Message to the Messengers - Gil Scott-Heron

Hey, yeah, we the same brothas from a long time ago

We was talkin' about television and doin' it on the radio

What we did was to help our generation realize

They got to get busy cause it wasn’t gonna be televised

We got respect for young rappers and the way they’re freewayin'

But if you’re gonna be teachin' folks things, make sure you know what you’re

saying

Older folks in our neighborhood got plenty of know-how

Remember, if it wasn’t for them, you wouldn’t be out here now

And I ain’t comin' at you with no disrespect

All I’m sayin' is that you damn well got to be correct

Because if you’re gonna be speaking for a whole generation

And you know enough to handle their education

Be sure you know the real deal about past situations

And ain’t just repeating what you heard on a local TV station

Sometimes they tell lies and put them in a truthful disguise

But the truth is, that’s why we said it wouldn’t be televised

They don’t know what to say to our young folks

But they know that you do

And if they really knew the truth

Why would they tell you?

The first sign is peace

Tell all them gun totin' young brothers

That the man is glad to see us out there killin' one another

We raised too much hell when they were shootin' us down

So they started poisoning our minds tryin' to jerk us all around

And they tell us they got to come in and control our situation

They want half of us on dope and the other half in incarceration

If the ones they want dead ain’t killed by what they instigated

They put some dope on a brother’s body and claim it was drug-related

Tell 'em «drug-related» means there don’t need to be no investigation

Or at least that’s the way they’re gonna play it on the local TV station

All your nine-millimeter brothas, give them somethin' to think about

Tell them you heard that this is the new word

They got to work that stuff out

Somehow they’re feelin' in the wrong way with a gun in their hands

They’re feelin' real independent

But they’re just pulling contracts for the man

Five in five will tell you it’s hopeless out there on the avenue

But if they really knew the truth

Why would they tell you?

And if they look at you like you’re insane

And they start callin' you scarecrow and say you ain’t got no brain

Or start tellin' folks that you suddenly gone lame

Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game

Or worse yet implying that you don’t really know

That’s the same thing they said about us a long time ago

Young rappers, one more suggestion before I get out of your way

But I appreciate the respect you give me and what you got to say

I’m sayin' protect your community and spread that respect around

Tell brothas and sisters they gotta calm that bullshit down

Cause we’re terrorizin' our old folks and brought fear into our homes

And they ain’t got to hang out with the senior citizens

Just tell 'em, dammit, leave the old folks alone

And we know who rippin' off the neighborhood

Tell 'em, that BS has got to stop

Tell 'em you’re sorry they can’t handle it out there

But they got to take the crime off the block

And if they look at you like you’re insane

And they start callin' you scarecrow, thinkin' you ain’t got no brain

Or start tellin' folks that you suddenly gone lame

Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game

Or worse yet, saying that you really don’t know

That’s the same thing they said about me a long time ago

And if they tell folks that you finally lost your nerve

That’s the same thing they said about us when we said Johannesburg

But I think you young folks need to know things don’t go both ways

You can’t talk respect of every other song or just every other day

What I’m speakin' on now is the raps about the women folks

On one song she’s your African Queen, on the next one she’s a joke

And you ain’t said no words that I haven’t heard

But that ain’t no compliment

It only insults 8 people out of 10 and questions your intelligence

Four-letter words or four-syllable words won’t make you a poet

It will only magnify how shallow you are and let everybody know it

And if they look at you like they think you insane

Or they call you scarecrow, thinkin' you ain’t got no brain

Or start tellin' folks that you suddenly gone lame

Or that white folks have finally co-opted your game

Or you really don’t know

They said that about me a long time ago

If they finally start to tell people that you lost your nerve

That’s what they said about Johannesburg

You ain’t insane

You have got a brain

You haven’t gone lame

You have got your game

Remember, keep the nerve

Keep the nerve Keep the nerve

We’re talkin' 'bout peace