Empire (Remastered 2003)

Last night the word came down, ten dead in Chinatown

Innocent, their only crime was being in the wrong place, at the wrong time

Too bad, people say what's wrong with the kids today

Tell you right now they've got nothing to lose

They're building empire

Johnny used to work after school

At the cinema show

Gotta hustle if he wants an education

Yeah he's got a long way to go

Now he's out on the street all day

Selling crack to the people who pay

Got an AK-47 for his best friend

Business the American way

East side meets west side downtown

No time, the walls fall down

Can't you feel it coming?

(Empire) can't you hear it calling?

Black man, trapped again

Hold his chain in his hand

Brother killing brother for the profit of another,

Game point, nobody wins

Decline, right on time

What happened to the dream sublime?

Tear it all down, we'll put it up again

Another empire?

East side meets west side downtown

No time, no line, the walls fall down

Can't you feel it coming? (empire)

Can't you hear it coming (empire)

Can't someone here stop it?

In fiscal year nineteen eighty six to eighty seven

Local, state and federal governments spent

A combined total of sixty point six million dollars on law enforcement

Federal law enforcement expenditures ranked last in absolute dollars

And accounted for only six percent of all federal spending

By way of comparison, the federal government spent twenty-four million more on space exploration

And forty-three times more on national defense and international relations than the law enforcement

Can't you feel it coming? (empire) can't you hear it calling (empire)

Can't someone here stop it (empire)