City High - What Would You Do?

City High was a hip-hop trio out of New Jersey and this was the first single from their debut album back in 2001. They only made one album and broke up shortly after due to romantic conflicts, which is a shame because they had A LOT of potential, as evident in "What Would You Do". This song is about a single mother who resorted to prostitution to be able to feed her son, with an uplifting ending meant to motivate other parents caught in similar situations.

Lyrics:


Boys and girls wanna hear a true story
Saturday night I was at this real wild party
They had the liquor overflowing the cup
About five or six strippers trying to work for a buck
Then I took one girl outside with me
Her name was Loni she went to junior high with me
Said why you up in there dancing for cash
I guess a whole lots changed since I seen you last
She said

What would you do if your son was at home
Crying all alone on the bedroom floor
'Cause he's hungry
And the only way to feed him is to
Sleep with a man for a little bit of money
And his daddys gone
Somewhere smoking rock now
In and out of lock-down
I ain't got a job now
So for you this is just a good time
But for me this is what I call life

Girl you ain't the only one with a baby
That's no excuse to be living all crazy
Then she looked me right square in the eye
And said everyday I wake up hoping to die
She said nigga I know about pain 'cause
Me and my sister ran away so my daddy couldn't rape us
Before I was a teenager
I done been through more sh
You can't even relate ta

What would you do if your son was at home
Crying all alone on the bedroom floor
'Cause he's hungry
And the only way to feed him is to
Sleep with a man for a little bit of money
And his daddy's gone
Somewhere smoking rock now
In and out of lock-down
I ain't got a job now
So for you this is just a good time
But for me this is what I call life

Then she said
What would you do if?
Get up on my feet and let go of every excuse
What would you do if?
'Cause I wouldn't want my baby to go through what I went through
What would you do if?
Get up on my feet and stop making up tired excuses
What would you do if?
Girl I know if my mother could do it baby you can do it!

What would you do if your son was at home
Crying all alone on the bedroom floor
'Cause he's hungry
And the only way to feed him is to
Sleep with a man for a little bit of money
And his daddy's gone
Somewhere somking rock now
In and out of lock-down
i ain't got a job now
So for you this is just a good time
But for me this is what I call life
[Repeat 2x]