I CAN – NAS
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LYRICS:
I know I can (I know I can)
Be what I wanna be (be what I wanna be)
If I work hard at it (If I work hard at it)
I’ll be where I wanna be (I’ll be where I wanna be)Be, B-Boys and girls, listen up
You can be anything in the world, in God we trust
An architect, doctor, maybe an actress
But nothing comes easy it takes much practice
Like, I met a woman who’s becoming a star
She was very beautiful, leaving people in awe
Singing songs, Lina Horn, but the younger version
Hung with the wrong person
Got her strung on that
Heroin, cocaine, sniffin up drugs all in her nose…
Coulda died, so young, now looks ugly and old
No fun cause now when she reaches for hugs people hold they breath
Cause she smells of corrosion and death
Watch the company you keep and the crowd you bring
Cause they came to do drugs and you came to sing
So if you gonna be the best, I’ma tell you how,
Put your hands in the air, and take a vowI know I can (I know I can)
Be what I wanna be (be what I wanna be)
If I work hard at it (If I work hard at it)
I’ll be where I wanna be (I’ll be where I wanna be)Be, B-Boys and girls, listen again
This is for grown looking girls who’s only ten
The ones who watch videos and do what they see
As cute as can be, up in the club with fake ID
Careful, ‘fore you meet a man with HIV
You can host the TV like Oprah Winfrey
Whatever you decide, be careful, some men be
Rapists, so act your age, don’t pretend to be
Older than you are, give yourself time to grow
You thinking he can give you wealth, but so
Young boys, you can use a lot of help, you know
You thinkin life’s all about smokin weed and ice
You don’t wanna be my age and can’t read and write
Begging different women for a place to sleep at night
Smart boys turn to men and do whatever they wish
If you believe you can achieve, then say it like thisBe, be, ‘fore we came to this country
We were kings and queens, never porch monkeys
There was empires in Africa called Kush
Timbuktu, where every race came to get books
To learn from black teachers who taught Greeks and Romans
Asian Arabs and gave them gold when
Gold was converted to money it all changed
Money then became empowerment for Europeans
The Persian military invaded
They heard about the gold, the teachings, and everything sacred
Africa was almost robbed naked
Slavery was money, so they began making slave ships
Egypt was the place that Alexander the Great went
He was so shocked at the mountains with black faces
Shot up they nose to impose what basically
Still goes on today, you see?
If the truth is told, the youth can grow
Then learn to survive until they gain control
Nobody says you have to be gangstas, hoes
Read more learn more, change the globe
Ghetto children, do your thing
Hold your head up, little man, you’re a king
Young Princess when you get your wedding ring
Your man is saying “She’s my queen”Save the music y’all, save the music y’all
Save the music y’all, save the music y’all
Save the music
Be what I wanna be (be what I wanna be)
If I work hard at it (If I work hard at it)
I’ll be where I wanna be (I’ll be where I wanna be)Be, B-Boys and girls, listen up
You can be anything in the world, in God we trust
An architect, doctor, maybe an actress
But nothing comes easy it takes much practice
Like, I met a woman who’s becoming a star
She was very beautiful, leaving people in awe
Singing songs, Lina Horn, but the younger version
Hung with the wrong person
Got her strung on that
Heroin, cocaine, sniffin up drugs all in her nose…
Coulda died, so young, now looks ugly and old
No fun cause now when she reaches for hugs people hold they breath
Cause she smells of corrosion and death
Watch the company you keep and the crowd you bring
Cause they came to do drugs and you came to sing
So if you gonna be the best, I’ma tell you how,
Put your hands in the air, and take a vowI know I can (I know I can)
Be what I wanna be (be what I wanna be)
If I work hard at it (If I work hard at it)
I’ll be where I wanna be (I’ll be where I wanna be)Be, B-Boys and girls, listen again
This is for grown looking girls who’s only ten
The ones who watch videos and do what they see
As cute as can be, up in the club with fake ID
Careful, ‘fore you meet a man with HIV
You can host the TV like Oprah Winfrey
Whatever you decide, be careful, some men be
Rapists, so act your age, don’t pretend to be
Older than you are, give yourself time to grow
You thinking he can give you wealth, but so
Young boys, you can use a lot of help, you know
You thinkin life’s all about smokin weed and ice
You don’t wanna be my age and can’t read and write
Begging different women for a place to sleep at night
Smart boys turn to men and do whatever they wish
If you believe you can achieve, then say it like thisBe, be, ‘fore we came to this country
We were kings and queens, never porch monkeys
There was empires in Africa called Kush
Timbuktu, where every race came to get books
To learn from black teachers who taught Greeks and Romans
Asian Arabs and gave them gold when
Gold was converted to money it all changed
Money then became empowerment for Europeans
The Persian military invaded
They heard about the gold, the teachings, and everything sacred
Africa was almost robbed naked
Slavery was money, so they began making slave ships
Egypt was the place that Alexander the Great went
He was so shocked at the mountains with black faces
Shot up they nose to impose what basically
Still goes on today, you see?
