Texty: Kardinal Offishal. Quest For Fire: Firestarter Vol. 1. Man By Choice.

[INTRO: Kardinal Offishall]
He's got the green timbs with the fat laces, hahaha
Yo, yeah, uh huh
Checking in, nigga
You say why I call you nigga, think about it
You went from what...
From an African, straight to a nigger, you know what I'm saying
We traveling over to what, to what,
Negro, and then we went to what
Then we went to black
Then it was on some Afro-American stuff
Afro-Canadian what have you, but guess what
It don't matter what you call yourself
It's what they call you behind your back
Nigga, straight up
Straight up and down, you know what I'm sayin
Y'all know

[Kardinal Offishall]
A yo
Walkin through the uptown a black man (nigga)
Walkin down Yonge St. a black man (nigga)
Walkin through Flatbush a black man (nigga)
When the revolution comes I got a finger on the trigga
I was born a regular man of the Earth
With a curse to walk like a soldier since birth
My exterior is shaded in by my melanin
Stereotype of my type is a felon
My people cause static cause automatically now a days we fire automatics
Grammatically adequate my people come equipped
With enough lyrics to move battleships
Blood brother ever since the slave ships
It doesn't matter who I am when I walk by
They still see me as a nigga whine I walk by
That's O.K. - this nigga will play the role and come again and take back the Earth another day

[CHORUS]
I'm a nigga baby, we some niggaz baby
Some do walk, some do talk, some may buss their glocks
But I'm a nigga for lie and a man by choice

[Kardinal Offishall]
Walkin through London a balck man (nigga)
Walkin through Rexdale a black man (nigga)
Strollin through Dectaur as a black man (nigga)
Yo, I was born to emcee representin with the Figurez
I can taste the history livin in my bones
For the thickness I got a love jones
I like my girls with the nappy dug out hips and chest buss out
Lips real full, gettin ready to cuss out
Parasuco gettin insulated by the structure
Body so powered that the labels be stickin out in 3-D
We salute the ladies - raped over time pushin out light babies
The slave masters with the devil in their eye
Saw nothin but a nigga when you walked by
But you the mother of creation
Let's bring back the family aspect and try to build a strong nation

[CHORUS]

[Kardinal Offishall]
Walkin through Chinatown a black man (nigga)
Walkin through the projects a balck man (nigga)
Strollin through Africa a black man (nigga)
Some try to disrespect to make themsleves look bigger
I am a nigga since birth, a man by choice
Some men act niggerish pushin Rolls Royces
Thinkin them toys make a man
While you johnin them hookers
We tryin to make a stand
What you believe in?
Chris Rock? Or crack rock?
Soft rock? Or hard rock?
When I talk the whole world rocks
LIke the vote, we can change thinkin
Before you set a float your whole concepts sinkin
You know I like to see you back that ass up
But before you pass up, you should get your damn class up!
Take the hood out your mouth and parle!
So we can take back the world right now, today! [Vocal scratching]

[CHORUS x3]