Absolute Power - Akala

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

Its not the poverty

Its the inequality that we live with everyday that will turn us insane

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

Its not the poverty

Its the inequality that we live with everyday that will turn us insane

In a scheme of livin' my life wasn’t hard

But as far as britain goes shit I practically starved

Sleeping in a track suit, gas meter runnin' out

Electric cut off as well, candles lightin' up the house

Lookin' in my momma’s eyes I see how she feels

The strain and the pain of just paying bills

It ain’t real, and thats how I grew like so many more

And it is part of who I am

I am very sure

You wanna know the rage I feel in my stomach

Knowing my mum and dad split up when I was still in her stomach

And not everything that happened I will put in sixteens

But I will tell you enough so you will know what I mean

My boy’s mother got cancer the same time as mine

His mother died, and mine survived

The shit was fucked back then

When I was like ten already had the mental strength

More than many grown men

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

Its not the poverty

Its the inequality that we live with everyday that will turn us insane

This was a couple years after my step-dad left

Did he really know the crazy mess that he left?

Cos mum done' recovered from the lumps in her neck

Being poor and alone just couldn’t cope with the stress

And I earn my big sis for

So much soul that night hattan left school

When she left home

I was thirteen by now

Still a little kid, innocent

Next couple years though would turn him 'to a militant

That is the result of no food in the fridge

And every other day being searched by the pigs

Fuck these patronizing teachers

Don’t want my grades 'slip, trynna' emasculate me

-yeah turn me 'to a bitch

And I dont mean a woman please lemme be clear

I mean a spineless man 'cos what do they fear

Than a working class black male with a brain

When our energy is harnessed, every changed

Look at 'Pac look at Marley look at Hendrix look at Garvey

This is the potential that is wasted on a daily basis

In this racist, classist world that we live in

Still we comin' from nothing but we educate millions

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

Its not the poverty

Its the inequality that we live with everyday that will turn us insane

I understand why it scares you

Its like how dare you

Overcome obstacles that we have been careful to

Place in your way every step of the way

In this so called democracy where kids get sprayed

Blacks and the Asians, Turks and the chavs

Crowded in council flats, living like ants

And who’s more confused than the poor white trash

Spouting the bullshit about they want their country back

It never was yours, you should read more

What they did to brown people they did to their own poor

Peoples memories short, so much that im seeing

Black and asian kids cussing eastern Europeans

No pot to piss in, makes competition

I fail to see how this is an effective system

Cats and dogs in America and Britain

Eat better food then most of humanity

We spend our technology only on killin'

How is this more than sophisticated savagery

Its like its said, the world is a stage

Each person’s just an actor with a part to play

Like the middle class kids, — kids of the rich

Have everything, but yet still they pissed

On coke and ketamine, strung out on heroin

I ain’t generalizing, look at the evidence

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

Its not the poverty

Its the inequality that we live with everyday that will turn us insane

Go to Glastonbury any year

You will see, unlike carnival

It won’t be crawling with police

This is London, the kids on the very next street

Had a very different life experience than me

In my experience they can’t help but be smug

After a lifetime of what they think’s just good luck

They’re still more anxious

And more frank cos'

Unearned privilege weigh’s like an anchor

That’s why they copy what we do, tryna' be what they not

They will grow up though and get better jobs

They will maintain the system they claim that they hated

But they can’t burn it down they got a stake in this matrix

Hip-hop is just a fad to them, you didn’t know?

But to us, this our living breathing soul

And yeah they might backpack in South America

Or even volunteer in an African village

But all said and done, push comes to shove

And shit hits the fan they’re middle class and British

That’s just how it is, most rich brown people are just as full of shit

So more concerned with they cars and jewels

Most of the worlds poor looks just like you

So more concerned with imprivileged few

Most of the worlds poor looks just like you

Absolute power corrupts absolutely

But absolute powerlessness does the same

Its not the poverty

Its the inequality that we live with everyday that will turn us insane