Relève la tête [English translation]

[Big Brother Hakim]

Intellectual poverty is not the privilege of the ghetto

In terms of knowledge, everyone gets a slice of the pie

An individual approach, a desire to go up

A thirst for understanding, a thirst to learn the way of truth

Yeah, for sure, in life, there are many schools of thought

Just think before you choose the school of lying and thieving

It isn't lame to open a book

On the roads of knowledge, you will fulfil your destiny

[Lino]

Young man, become what you are, not what they want you to be

A regular in the drama with a gun for his only accessory

There's nothing funky about getting killed in your teens

The real calibres are faith and knowledge

Never pimp out your soul, I quote

There's no colour that can put you off the road to success

You have to know who you are, stay screwed in

Never curse the hole you fell in, but what pushed you in

[A.P.]

Take my verse as a message, be attentive

Then take your ashtray and stub out your spliff

I didn't come to give you a lecture, but to make you have a think

Lift up your head, quit focusing on being a beauty or a beast, because one day it all stops

These days, things keep going faster and faster

Too many brothers and sisters act emptily, looking for trouble and provoking each other

Think about it big guy, about one day turning the page

On your past, think about lifting up your head, you can do that at any age

[Kammouze]

For all the mothers who brought us into the world

All the fathers, whose hands are hurting from years of doing inhuman work

All their sacrifices that we are too dumb to see when we're young

Did they teach us to respect them by using a gun?

No! Do you prefer to be feared or to be loved?

How many died while they were testing it out?

Analyse yourself alone, and your future

Lift up your head and fight to become what you want to

[Blacko]

Hoodlum, stop feeling sorry about your fate

Lift up your head, look, no it's not too late

Tell yourself, anyone who wants to can get out of this

Get out of the ghetto and of these bad fates

You know you have the choice, your life's what you make of it

Wrecking your future, when you get there it hurts so much

Man, my message comes from the heart

Pass it on to your brothers and sisters, Blacko's here to sing

[Disiz La Peste]

I'm here to repeat what I've always said for ten years

It's Disiz aka Fifty Central African Francs, the nice guy

Be free, or die trying to be

I glorify truth, if you do well in school, I'm with you, don't worry

I wandered around, proud to be on the quest

For the well-being of our beings, I want to be

Like Malcolm, Martin or Gandhi

Not Tony, I like my fellow man and I'll say it again

[Manu Key]

From keeping on doing nothing, troubles have hit so many brothers

Why not move forward together and start businesses like the Tang Brothers

We got no heritage, just concrete walls

Even after failure, never let yourself hit the wall

You started at rock bottom, you got to aim high, that's what our efforts are for

Never let yourself collapse like Corsair

Our words have a message, that's why we're sharing them

[Passi]

Same vintage, same life, rise above it, get out of the street

It's the rush, we fear no-one with our Ericssons

Nothing is perfect, it's true, it's like respect

Strength is on the inside, not just a breeze-block thing

The same tensions animate us, the same animal instinct

Defence is not spelt H-I-G-H

Strength is putting up barriers, resisting, growing and excelling

[Habiba]

Because they take away our chances at the very start

We want to believe even more

We know we're rank outsiders

Even if they think your dream's their worst nightmare

Keep your hope alive, we will choose our paths

[Eloquence]

I break the ice, hello, vibe? Rap is the message

So I raise my fist in the air for the wise

Former brat, turn the page, African through and through

Big up to all the kids who study and work

Better off with a good CV than a big gun, because guns jam

But a steady job sets you off on the right track

Avoid problems brothers

A man's strength is his brain not his revolver

[Pit Baccardi]

I'm here to tell the kids, there's more than the game if you wanna join the elite

Guys allow themselves to die in pain, saying the world's set in getting stoned

Maybe I mastered rhymes, I'm not the type for getting up early

But now I can stay out when they tighten the vice

Just say, they live better, but we have nothing less

Make the machine work, let them see the gold mine the ghetto is hiding

Get up and fight, that's our hymn

Stop taking it, we are the future leaders

[Jerry Da Funk Killa]

