- contributor
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”