Before you act black,
Or try to dress black,
You better be born black,
Or I’ll call your shit wack.

Y’All So Stupid, “Dirt Road White Girl,” Van Full of Pakistans, 1993

Fuck the police, comin straight from the underground…
A young nigga got it bad cause I’m brown.
And not the other color so police think
They have the authority to kill a minority.

Ice Cube, “Fuck Tha Police,” from N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton, 1988. More from Ice Cube…

I got Soul Power, never took a cold shower,
Never had a girlfriend the color of cooking flour.

J-Ro, “Make Room,” from Tha Alkaholiks’ 21 and Over, 1993. More from Tha Liks…

I think back to when I was robbin’ my own kind,
The police didn’t pay it no mind…
But when I start robbin the white folks?
Now I’m in the Pen with the soap-on-a-rope.
I said it before and I’ll still taught it:
Every muthafucka with a color is Most Wanted.

Ice Cube, “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted,” AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, 1990. More from Cube…

Excuse us for the news,
You might not be amused;
But did you know White comes from Black?
No need to be confused.

Chuck D, “Fear of a Black Planet,” from Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet, 1990. More quotes from PE…

I’m only trying to show you how black niggas live,
But you don’t want your little ones acting like this.
Lil Amy told Becky, Becky told Jenny,
And now they all know the skinny.
Lil Joey got his durag on,
Driving down the street blasting Tupac’s song.

Jay-Z, “Hell Yeah (Pimp the System) (Remix)”, from Revolutionary But Gangsta, 2004

I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan, and I shouldn’t have to run from a black man.

Kool Moe Dee, “Self-Destruction,” from Stop the Violence All-Stars’ Self Destruction, 1989

Since I’m stereotyped to kill and destruct
Is one of the main reasons I don’t give a fuck.

MC Ren, “100 Miles and Runnin’” from N.W.A.’s 100 Miles and Runnin’ EP, 1990

Common • “Letter to the Free” • 2016

We staring in the face of hate again…
The same hate they say will “Make America Great Again.”
No consolation prize for the dehumanized,
For America to rise, it’s a matter of Black Lives.

– Common, “Letter to the Free,” Black America Again, 2016

We live for they amusement like they view us from behind the glass.
No matter what we grow into, we never gonna escape our past.
So in this cage they made for me, exactly where you’ll find me at;
Whether it’s my time to leave or not, I’ll never turn my back.

Vince Staples, “Like It Is,” Summertime ‘06, 2015. More from Vince Staples…

Who do I blame if I’m not a success?
Do I blame it on my pops that left
When I was feedin on my mama’s breast?
Or do I blame it on society?
With all this black/white stuff…man this shit is real tough.

Freddie Foxxx, “So Tough,” Crazy Like a Foxxx, 1993

Why they hate us? Why they want to rape us for our culture?
They greet, defeat us, bleed us, then they leave us for the vultures.
They break the brilliant off with millions, tryna to break their focus;
More tan the man, the more alone and hopeless.

Vince Staples, “C.N.B.,” Summertime ‘06, 2015

We went from African kings to Martin Luther King,
Now they wanna make us all Rodney King.
So they conspire to murder for hire;
Is the world just a big cup of water trying to douse the black fire?

Freddie Foxxx, “So Tough,” Crazy Like a Foxxx, 1993

Everybody want to talk about who this and who that,
Who the realest and who wack, or who white or who black.
Critics want to mention that they miss when hip hop was rappin’…
Motherfucker, if you did, then Killer Mike’d be platinum.

Kendrick Lamar, “Hood Politics,” To Pimp a Butterfly, 2015. More from Kendrick…