Label Rap

©Lydia Lord

Too dumb to be anything but a wife
Carried that label for most of my life
"Underachiever" was what I heard
And man! I learned to hate that word
Never belonged to the popular clique
Cause I was a kid from across the creek
They called me dumb and troublemaker too
And they were adults- I thought they knew

Now I know that's such a sham
Tryin' to say that's all I am
Don't deny my dignity
Get your labels offa me

You might think I'm chicken cause I wouldn't fight
But my faith says killing is just not right
Folks assumed we had lots of dough
Got tired of sayin' it wasn't so
Mom always said I was not too bright
You're s'posed to believe that your mom is right
A lot of the kids thought I was stuck up
But I was just shy and scared I'd...[hand over mouth]

Labels put me in a box back then
But I don't plan to go there again
So don't assume that I fit that space
Get your labels outta my face

Now obviously this isn't new
You all get labels put on you
"Street kid", "at risk", "druggie", "brat",
Puttin' you down. What's up with that?
Let's let go of those categories
Take some risks and share our stories
Outta the box, the truth begins
Stuck in the labels, nobody wins

Without those words, we can start to be free
We'll each decide who we want to be
So let's clean up the atmosphere
And get those labels outta here!