Little somethin for my godson Elijah and a little girl named Corinne

[Verse One]
Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice
I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots
I give a holler to my sisters on welfare
Tupac cares, if don't nobody else care
And uhh, I know they like to beat ya down a lot
When you come around the block brothas clown a lot
But please don't cry, dry your eyes, never let up
Forgive but don't forget, girl keep your head up
And when he tells you you ain't nuttin don't believe him
And if he can't learn to love you you should leave him
Cause sista you don't need him
And I ain't tryin to gas ya up, I just call em how I see em
You know it makes me unhappy (what's that)
When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy
And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?
I think it's time to kill for our women
Time to heal our women, be real to our women
And if we don't we'll have a race of babies
That will hate the ladies, that make the babies
And since a man can't make one
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one
So will the real men get up
I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up

[Chorus - repeat 2X]
Keep ya head up, oooo child things are gonna get easier
ooooo child things are gonna get brighter

[Verse Two]
Aiyyo, I remember Marvin Gaye, used to sing ta me
He had me feelin like black was tha thing to be
And suddenly tha ghetto didn't seem so tough
And though we had it rough, we always had enough
I huffed and puffed about my curfew and broke the rules
Ran with the local crew, and had a smoke or two
And I realize momma really paid the price
She nearly gave her life, to raise me right
And all I had ta give her was my pipe dream
Of how I'd rock the mic, and make it to tha bright screen
I'm tryin to make a dollar out of fifteen cents
It's hard to be legit and still pay tha rent
And in the end it seems I'm headin for tha pen
I try and find my friends, but they're blowin in the wind
Last night my buddy lost his whole family
It's gonna take the man in me to conquer this insanity
It seems tha rain'll never let up
I try to keep my head up, and still keep from gettin wet up
You know it's funny when it rains it pours
They got money for wars, but can't feed the poor
Say there ain't no hope for the youth and the truth is
it ain't no hope for tha future
And then they wonder why we crazy
I blame my mother, for turning my brother into a crack baby
We ain't meant to survive, cause it's a setup
And even though you're fed up
Huh, ya got to keep your head up

[Chorus]

After five years behind bars, rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight is back on the streets.

The burly founder of Death Row Records walked out of a Portland, Ore., prison Monday morning and hopped on a plane headed for Los Angeles.

"I'm stress-free," said Knight in a phone interview hours after being released. "I'm not bitter. I'm blessed. I'm glad to be out. I give thanks to God. I want to try to do better things. You know what they say: 'Demonstration is better than conversation.' Watch me. I'm going to the studio tonight." After landing at LAX, the 6-foot-3, 315-pound entrepreneur was back running Death Row from his company's Los Angeles headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard, at the edge of Beverly Hills. For the last week, the label's office has been dwarfed by a giant billboard overhead bearing Knight's image and the words: "Welcome Home Suge."

The controversial rap kingpin has been incarcerated since October 1996 when a judge determined that he had violated his probation by kicking a man during a scuffle at a Las Vegas hotel. The violation stemmed from a 1992 assault case for which he had been placed on state probation after attacking two rappers at a Hollywood recording studio.

"I have no regrets," said Knight, 36. "Where God puts a period, ain't no man can put a question mark. I guess God kept me in five years because he felt I had a lot to learn. And I did."

Knight became famous during the early 1990s for running a small, cutting-edge record label that introduced the world to West Coast rap, launching the solo careers of such stars as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur. The first hard-core rap label to achieve mainstream success, Death Row and its stars earned as much notoriety for their controversial lyrics as for their constant run-ins with the law. Knight himself was dogged by rumors of violent behavior even before he ended up in prison on an assault probation violation.

Although Death Row has lost some of its stars, the company is expected to score a Top 20 hit on the pop chart this week with a new collection from Tha Dogg Pound. During Knight's incarceration, the label signed up a new pack of unknown acts including Crooked I, SKG, the Realest, Doobie and Swoop G.

