[Intro: Idris Elba, Angel Wood & Both]
A man I worked for had one of the biggest in New York
He didn't own his own company, a White man owned it, so they owned him
Nobody owns me though
Your gangster is not defined (Your gangster is not defined)
Your gangster is not defined by how low your jeans fall by your waist
But more how your genes stand up to their expectations
"Never forgetting where we came from"
Your gangster, your gangster
Your gangster is not defined by how many rocks are in your watch
But rather how many rocks you move while owning watch
Gangsters, hustlers, republicans and democrats, pimps and hoes
Conservatives, labour
The seller, the buyer, the product, the producer
"See you are what you are in this world"
The gangster is absorbed and adored by those that don't understand the laws that govern the gangsterment
Gangsterment, gangsterment
Gangsterment allows you to make up your own laws
And create brand new words, gangster mentality
Gangster mentality, an American way created by the white
Mastered by the black, and absorbed by the fiends
Taxed by the governmentality, governmentality (Governmentality)
Charted by Forbes, if you believe in JAY-Z
Then you too can be a gangster (Then you too can be a gangster)
By any means necessary, by owning that dream
I mean it's a long walk to freedom
But, while deep, deep, deep inside the bush
The war on terror screams, damn it feels good
Damn it feels good to be a gangster, haha
To be a gangster, swagger is not a must, it's a liability
A cliché, a bad suit, cut the bullshit (Cut the bullshit)
You know if it wasn't for this, there would be no that
Which we call, the American Gangster