I take the needle off the record    and shove it in my arm   whenever I feel life is    comin' on too strong    they left me in a clinic fulla   cynical motha fuckin' bureaucrats   and other kinda ding bats      Livin on the tracks   the tracks in my arm said   it all depends which side the tracks your on.   tellin' me what to wear    tellin me cut my hair   and tryin to convince me that they   really really care   all about my health and about my wealth   but still they built the Stealth   'cause everybody's   just lookin out for they self       So then I ask 'em   can I have a clean needle   "Hell no that's illegal!"      (chorus)   'Cause it's a crime to be broke in America!   and it's a crime to smoke dank in America!   (repeat)       "Yeah hit those drums now"   they lockin' brother's in the poorhouse   who can't afford Moorhouse   politicians nervous   it's the only free service they provide   you wanna go inside   there's a hot meal waitin' for ya   a deal we can score ya   on a bed for a night or two   or three or four months.      They say they lockin' us up in cells   to protect us from ourselves   it smells like they got anotha   plan in store house   or should I say warehouse   fulla niggas and other misfits   that couldn't turn tricks in the courthouse   it's a justice whorehouse       (chorus)    It's a crime to be broke in America!   and it's a crime to be Black in America!      But there's a mutiny on the bounty    in ever single county   we remember Attica   but don't forget to pat a few   other on the back as a matter of fact    sister Asatta Shakur and Geronimo Pratt   'cause Amnesty international    is fightin' for political    but if your analytical    you know it's much more critical than that   percentages black is really, really whack   can I kick a few facts yes?      Sx percent in college   from livin on the block   twenty five percent in prison   the school of hard knocks    fifty percent in poverty   is livin on the rocks   five hundred brothas on a death row box      The punishment is capital    for those who lack in capital   because a public defender    can't remember the last time    that a brother wasn't treated like an animal.      They say they blame it on a song    when someone kills a cop   what music did they listen to   when they bombed Iraq?    give me one example so I can take a sample   no need to play it backwards    if you wanna hear the devil   cause music's not the problem    it didn't cause the bombin'   but maybe they should listen    to the songs of people starving..      (chorus)   'Cause it's a Crime to be broke in America!   it's a crime to smoke dank in America!   it's a crime to be black in America!   it's a crime to be black in America!   it's a crime to be Puerto Rican   African    Native American   Asian Hatian    a Woman