text: I am not throwing away my shot!
  I am not throwing away my shot!
  Hey yo, Im just like my country
  Im young, scrappy and hungry
  And Im not throwing away my shot!
  Ima get a scholarship to Kings College
  I probly shouldnt brag, but dag, I amaze and astonish
  The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish
  I gotta holler just to be heard
  With every word, I drop knowledge!
  Im a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal
  Tryin to reach my goal. My power of speech: unimpeachable
  Only nineteen but my mind is older
  These New York City streets get colder, I shoulder
  Evry burden, evry disadvantage
  I have learned to manage, I dont have a gun to brandish
  I walk these streets famished
  The plan is to fan this spark into a flame
  But damn, its getting dark, so let me spell out the name
  I am the—
  A-L-E-X-A-N-D
  E-R—we are—meant to be…
  A colony that runs independently
  Meanwhile, Britain keeps shittin on us endlessly
  Essentially, they tax us relentlessly
  Then King George turns around, runs a spending spree
  He aint ever gonna set his descendants free
  So there will be a revolution in this century
  Enter me!
  Dont be shocked when your histry book mentions me
  I will lay down my life if it sets us free
  Eventually, youll see my ascendancy
  And I am not throwing away
  My shot 
  I am not throwing away
  My shot 
  Hey yo, Im just like my country
  Im young, scrappy and hungry
  And Im not throwing away my shot
  And Im not throwing away my shot
  I am not throwing away my shot
  I am not throwing away my shot
  Hey yo, Im just like my country
  Im young, scrappy and hungry
  And Im not throwing away my shot
  Its time to take a shot!
  I dream of life without a monarchy
  The unrest in France will lead to onarchy?
  Onarchy? How you say, how you say, anarchy?
  When I fight, I make the other side panicky
  With my—
  Shot!
  Yo, Im a tailors apprentice
  And I got yall knuckleheads in loco parentis
  Im joining the rebellion cause I know its my chance
  To socially advance, instead of sewin some pants!
  Im gonna take a—
  Shot!
  But well never be truly free
  Until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me
  You and I. Do or die. Wait till I sally in
  On a stallion with the first black battalion
  Have another—
  Shot!
  Geniuses, lower your voices
  You keep out of trouble and you double your choices
  Im with you, but the situation is fraught
  Youve got to be carefully taught:
  If you talk, youre gonna get shot!
  Burr, check what we got
  Mister Lafayette, hard rock like Lancelot
  I think your pants look hot
  Laurens, I like you a lot
  Lets hatch a plot blacker than the kettle callin the pot...
  What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot
  Poppin a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not
  A bunch of revolutionary manumission abolitionists?
  Give me a position, show me where the ammunition is!
  Oh, am I talkin too loud?
  Sometimes I get over excited, shoot off at the mouth
  I never had a group of friends before
  I promise that Ill make yall proud
  Lets get this guy in front of a crowd
  I am not throwing away my shot
  I am not throwing away my shot
  Hey yo, Im just like my country
  Im young, scrappy and hungry
  And Im not throwing away my shot
  I am not throwing away my shot
  I am not throwing away my shot
  Hey yo, Im just like my country
  Im young, scrappy and hungry
  And Im not throwing away my shot
  Evrybody sing:
  Whoa, whoa, whoa 
  Hey!
  Whoa 
  Woo!
  Whoa! 
  Said let em hear ya! 
  Lets go!
  Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
  I said shout it to the rooftops!
  Whoa!
  Said, to the rooftops!
  Whoa!
  Come on!
  Yea
  Come on, lets go!
  Rise up!
  When youre living on your knees, you rise up
  Tell your brother that hes gotta rise up
  Tell your sister that shes gotta rise up
  When are these colonies gonna rise up?
  Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
  When are these colonies gonna rise up?
  Whoa
  When are these colonies gonna rise up?
  Whoa
  When are these colonies gonna rise up?
  Whoa
  Rise up! 
  I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
  Whens it gonna get me?
  In my sleep? Seven feet ahead of me?
  If I see it comin, do I run or do I let it be?
  Is it like a beat without a melody?
  See, I never thought Id live past twenty
  Where I come from some get half as many
  Ask anybody why we livin fast and we laugh, reach for a flask
  We have to make this moment last, thats plenty
  Scratch that
  This is not a moment, its the movement
  Where all the hungriest brothers with
  Something to prove went?
  Foes oppose us, we take an honest stand
  We roll like Moses, claimin our promised land
  And? If we win our independence?
  Is that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants?
  Or will the blood we shed begin an endless
  Cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants?
  I know the action in the street is excitin
  But Jesus, between all the bleedin n fightin
  Ive been readin n writin
  We need to handle our financial situation
  Are we a nation of states? Whats the state of our nation?
  Im past patiently waitin
  Im passionately smashin every expectation
  Every actions an act of creation!
  Im laughin in the face of casualties and sorrow
  For the first time, Im thinkin past tomorrow
  And I am not throwing away my shot
  I am not throwing away my shot
  Hey yo, Im just like my country
  Im young, scrappy and hungry
  And Im not throwing away my shot
  Were gonna rise up! Time to take a shot!
  Not throwing away my shot
  Were gonna rise up! Time to take a shot!
  Not throwing away my shot
  Were gonna
  Were gonna
  Time to take a shot! 
  Time to take a shot! 
  Time to take a shot! 
  Take a shot! Ri— ri— ri—
  Shot!
  Shot!
  A-yo its
  Time to take a shot! 
  Time to take a shot! 
  And I am— 
  Not throwin away my—
  Not throwin away my shot!