Red white and dope

[Verse 1] They say we’re the land of the free, but freedom’s for sale. A flag on your porch don’t mean you ain’t in jail. Chains come in colors — red, white, and blue, But the strongest ones shimmer in the lies they sell you I’ve seen soldiers come home with no legs, no hope, Given pills in a bottle, wrapped up with a note. “Thank you for your service, now swallow these twice.” That’s the cost of your freedom, that’s the American price. Politicians wave banners at the Fourth of July, But the fireworks can’t cover up the mothers who cry. Another overdose at dawn, another casket lowered slow, Another son wrapped in stars, buried deep below. They preach about liberty, they sing about pride, But the truth’s in the alleys where the homeless reside. It’s a country built on b***d and it’s fueled by pain, And the anthem’s just a hymn for the lives in chains. [Chorus] Red, white, and dope in the veins of the state, Every promise they make just delivers more hate. From the flag to the streets, from the church to the rope, It’s America’s anthem, red, white, and dope. [Verse 2] I saw a veteran begging with a cardboard plea, While a banker bought a yacht on the backs of the free. They don’t build houses anymore, just prisons with wings, ’Cause there’s profit in shackles and in all broken things. The judge wears a robe but his hands are still dirty, Throwing twenty-year bids on a kid barely thirty. But the men in the towers, they’ll never do time, Their crimes get rewarded with a billion-dollar sign. It’s a needle in the arm of a mother at night, It’s a cop pulling triggers under flashing red lights. It’s the system that was written on the bones of the poor, It’s a house of locked doors with no key anymore. And I rap these confessions not to preach but to show, That beneath every flag is a grave you don’t know. This is land, this is pain, this is freedom’s disguise, This is hope on a rope underneath the lies. [Chorus] Red, white, and dope in the veins of the state, Every promise they make just delivers more hate. From the flag to the streets, from the church to the rope, It’s America’s anthem, red, white, and dope. [Verse 3] If you close your eyes at the anthem’s first note, You can hear the sound of chains underneath the throat. You can hear the factories empty, the towns turn to dust, You can hear Wall Street laughing while they gamble with trust. It’s a plague with a banner, a disease with a smile, It’s a dream sold cheap just to die in denial. They feed us with slogans, they blind us with screens, But the truth is still leaking through the cracks in between. I don’t rap for approval, I don’t sing for applause, I spit fire for the broken, I bleed out their cause. If America’s a temple, then its altar is stained, With the b***d of the voiceless, still whispering names. Bridge So salute if you want, raise a glass, say a prayer, But don’t tell me it’s freedom when there’s chains everywhere. I’d rather tear down the banner than believe in a lie