Talib Kweli [Rap]

[1st Verse]
The temperature got tempers flaring people sweat when the weather hot
They argue and they fret a lot then set up the plot
To whet up the block
Wheter or not the blood is red up in the gutter
Music is my bread and butter
I got a show in Brooklyn cause the ghetto love us
Pulled up in Mtulu's truck I'm suited up I'm cool as fuck
security tripping on my baseball hat promoter knew what's up
Plus Chaps had on some denim shorts and white tee shirt and
I told the bouncer they being disrespectful cuz like you we working
I ain't a custy or a patron and trust me no one would be paying
To come in this crusty ass club if I wasn't playing
He's like "I'll put you the fuck out"
And when you put your word like that its like third strike black you struck out
His man tried to rush me from behind Chaps stuck out a size nine
Seen him trip face first into the line
Cats is cowards with no spine and they power tripping too
The next level is the violence so what y'all niggaz wanna

[Hook]
Work it out
We should try to work it out
People lie, people cry, people die to work it out
Read the book, pray to god
Look inside to work it out
We should try to work it out
Yo what y'all ladies wanna do
Work it out
To get fly she work it out
People lie, people cry, people die to work it out
Read the book, pray to god
Look inside to work it out
Show the love
Lose the hate
Work it out
Work it out

[2nd Verse]
Peolpe placed in situations they cant take and what they facing
Is the trials and tribulations to make them say the lords forsaken them
Their loved ones intervening but they always blaming them
For problems they don't realize what they part is in creating them
Like men who so insecure think they women cheating on them
And women who think the proof that they man love them is they beating on them
Keep sleeping on them soon they partner creeping on them
Committing crimes of passion they in caskets mother weeping on them
With her head in her hands
There's only one thing that the dead understand that it's better to be alive
Now what you gonna do stick your head in the sand
You probably the type to fall for anything and take that instead of a stand
Now that's a mouse instead of a man
I cherish my role as the head of my fam
And on the road I meet incredible fans
I rock with singers an a DJ instead of a band we at a theatre near you
So what y'all niggaz wanna do

[Hook]

[3rd Verse]
Stay civilized when they try to kill my high I try to think through problems
Bring honesty to rap like Cam'ron brought the pink to Harlem
You could be on the brink to stardom and suddenly you sink to bottom
Tell the truth about the war and suddenly you linked Saddam
Hate the topic but the closet people get to patriotic
Is red bull white vodka mixed with the straight hypnotic
Paper prophets sell the revolution so they make a profit
Trust they got it fucked up with your taxes started making rockets
Take it off the top like politicians speaking proper diction
Stuffing dollars in they britches like they do a lotta stripping
Got the top position bitching about the quality of life
All that bullshit get exposed as soon as Kweli sees the mic
They cutting down the tree of life the sun rays is running out
The babies ain't eating right so the guns keep coming out
See how they play the streets an night slap the taste out your mouth
To show you what they work about
So what y'all niggaz want to do

[Hook]

(Talib Kweli)
Yeah ... this is the best part of the trip
Hold on to something, hold on to someone
We about to take the road less travelled
You ain't gotta go home, but you can't stay here
Let's go

(Kendra Ross)
I get lonelier each time
You go away I lose my mind
I lay awake til you come and make things right (yeah yeah)
I get lonelier each time you go away (cmon)
So baby won't you stay with me tonight? (yeah)

(Talib Kweli)
Check it out
There's this lady I'm in love with (yes there is)
Living inside this woman unknown
But she's scared to let it show
I know it sound like some bug shit (yeah it do)
It's just she come with
Hang-ups and
Insecurities they gotta go
She always nervous around me
But see this lady inside
She's ready to be my baby tonight
And ever since this lady found me
This woman think I'm dangerous
And ain't ready to put her safety aside
I try to tell her that I got her back
And no matter where we at
In our lives
I'll treat her like she my girl
I asked her "What's wrong with dat?" (What's wrong with dat?)
She like "It just ain't right
There's so many more women and men in the world"
I have to admit the girl got a point (true)
Maybe my ambition's made to make me want something I just can't have
So now it's time for me to blow this joint
I still know I'm in love
I just stay focused
And true to my path
Word

(Kendra Ross)
I get lonelier each time
You go away I lose my mind
I lay awake til you come and make things right (yeah yeah)
I get lonelier each time you go away (uhh)
So baby won't you stay with me tonight? (yeah yeah)

(Talib Kweli)
I got to get away
Ladies you ever felt growing away
By your man
Asking "Baby, won't you stay?"
He chilling with his crew
He should be building with you
He got you feeling the blues
Cause the children to glue
He willing to do
Whatever it takes
To save 'em
From a fate he can't see when he misbehaving
Brave men don't let they ladies
Raise they children theyself
You're so busy trying to save 'em
That you you're killing yourself
With the
Stress and strife
And the fights and the advice
From the ladies of the night
Who can't run they own life
Up in your air
Nothing is fair
Why do you care?
Why do you always take it there?
The crying, the tears
You ain't prepared for the jewels
That I'm trying to share
Flying there
Dying inside
Hot in the fear
The writing is clear
On the wall
For you to read the sign
Ayo the fine is the way we design
To be fine
But still ...

