Been in chains I didn't recognize freedom
Been a slave so long, I didn't know it when I seen it
Been in chains I didn't recognize freedom
Been a slave so long, I didn't know it when I seen it

Need an escape, gotta get it bought a lottery ticket
Probably isn't a winner but I'm in a poverty prison
And desperate, American Dreaming seeming clandestine
So the twenty I just spent is my only investment
The rest spent on food, rent and other expenses
Defenseless, smothered in violence, utterly senseless
Hence this, entrenched mental state that I been dwelling in hell
Been so long without the sun I'm drained from melanin, still
Burned and frost bit as higher the cost get
I lost it, wary, head buried like an ostrich
Feather duster, never trust another person
The void worse when, avoid water even when I'm thirsting

Been in chains I didn't recognize freedom
Been a slave so long, I didn't know it when I seen it
Been in chains I didn't recognize freedom
Been a slave so long, I didn't know it when I seen it

Wouldn't swim to freedom even when I could
Though others often tried, I never would because I'm ossified
Lost a lot living as I'm giving to the world
But, got nothing but crumbs back, I'm learning to love that

Been in chains I didn't recognize freedom
Been a slave so long, I didn't know it when I seen it
Been in chains I didn't recognize freedom
Been a slave so long, I didn't know it when I seen it

Yo Seven, bring the track back
Yep, I think I heard a shackle snap
Chain gang, working all day just to maintain
Then they pull a Walker Mubarak upon your wages
Outrageous, billions of slaves locked into cages
I may just, bust free with one of these cuff keys
Knock off the overseer and so no one's here to bust me
Either your with me or you isn't
Can't live inside a prison no more, waiting for visits
I must be free, I see the horizon, a rising sun
And dying one step away is better than this death decay
This the way, make a move, take us through the exit
Our great escape ended while shoveling under fences

Been in chains I didn't recognize freedom
Been a slave so long, I didn't know it when I seen it
Been in chains I didn't recognize freedom
Been a slave so long, I didn't know it when I seen it