Power - Royce 5'9

You want what for Christmas?

Hell no

What you mean, «Is this is all we got»?

That’s it

It’s Christmas time in the Montgomery home

Daddy’s actin' all crazy again

Mama got herself a bloody nose

Daddy slapped her in the face again

Why they always gotta fight so much?

Damn

Mama face swole, me and my bros in a panic state

If that’s the case yo, I can’t just stay around this

Everything was fine, we just had dinner, we got all the He-Mans

Battle Cat, Adam and Cringer, even Castle Greyskull and Snake Mountain

Now we sit and listen to y’all argue about how y’all planned this day

And y’all just admitted to us Santa fake so Kid Vishis just ran away poutin'

Now I gotta go and console him

He wasn’t nothin' but a spoiled little boy then

Little naive with an innocent cry, all he ever wanted to do was fit in with us

And y’all bought him a pair of fake Timberlands and put 'em in a real

Timberland box

I never forget them boots, they was called «Rugged Outbacks»

Mama went and found them at Payless and made us promise not to say nothin'

Then Pop came in like he ain’t know nothin' about it

Like, «Judy you gon' send that boy out in public like that?»

«He'll be just fine, these kids ain’t 'bout to be

Lookin' down at his feet for no tree,» and she really meant that

Meanwhile, this little arrogant nigga caught himself stuntin' on me and Greg

with 'em talkin' about, 'Where y’all Timbs at?"

But he was too young to detect sarcasm so we was like, «Nigga, where yo' Timbs

at?»

Pf-haha

It’s Thanksgiving in the Montgomery home

Greg just came in here drunk again

Now mama tryna cover for him

She afraid my daddy gon' punch him again

Why you gotta get drunk so much?

Damn

I wish you would just stay where you was at

Instead of comin' home all rude and disrespectin' all our father rules and shit,

man

The mood done switched me and Vishis playin' Connect Four

Our favorite movie just came on the tube and it’s ironic it’s «Bloodsport»

And I’m lookin' at Frank Dux and shit, thinkin' you should split

Before Daddy come down these stairs of this basement and see you wasted

But he just cut me off like, «That nigga ain’t gon' do shit»

But the truth is this, he couldn’t whoop my dad even if he was sober

I know 'cause he tried once

Ended up unconscious, a broke arm and a tooth was chipped

My big bro got a lot of emotional problems, he feel that we was all abused as

kids

He saw mama get dragged down all kinds of stairs like a ragdoll when he was two

And this is back when Daddy used to sniff cocaine, poor thang

He had to be subjected to this when he gets drunk, he gets to losin' it

He gets the illusion that he gon' protect us all from the Big Bad Wolf

Stand up to him and prove some shit

But all he really doing is stressin' mom out

Got her goin', «Boy, you know your daddy up there asleep

The food is ready, why don’t you stop

Making all this noise and just let him stay 'sleep?»

The turkey’s done in the Montgomery home

Dad has just been awakened again (Uh oh)

Greg is making all kinds of noise

Dad is on his way angry again

«Who is that making all that God damn noise?»

(Not me)

«Greggy (Huh?), get up here!

You been out there drinking again?

What the fuck I tell you about coming in my house with this disrespectful shit?

Nigga, where the fuck you done been?»

I’m thinking to myself «Greg, please don’t say nothin' stupid, man»

Every time my daddy in his drawers and he’s standing in the hallway

Mad at somebody, I swear to God he got the same strength as Superman (*Sniff*)

My brother turned around and just walks in the kitchen

Without even givin' an answer with his back to him like, «I ain’t gotta talk to

you, nigga»

«Nigga, you don’t hear me talkin' to you?»

Next thing my brother did is something that when it comes to my father is

something you just don’t do

He looked him right in his eyes and he asked him

«What the fuck is you gon' do?»

(Mm, mm, mm)

My father hit him so hard his body hit the stove

The oven door hit the fucking floor

The turkey fell out the oven hole and landed near the stairs

Now Daddy standin' over Greg talkin' 'bout «Nigga, you ain’t hurt!

Get up, get up!»

And here come Vish' talkin' 'bout, «Dad, I don’t think he gon' get up»

Then mama went damn near hysterical (Ahh!)

She called the police, the police came

Neighbors is all in the street

Watching the cops takin' my father out in handcuffs

Damn, man that shit was real embarrassin'

To all my friends I grew up wit', who grew up fatherless

I know through me you live vicariously

I want you to know that we ain’t no better than you and yours

We all needed therapy

We care about each other more

Than we care about if anybody understands us

What I’m tryin' say is: Fuck you and Happy Holidays from the Montgomery family

Every man reaches that point in life

Where he don’t want to make excuses no more, more

Life took me on a roller-coaster ride

I’ve been up, I’ve been down, all the ribbons and my daddy game

Took me on highs

Turned around and then took me on lows (This is how the story goes)

Ohh, then I think about it

I use that shit as fuel

Then I changed it into

(Power), now can’t you feel it?

(Can't you feel it? Can’t you feel it?)

Can’t you feel it?

(Can't you feel it?)

That I’m a grown man with (Power), yeah (Yeah)

Let me hear you say «yeah» (Yeah)

If you was raised in a strict home like me, felt alone like me

And it gave you (Power), ooh

You can do it too, just look at me

See I’m a grown man with (Power), yeah (Yeah, yeah!), everybody say «yeah»

If you don’t know the meaning of abusive

You’ve been through so much ain’t nothin' nobody can do to you

Now can’t you feel it?

(Can't you feel it?) I’m a runaway

This is how I became, a grown man with (Power)

Ooohh, you can do it too, if I can do it

Use this (Power), I was a runaway, I was a runaway

There ain’t nothin' none of you can do to me, do to me

When you were a child growing up with Grandad and Granny

Did you really feel like Grandad was a good father to you?

Absolutely, absolutely

All my friend’s daddies was walking out on them left and right

You know he never left us, he was always there for us

You know there were a lot of things that happened that I didn’t understand

Maybe I might not have answered the question the same way when I was a teenager

But I understand and appreciate him so much more now as a man

You know 'cause he taught me respect and discipline

And consequences for your acts, so yeah, of course

Do you think his approach as a father

Really shaped the type of father that you are today

Or do you in some ways think it had negatives to it?

And if so, what kind of negative traits

Do you try to avoid having as a father right now, to me?

(When you have your own, you’ll understand)