(Kendra Ross)
I get lonelier each time (I get so lonely)
You go away I lose my mind
I lay awake til you come and make things right
(mmmmmmm .. make it right, make it right, make it right)
I get lonelier each time you go away (la la la la la la la laaaa)
So baby won't you stay with me tonight?

(Talib Kweli)
Gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta go
Gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta go
Gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta go
Gotta, Gotta
Gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta go
Gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta go
Gotta go, I gotta go, I gotta go
Gotta, Gotta

Yo
You can tell when people wanna spend they life together
Despite the weather
They treat each other like a treasure
Can't fight forever
You got to give it up
I ain't got a lot of time
We got to live it up
I make my music like I make my love
People use it like they take they drugs
In the morning
When they waking up
This music got me out late but
I holla at you when I'm done
Don't stay up
Will love play with us?
It sting like paper cuts
Doused in alcohol
But if it's real
They ain't no greater rush
I got faith in us
It's only you who really know me
I be surrounded by people
And still feel lonely

(Kendra Ross)
So baby won't you stay (why won't you stay?)
Baby won't you stay? (why won't you stay?)
Baby won't you stay with me tonight? (ohhhhh)
Stay with me tonight
Stay with me tonight
Ohhhhh
Cmon

(feat. Jean Grae)

[Jean:] he's back again for the first day
We gonna do this one a little different. tryna test the waters
(where you gonna run)
[Jean:] not far
(where you gonna run)
[Jean:] where you gonna go

[Verse 1: Jean Grae]
I write underground climb up, this a new line up
Niggaz fight your way through
If you're not ready to lose may I suggest that you let us the fuck through
Everybody clap your hands now, tear the walls down
Dance like Rudy Huxtable scoring a touchdown, you know
Hands in the air, knees in, knees out
Drop a little symbol on them this time, no doubt, let's go
I write ten years deep and tenure's still deep
My bad I'm sorry I don't like when phrases repeat
I meant for the decades almost passed and spaceball was the least
And I'm struggling still hustle to eat
I must be built with Adam and Eve skin
While y'all motherfuckers where you flushed in
With your heart poking through on your arm stupid
Drop more bombs than on Saddam's house unarmed
My mouth's a weapon I shout like Armguard steppin'
Didn't need to get loud, no disrepect
But you know the Jean is threat to your checks
Niggas heart burning no prowl though sec to stop the attack
Ya neck back's gettin hot on every drop on the track
And now I finally got some heat is good, let it be known
I'll still be here after all this shit is done said and gone
Can't keep running the same formula, I'm imploring ya
To quit fucking the game up, before it fucks all of ya up

[Chorus:]
Where you gonna run
Where you gonna run
Where you gonna ruuuuuun
Where you gonna ruuuuuun
Where you gonna hide
Where you gonna ruuuuuun
Where you gonna ruuuuuun
(Kweli)
Yeah come on, yeah come on

[Verse 2: Talib Kweli]
Watch these niggas start to run soon as I hit the track
What get the sack, eyes low like Friskin' cat
My flow get cap throw they gun like official Nas
I'm draftin you niggas hard quick fast like tiptonat
Diamond cut lyrics so sharp the spit split the glass
Your mouth writing a check that you ask and quick to cash
Screaming how you quick to shoot don't even know the screenplay
Niggas rappin black and white and rappers shakin' Jean Grae
Sick of niggas licking boots I pick and choose my battles when I spit the truth it's hot
Let the pride and move the cattle
Y'all don't really want no beef, that's too real you want veal
You baby sheep hanging in the air and tend to raffle me
Me? I don't like the taste this shit's gamey
Like magazines telling lies and Star Wars like Dick Chaney
It sucks though they losing they flavor like Now and Laters
When I bust them niggas run for the hills like Al Queda

[Chorus]

[Verse 3: Jean Grae]
She lacks delivery, really, nigga I pack rap symmetry and send it to ya dorm
Why y'all iggin' me for sure
Jean is synonymous to chivalry
Open doors but I step through first
Test the waters and I pee in them got no network
But now everyone's a rapper and everyone'll shoot you dead
Only led I strapped with a razor sharp pencil that could write but it could stab you rapid
It's all ass backwards, you're all mall performers, actors
What tho?, come on let's race to where the cash is
Get mauled like Roy the alter boy
I'll jet through you like a Jet through flight, I'm unemployed
You still cared to touch me, I gotta keeps the rap level
You face screwed ugly
I'm chasing all you club bunnies
And racing you tackle you down
Take your money with your chest on the ground
I know it's foul, what you gonna do now

[Chorus]

(I think it's time you gave it up!)

