Mortal Man - submitted by Khaya Ntuli

A poem written by Kendrick Lamar.

“I remember you was conflicted, misusing your influence.

Sometimes I did the same.

Abusing my power, full of resentment,

Resentment that turned into a deep depression.

I found myself screaming in the hotel room.

I didn’t wanna self-destruct.

The evils of Lucy was all around me

So I went running for answers until I came home.

But that didn't stop survivor’s guilt.

Going back and forth tryna convince myself of the stripes I earned

Or maybe how A-1 my foundation was.

But while my Loved Ones was fighting a continuous war back in the city

I was entering a new one.

The war that was based on apartheid and discrimination

Made me wanna go back to the city and tell the homies what I learned.

The word was ‘RESPECT’.

Just because you wore a different game colour than mine

Doesn’t mean I can’t respect you as a Black man

Forgetting all the pain and hurt we caused each other in the streets.

If I respect you we unify and stop the enemy who’s killing us.

But I don’t know.

I’m no mortal man.

Maybe I’m just another n*gger”