No longer tied to a major record conglomerate, Death Row has carved out new domestic and international distribution deals with Valley Media's DNA arm and Ron Winters Productions. Though Death Row is in the process of reissuing its entire back catalog independently, Knight declined to say whether he plans to seek a capital infusion from a major label affiliate again.

"Better days is coming, man," Knight said. "It's like we're getting ready for the Super Bowl. Preparing for the game. We're going to win the big one. Going to sign some new young producers to come up with some tough new stuff. We going to start having some fun again."

Before entering Sheridan Detention Center in April, Knight served more than four years on a state probation violation at California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo and Mule Creek State Prison in Ione. Knight ended up in federal prison because a judge in 1996 determined that the entrepreneur's involvement in the Las Vegas assault was also a violation of his probation in an earlier federal gun case, under which he pleaded no contest for attempting to purchase handguns in another state for his rap stars.

It's been more than five years since the Justice Department launched a racketeering probe against Knight, his former lawyer David Kenner and Death Row, focusing on allegations of drug trafficking, money laundering and violent acts. A federal grand jury reviewed allegations that Death Row was a criminal enterprise, but after several years, never issued a single indictment.

The probe has been inactive for nearly a year, but that didn't deter Rolling Stone magazine and VH1-TV from running stories this summer tying Death Row to drug running and Knight (along with several LAPD officers) to the murders of rap stars Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace and Tupac Shakur.

A confidential informant named in the story sued Rolling Stone last month, accusing the magazine of recklessly exposing him "to immediate and imminent bodily harm." The informant, a former Death Row bodyguard, also sued the Los Angeles Police Department, naming former LAPD Det. Russell Poole and LAPD Chief Bernard C. Parks in the suit.

Knight said he also has consulted a libel attorney and is considering filing his own suits against Poole, Rolling Stone and VH-1.

"I'm God's child and God always reveals the truth. Those stories are full of lies," Knight said. "It's amazing what these people can say about you when you're in prison."

Brenda's got a Baby
Brenda's got a Baby

I hear Brenda's got a baby
Well, Brenda's barely got a brain
A damn shame
Tha girl can hardly spell her name
(That's not her problem, that's up to Brenda's family)
Well let me show ya how it affects the whole community
Now Brenda never really knew her moms
and her dad was a junky puttin death into his arm
It's sad, cause I bet Brenda doesn't even know
Just cause your in the ghetto doesn't mean ya can't grow
But oh, that's a thought, my own revelation
Do whatever it takes to resist the temptation
Brenda got herself a boyfriend
Her boyfriend was her cousin, now lets watch the joy end
She tried to hide her pregnancy, from her family
Who didn't really care to see, or give a damn if she
Went out and had a church of kids
As long as when tha check came they got first dibs
Now Brendas belly is gettin bigger
But no one seems ta notice any change in her figure
She's 12 years old and she's having a baby
In love with tha molester, whos sexed and crazy
And yet she thinks that he'll be with her forever
And dreams of a world with tha two of them are together, whatever
He left her and she had tha baby solo
She had it on the bathroom floor and didn't know so
She didn't know, what ta throw away and what to keep
She wrapped the baby up and threw him in the trash heep
I guess she thought she'd get away, wouldn't hear the cries
She didn't realize how much tha the little baby had her eyes
Now tha babys in the trash heep balling
Momma can't help her, but it hurts to hear her calling
Brenda wants ta run away, momma say, you makin' me lose pay
The social workers here everyday
Now Brenda's gotta make her own way
Can't go to her family, they won't let her stay
No money no babysitter, she couldn't keep a job
She tried ta sell crack, but end up getting robbed
So now what's next, there ain't nothin left ta sell
So she sees sex as a way of leavin hell
It's payin tha rent, so she really can't complain
Prostitute, found slain, and Brenda's her name, she's got a baby

Baaaaaaaaby

Those are poems, you must appreciate them since you are a poet yourself.

2Pac is it, the rest are just musicians. You need to get with it, if you are not with it yet.