Why did Nas say hip hop’s dead when it’s still alive

Why do rappers ride around with illegal drugs and 45s

Why did Snoop have to go Hollywood, it’s really a shame

He should stick to making records, not flicks like “Soul Plane”

Why did Proof have to die over a stupid game of pool

Why does Kanye talk hard when he’s always acting a fool

Why did Diddy sell more records than Lupe, that’s a fiasco

Why did Shady say he’s finished (you know he’ll be back though)

Why do rappers wear crosses but don’t keep it righteous

Why do they waste money on grillz and Jacob’s diamond watches

Why did Pac have to go before his time, tell me that

How come today’s rappers can’t write but got skills with a gat



All that we’ve been given

Still content with easy livin’

They got us caught up in the system

Spirits chained like we’re in prison

Trying to take advantage of every day

Asking why it has to be that way

Why, oh why



Why didn’t the world stop North Korea from making the bomb

And why has Iraq become the 21st century Vietnam

Why did we catch Saddam but drop the ball on Osama

Why is Bush digging such a big hole for President Obama

Why is New Orleans still a mess sixteen months after the storm

Why did they put families in trailers smaller than college dorms

Why is the gap between rich and poor in this country getting bigger

What would MLK say about the incarceration figures

Why did Michael Richards shout that word again and again

White people in America got enough fences to mend (you hear me?)

Why do we worship overpaid movie stars like Angelina Jolie

Why don’t we celebrate our teachers and increase their salaries



All that we’ve been given

Still content with easy livin’

They got us caught up in the system

Spirits chained like we’re in prison

Trying to take advantage of every day

Asking why it has to be that way

Why, oh why



Why does Harvard’s endowment still support the Darfur genocide

The Corporation promised to divest but didn’t do it, so they lied

Why am I stressing about exams when there’s soldiers in Iraq

They can't think about their futures, always have to watch their backs

Why did those Yalies make a song about raping Harvard women

Why are you wasting your expensive education, stop trippin’

Why did that journal at Tufts print a racist Christmas song

And why can’t college students distinguish right from wrong

Why do we think the world should be handed to us on a platter

Why are we afraid of taking risks, it’s up to us to matter

My “Freestyle” gig is up but I’m still reaching for my goals

Like a train, I gotta roll, wishing you love, peace, and soul



All that we’ve been given

Still content with easy livin’

They got us caught up in the system

Spirits chained like we’re in prison

Trying to take advantage of every day

Asking why it has to be that way

Why, oh why



Andrew C. Esensten ’07 is a literature and African American studies concentrator in Adams House. His column appears regularly.