Too many exits, God bless the births

Let the kids listening to me give a real meaning to their life

African tragedy, the world remained stoical

The oppressor takes his time to establish our historic truth

Without even throwing us a line

Let the kids from the ghetto lift up their heads, you're allowed to

Born in the slums, you got too much weight on your shoulders

Keep your feet on the ground and stay out of prison

[Jacky]

Ghetto, child of the ghetto

This piece is dedicated to you

We come from the very bottom, we want to rise to the top

I broke my chains, I sawed through the bars

People who don't want to do anything always find excuses to fall asleep

People who want to succeed always find a way to get through

[Busta Flex]

I'm not the kind to be cool with disrespectful kids

Who swagger around and think X-rated is affectionate

Kid, lift up your head, even your heart is defective

A round of applause when you come out of the closed, that's what you want

Don't try to go faster than the music

Be confident, take your time, it will spare you pain,

Troubles which you ought not even to be confrontin'

Lift up your head, it's the best way to get back up, yo.

[Le Rat Luciano]

Crank up the radio in your car to the maximum

Let the world hear the message that death on a suspended sentence

Only our fortune can make a difference for us

I came to say that a man, a real man always chooses

And that he's prepared for the worst when he's playing for his family's honour

That as soon as a kid screws up, a gun runs to his rescue

That six million people are living in poverty today

[Teddy Corona]

Let the kids raise up their structure

A signature, like African armour

If you don't listen to me you're gonna run straight into the wall

That's for sure, it's damage limitation, fasten your seatbelt

You want to be a boss and succeed? Then study

Do the math, keep your feet on the ground

Engage your conscience, be conscious

Our lives on earth are burning in the fire of carelessness

[Jango Jack]

You, ghetto kid, lift up your head

The street hurts, you know that, it made you slip a lot of times

Crazy stuff is going on in your life

Grab life by both hands, do it, study alone

Yo, I want intellectuals

Young prodigy from the projects? Prodigy from the projects

I want guys who are ready for sciences and politics

On the top, representing my hood

[Diam's]

I'm one of those lost kids that the world beats hands down

That the world tortures with bombs and hard knocks

But what do you think?

When hurt is haunting you, and it troubles you

When you're alone and you understand it, you lie to yourself, you're there alone

Faced with yourself, you think of your faith, you think of your mom

Because you're alone faced with your losses like every night

Girl, you're depressed, get a clear idea in your head

To take you forward when your spirits are shrinking back

[Leeroy]

Stay dignified but tough

Do better, then do it, too many venomous souls and hateful minds

This hate makes me sorry, it keeps us stuck in the second division

Too many disgusting minds, my only wish is to see a cease-fire

We have the same chance as them, know that

We took so many bruises. but so much the better, that will help us to challenge the envious

Whenever you want, I rise to each test

And when attacks are raining down on me, I can't help but take it to God

[Ol' Kainry]

This goes out to my little brothers, hiding drinking in corners

Believing that Failure is a place full of blacks and Arabs

Preferring to respect the 'boss' and not their fathers

Faster than Christine Arron, everyone on your feet like ******

I want to see hoodlums becoming judges, doctors and lawyers

There's more than movies, football, crime and hip-hop for us

I got lost without thinking along the paths

Lift up, in honour of my dad on the construction sites

[Matt Houston]

Bro, raise up your guard, stay a strong man

Bro, get to learning, not always hanging around outside

Bro, think of the little ones who see you as a model

So lift up your head

[Kool Shen]

If you want to climb up, get your claws out

Get the contracts out, understand fast

That when you climb high, that's when they hang you

If you don't have common sense, get help, compensate

Social climbing requires awareness

And you decline the invitation

Don't forget to take the thorns off of the roses you picked quickly

Down here that's the principle, I have no proof but I encourage you

to never believe that failure is part of a ritual, because it's not true

[Kery James]

Ok, I want the kids from the projects to lift up their heads

We aren't condemned to fail

It's not inevitable, ghetto kids can get there too

With twice the willpower we can climb and reach the summit

• Artist:Kery James
• Album:Savoir et vivre ensemble