"Shut 'Em Down" lyrics - PUBLIC ENEMY

PUBLIC ENEMY
"Shut 'Em Down"
(Chuck D / Cerwin Depper / Gary G-Wiz / Stuart Robertz / Hank Shocklee)

I testified, my mama cried
Black people died when the other man lied
See the TV, listen to me double trouble
I overhaul and I'm comin' from the lower level

I'm takin' tabs, sho nuff stuff to grab
Like shirts it hurts, wit' a neck to wreck
Took a poll 'cause our soul took a toll
From the education of a TV station

But look around, hear go the sound of the wreckin' ball
Boom and Pound when I shut 'em down
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
What I use in the battle for the mind
I hit it hard like it supposed

Pullin' no blows to the nose
Like Uncle L said I'm rippin' up shows
Then what it is only 5 percent of the biz
I'm addin' woes, that's how da way it goes

Then you think I rank never drank, point blank
I own loans, suckers got me runnin' from the bank
Civil liberty I can't see to pay a fee
I never saw a way to pay a sap, to read the law
Then become a victim of a lawyer

Don't know ya, never saw ya
Tape cued, gettin' me sued, playin' games wit' my head
What the judge said put me in the red
Got me thinkin' 'bout a trigger to the lead
No no

My education mind say suckers gonna pay
Anyway there gonna be a day
'Cause the troop they roll in to posse up
Whole from the ground, ready to go
Throw another round, sick of the ride, it's suicide

For the other side of town
When I find a way to shut 'em down
Who count the money in da neighborhood
But we spendin' money to no end lookin' for a friend

In a war to the core
Rippin' up the poor in da stores
Till they get a brother, kickin' down doors
Then I figure I kick it bigger
Look 'em dead in the eye and they wince

Defense is pressurized
They don't want it to be another racial attack
In disguise so give some money back
I like Nike but wait a minute

The neighborhood supports so put some money in it
Corporations owe, they gotta give up the dough
To da town or else
We gotta shut 'em down