LYRICS GAME

We're not doomed to fail, here's the song of fighters

Suburban kids and proud of it, I wrote the anthem for the fighters

Those who don't always do what's expected of them

Who don't always say what people want to hear from them

Because life is a fight

For the ones up top and the ones down below

If you won't accept that, you're just a coward

Stand up and walk

This is 1, for my people, Arabs and Blacks for the most part

And for my white bros, proletarians and kids from the projects

2 is for those who dream of a united France

'Cause up to now there're two Frances, who can deny it

And I'm from the second France, the one of insecurity

Of potential terrorists, of those on welfare

That's what they expect from us

But I have other plans, let them remember that

I'm not a victim but a soldier

Look at me, I'm Black and proud of it

I handle Molière's tongue, I master its letters

French because France colonized my ancestors

But my mind is free and my Africa owes nothing

I started from far back, feet shackled

The system gave me nothing, I had to face it down

From the starting line, they rigged my race

While the cops chased me, they invested in the stock market

I was supposed to fail, end up locked up, skin full of holes

And if I speak of it with a lump in my throat

It's 'cause I swam in deep waters without a buoy

I got the ghetto inked in my skin, I'm a rebel like Ekoué

But hope never left me

Waiting for better days, I resisted

And I'm still going

I'm the captain on the boat of my efforts

I expect nothing from the system, I'm independent

I aim to be a winner, labeled a loser

'Cause we come from the projects, it's true, we grew up

Not eyes lost in the blue, but bruises in our eyes

Why are we in the ghettos, them at ENA

We behind bars, them in the Senate

They defend their interests, dodge our problems

But one question hangs: what've we done for ourselves

What've we done to shield our own from the same mistakes as ours

Look at what our little brothers become

First it's school failure, exclusion then anger

Violence and stretchers, prison and the cemetery

We're not doomed to fail

It's hard for us, but that shouldn't become an excuse

If knowledge is a weapon, let's be armed

'Cause without it we're disarmed

Despite disappointments and depressions

From the pressure every one of us feels

Despite repression and oppression, discrimination, then arrests

Despite provocations, incarcerations

The lack of understanding, the fears and impulses

Their desire to hold our heads underwater

Elevates my motivation, feeds my ambition

It's time for the second France to wake up

I wanna be more direct: it's time we make some dough

What France won't give us we'll take from her

I don't wanna burn cars, I wanna build them, then sell them

If we're left to ourselves, we gotta fight the fight ourselves

It's not enough to sing Look how they mistreat us

You gotta learn, understand and get things started

Before yelling It's useless, whatever happens, the system slows us down

Up to you: are you a coward or a soldier?

Start something and fight

Kids from the projects and proud, we're not doomed to fail

Graduates, enlightened or lost

In a 4x4, on the metro, nice or wicked

The hood's been unemployed too long, I know what France promises

And that the crime France commits is against our future

This is for the discriminated, often incriminated

The innocent ones they treat like real criminals

We look like predators, but we're only prey

Capable yet guilty, shut out of jobs

If I roar like a lion it's 'cause I won't let it slide

I'm not a beggar, I came to take what they promised me yesterday

Even if I need twice the courage, twice the rage

'Cause there're twice the obstacles and half the advantages

So what, my victory will taste twice as good

Before I can savor it, I'll take twice as many hits

The traps are many, I gotta be twice as alert

Twice as qualified and twice as motivated

If you like crying over your fate

You're just a coward, stand up and walk

Kids from the projects and proud, we're not doomed to fail

We're destined to succeed, break barriers, build careers

Look at what our parents achieved

What they went through for us to get education

Where'd we be without their sacrifices like Mahmoud for Thays

Of course their work has merit

Oh, how I admire our fathers, laborers but proud

If we waste it all, where's the respect

If we fail, where's the progress

Every immigrant's son is on a mission

Every poor man's son has to be ambitious

You can't let your dreams go up in smoke in a smoky hallway

Smoking stuff that breaks your will

Numbs your desires and drowns your abilities

Bro, we're worth more than that

Nothing stops a kid from the projects who fights

We're young, strong and our sisters are beautiful

Immense is the talent they carry inside

Do you see any weak ones here

I only see men who wield the blade here

Kids from the projects and proud of it, we're not doomed to fail

I owed you this text, even if I write it with a tight heart

And if you cry, cry tears of determination

'Cause this isn't a complaint, it's a revolution

Learn, understand, undertake, even if it hurts

Rise, progress, fight, even when it hurts

Learn, understand, undertake, even if it hurts

Rise, progress, fight, even when it hurts

Learn, understand, undertake, even if it hurts

Kids from the projects, strong and proud of it

We're not doomed to fail

Kids from the projects, strong and proud of it

We're not doomed to fail

Kids from the projects, strong and proud of it

Learn, understand, undertake, even if it hurts

Rise, progress, fight, even when it hurts

Learn, understand, undertake, even if it hurts

Rise, progress, fight, even when it hurts

Even when we've got

Pain