothers
Only show concern when the body’s covered
⸻
HOOK
They say it takes a village, but nobody stayed long enough
Bright mind in the dark, they ain’t love me, they just gave me cuffs
No love, no touch, no hug, nobody gave a fuck
Now they asking why we numb the pain, why we stuck on drugs
Born in the streets, yeah we know how to run
From the cops who gun for fun, killing daughters and sons
They call us thugs, but look at what we come from
Misguided youth—that’s the outcome
⸻
VERSE 2 (harder, angrier delivery)
Question why we end up dead or locked in a cage
Same system writing checks for our rage
Put us in a box, then they tell us behave
While they profit off prisons, modern-day slaves
Raised by survival, not a silver spoon
Every choice was do or die, no room to lose
They see a threat when we enter the room
I see trauma stitched deep into every wound
Government games, yeah they perpetrate lies
Then look us in the face like we chose this life
Equation already solved before we tried
Set up to fail, then blamed for the crime
⸻
BRIDGE (beat drops, almost spoken)
I can see it in your eyes
You already wrote me off
To you I’m just another loss
So don’t act surprised when I say—
⸻
FINAL HOOK / OUTRO
Fuck off.
You never showed love when it mattered the most
Fuck off.
Now you mourning bodies you helped to expose
Fuck off.
We products of neglect and broken homes
Fuck off.
This pain made me cold—but it sharpened my soul
(Beat rides out with ad-libs: “yeah… look what you made us…”
TayoHorn_TH920