If the truth is told, the youth can grow
Then learn to survive until they gain control
Nobody says you have to be gangstas, hoes
Read more learn more, change the globe
Ghetto children, do your thing
Hold your head up, little man, you’re a king
Young Princess when you get your wedding ring
Your man is saying “She’s my queen”Save the music y’all, save the music y’all
Save the music y’all, save the music y’all
Save the music
As always, let us know what you think in the comment section below. Was the list dead on? Is there a glaring omission? Either way let us know and thanks for all of the suggestions for the list.
This is an interesting idea! A few of the songs, I didn’t know – so it was an enjoyable tour through music appropriate to young people.
For a future compilation, you might consider Doo Be Doo by world music group Freshly Ground: https://www.rdio.com/artist/Freshlyground/album/Nomvula/track/Doo_Be_Doo/
Thanks,
Phoebe
Lift Every Voice and Sing is a song that every child should learn.
Don’t forget Mary Mary’s “Little Girl”. Lyrics excerpt: Little girl/trying to fit in/’cuz you don’t look like/all your other friends” and chorus goes “Little girl, little girl/God made you so beautiful/little girl, little girl/I just thought that you should know”
Cool list. I’d like to suggest two more songs:
1. I love my hair: sesame Street sing along
2. BabyFather: Sade
I loved the list! I would add Yolonda Adams’s “The Battle is the Lord’s”. Whenever I feel overwhelmed I listen to this song and remember.
I was surprised to not see “You Gotta Be…” By Des’ree, Lamar.
Sample lyrics:
*You gotta be
*You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser
*You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
*You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together
*All I know, all I know, love will save the day”
What parent doesn’t want their girl to be all these things??
Thanks for sharing Will add yours to my list for my girls
A lot of these so FS need to be heard by little black boys too. They need to learn at an early age how precious the little black girl is, as well as, instill self pride
Our children are growing so fast these days, partially because of our lack of family structure, moreover, rearing the child in the way they should go with values beyond what the t.v., internet, and peers teach them. However, I encourage each parent to evaluate the music they listen to in the car with their children or any young impressionable mind in your prescense. If the child has already reached an exposure level of hearing the degrading music our community most often promotes, and you see that they have already turned that corner, I would suggest these positive yet ‘edgeee’ life changing songs. I render this unto you, GOODIE MOB ‘BEAUTIFUL BLACK SKIN’ circa 1996, COMMON SENSE AND LAURYN HILL ‘RETROSPECT OF LIFE’ , COMMON ‘THE LIGHT’ , J. COLE ‘CROOKED SMILE’
A few of these songs are for little Black Christian girls only. I would make adaptations to allow for alternative spiritual perspectives. But the other choices were rather inspirational.
you could do a whole album i love all those songs… i have my own playlist how did you narrow it down to just 6?
What a wonderful list. Thanks for thinking of our little girls Lamar. Another song which can be added is by an artist who never had her chance to shine. “Can’t Play Me”, by Jamie Knight. It’s about respecting yourself and placing value on who you are.
Any plans on doing a list for little black boys? It seems like the more we focus on girl empowerment, the more boys are being pushed in to the background. Fair is fair.
I thought it was 6 songs – why can’t everyone just relax and embrace the songs for what they are worth…. every song has a message but the flavor of days gone by get right to the point and call a spade a spade. Stop looking for corrections and just enjoy.
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Thanks for posting. I am compiling a list of songs to sing to my little girls. This is a nice start.