Obstructed Path Lyrics

Born and raised

In a warmer place

Sunny days

Son of Africa

His parents moved to Europe, growin' up would be tough

Roy, the only black kid on the block, strugglin' to adjust

He couldn't speak the language at first

Damnit it hurt

He didn't know the norms

He got belittled, people bickered and they scorned

He's treated as inferior

By his classmates, neighbors and even at the school eatin' cereal

Whenever it gets dark and he walks the street it gets eerier

One time I saw him passin' by me

Again, he got stopped by the police and they asked for his ID

He begins to self loathe and doubt himself

Teachers frown at him

Some of the older kids clownin' him

Don't attempt to get to know him

In Africa he had friends, now he's alone and

Always last to get attended for a cold when

At the doctor or even mendin' his two broken

Fingers at the hospital

Roy realizes they're judgin' him

For his looks, they think helpin' is optional

He feels like a stranger in the country ever constantly

Whatchu wanna do when you're grown?

Whatchu gonna do when you're old?

How to get by?

Choose your path, hustle hard, sleep, repeat

Pick your style

Choose your path, hustle hard, sleep, repeat

Feel alive

How you gon' get paid?

You ain't getting saved by no one else but yourself

Choose your path, hustle hard, sleep, repeat

Pick your style

Choose your path, hustle hard, sleep, repeat

Live your life

The teacher called on Roy and asked

What you wanna be when you're grown? He said doctor

The other boys just laughed

He was mad

All the white kids starin'

After school he hugged his mother who he cherished

Seven days advanced and he'd never tell his parents

That some of the kids used racist slurs

The day emerged

When his senior year began

White females he befriended touched his hair, petted his skin

Grades were kinda average

When his final year came he remembered his embarrassment

His former teacher laughed when Roy said he'd climb Mount Everest

So, he put that work in

Improvin' his grades

He knew he could make

More of his life if his school work was great

More than what all the other students would make

Other kids were slackers, smokin' that haze, he couldn't relate

He wanted wife, house, kids, dogs - prove he got brains

No longer to school being late

He knew he'd be paid

First class flights

He worked at night

Picked his favorite college to go to

Friends and neighbors acknowledged his focus

Headed to campus, pen and paper, clutchin' his notebook

When you're grown

Whatchu gonna do when you're old?

How to get by?

Choose your path, hustle hard, sleep, repeat

Pick your style

Choose your path, hustle hard, sleep, repeat

Feel alive

How you gon' get paid?

You ain't getting saved by no one else but yourself

Choose your path, hustle hard, sleep, repeat

Pick your style

Choose your path, hustle hard, sleep, repeat

Live your life

Roy was tired of being labeled, overlooked and hated

For no reason but race so he debated

Other students in debate clubs

Workin' part time while studyin', doin' sports, kept his grades up

Not wastin' time, chasin' dimes

Applied twenty times before findin' work in sales and climbed

Way higher on the ladder to success

Feeling challenged to be best

At everything that's next

Not even fed up with the stress

But fed up with negativity and prejudice

Tired of havin' to dress up but he did make it look effortless

Meet Jake, white boy filled with hate

As of late

He has looked into conspiracies on the internet

Hopin' Trump would get acquitted and again become the president

Ever since the insurrection Jake is feelin' militant

No one really is a friend to him

He's got equipped with a new pistol he's now brandishin'

Walking in the direction of a BLM protest

They march for peace, wantin' the violence to cease

At the intersection

They see Jake with his .38

Takin' aim at Roy's face

Whatchu gonna do when you're grown?

Whatchu gonna do when you're old?

What if you can't get by?

Choose your path, hustle hard, sleep, repeat

Or pick your style?

Can't choose your path, hustle hard, sleep, repeat

Or feel alive

How you gon' get paid?

You ain't gettin' saved, not even by yourself

No path, no hustle, no sleep

Can't even eat or live your life

Can't even eat

Can't even live your life