Selections from the "Hip Hop & Debate program

Apartheid II

Composed and performed by students in this spring's Seattle "Hip Hop & Debate" program; with lyrics and vocals by Malik McPherson, Geneiva Arunga and Isis Amen-Asia, beat by M-Famous and engineered by Amos Miller

Yo, It's Dash Point -- puttin' this on the map.
Matter of fact, we'll put the whole Sea-Town on the map with this one.
M-Famous production
Yeah, thanks them for the beat. I like it.

What's it about, well, man, this "Three-Deep" law.
OK, Yo, in In D.P. (Dash Point) I'm slipping but the feds see me.
I'm 3 deep wearing jeans with a white tee.
The lights B flashin' like a Mardis Gras scene with the beam focused on the spleen ready to excrete.
Slapped the cuffs on, now I'm forced in the squad car.
Dents in the clean record so now its R war.
Feds up 2 no good tryna pull a quick scheme. Pockets was clean then he reached in with a zippy.

At my maximum capacity, I can't take it,
Apartheid II, trying to make sure we don't make it,
Convictions for drugs is at an all time high, only in the Black community though, I wonder why? Racial disparities in enforced incarceration
locked up six times higher
than South Africans were facin'
Ain't that a shame?
Are we the ones to blame?
Are we committed all the crimes?
or at least that's what they claim.

Racial profilin'
Dudes be wiling'
Bout how the crooked cops be actin funny stylin'
Pullin' us over tryin' to see our registration
Pullin' us over for a reason that don't make sense
Why? Is it the only kinda sin is the color of our skin?
Where do we fit in?
Is it standing on the corner selling crack cocaine?
Man -- I think I'm going insane

I Wanna Change

Created in 2006 by students at Seattle's urban debate summer camp
Featuring DJ Najee, Gary Smith, Jr., Punneh Abdolhosseini and Khatsini Simani with beats by Stic.man of Dead Prez from "The Art of Emcee-ing"

I wanna change my cat
featuring G, DJ Najee, Punneh on the Sax
yeah, here we go
Get 'em Kat

Education is a place where I can be free
A place for self-expression for me to be me
Without TV and a corrupted society
Surrounding me I can be all I wanna be

Education is place where the best of the best
Enables the rest often times there is no contest
They try to suggest they have their words
The pest and they pest
until they get into your bloodstream and they start to invest

And we believe that they cannot achieve
Can't achieve
That students and minorities will never be free
I wanna change
Do you wanna change?
I wanna change
Do you wanna change?

I wanna change
Do ya do ya?
I wanna change
Do ya do ya?
I wanna change
Do ya do ya?
I wanna change

Oh, here it go
I wanna help the people who are mentally chained
Whose minds have be trained to go right down the drain
I wanna help my people who've felt nothing but pain
I wanna
my people who've felt nothing but pain
I wanna teach many things
Survive as a human being
I really wanna teach them to be
How to multiply add and subtract
Most of all I just wanna give back
gettin back

Do you wanna change?
I wanna change?
Do you wanna change?
Who want it?
I wanna change
Do you wanna change?
I wanna change
Tell me who?
Do you wanna change?
Do ya do ya?

Yeah, at the uw
Do you wanna change or what?
Why you waitin?