(Chorus: Res - repeat 2X)
Where do we go? What do we say? What do we do?
Nowhere to turn, nowhere to run and there's nothin new
Where do we go for inspiration?
It's like pain is our only inspiration

(Talib Kweli)
Yea, I see a place where little boys and girls
Are shells in the oceans not knowin they a pearl
No one to hold 'em while they growin
They livin' moment to moment without a care in the whole world
Now, if I could help it I tell it just like it is
And I may say some things that you don't like to hear
I know this: that people lie, people kneel
People die, people heal, people steal, and people shed tears
What's real, blood spills, gun kill, the sun still - rise
Above me, trust me, it must be, morning - time
Wake up, the stakes up
Everybody want the cake up, to break up with the crew
But when the karma come back for what you do
It's too late to make up - some excuse

(Chorus)

(Talib Kweli)
I come from people who stronger than time and space
Wherever there's competition you gonna find the race
I find a place in my heart for this hip-hop
And pump blood through my vein my skin get hot
I take you very serious and make you write more
If I don't celebrate I got nothing to fight for
I'm tight raw, excite y'all like nightfall
I'm tight y'all, I walk the street like y'all
About action, talk is cheap, right y'all?
You start yappin' think about the beef you might cause
The trouble you could get into
You don't study, you not prepared and cats is testin you
What you gonna do when you gotta face
The manifestation of the words that you put in space
They already there you cant take 'em out
The studio gangsta inside you tryin' to break out

(Chorus)

(Talib Kweli)
Yea, I see a place where little boys and girls
Are shells in the oceans not knowin they a pearl
No one to hold 'em while they growin
They livin' moment to moment without a care in the whole world
Now, if I could help it I tell it just like it is
And I may say some things that you don't like to hear
I know this: that people lie, people kneel
People die, people heal, people steal, and people shed tears
What's real, blood spills, gun kill, the sun still - rise
Above me, trust me, it must be, morning - time
Wake up, the stakes up
Everybody want the cake up, to break up with the crew
But when the karma come back for what you do
It's too late to make up - some excuse

(Intro) (Talib Kweli)
Hey Y'all
I feel good right? (mmm...hmmm...)
Yeah, ok, uhh..
Now what that make me talk about?
Love, love, love, love...(echoes)
Yeah, that's what the world need, ha
Yo, that's what your girl need
All right, we gon' put it down like this
I'll tell you about myself

(1st Verse) (Talib Kweli)
My name is Kweli and I love to spit it homie
I rap about love and life, ladies get to know me
If you feelin' lonely, I can be your one and only
I put it out in the world, so people show me... love (echoes)
Yeah, I always get it back
This ain't no pimp game here, that's a different track
We talkin' this and that, we need to get with this
I keep it realer than most, this is our business

(Chorus) (Faith Evans)
What we gotta do to make them see
We got a good thing going on
Wanna tell the world if they don't know
That what we have is real
Wanna shout it from the mountains baby
That I love you, but if they don't hear me
I know, you know, we know

(2nd Verse) (Talib Kweli)
Heheh, yeah..
Yo, hey baby look like you need a break tonight
Let me make it right, baby won't you stay the night
I got a lot of love as you know you're my favorite right?
Hey my lady, what we gon' make tonight (our love...)
That's the dream, but I never sleep
Across the crowded room, our eyes forever meet
But without doubt and gloom, cuz we can never be
That's why I got to go, cuz you're my impossible love
Your the horizon I can see but never ride off into

I sound better than the cat who rappin' to you now
That's between me and you, what happened to us now?
Got you hopin' for the glorious
Waitin' for that victorious feelin' wanted by all of us
Kneelin' and praying that the lord in us will help us love ourselves
So much that the confidence attract to someone else

(Chorus) (Faith Evans)
What we gotta do to make them see
We got a good thing going on
Wanna tell the world if they don't know
That what we have is real
Wanna shout it from the mountains baby
That I love you, but if they don't hear me
I know, you know, we know

(3rd Verse) (Talib Kweli)
Yo, Rockin' Los Angeles, House of Blues in Sunset
Performin' like an orgasm, my girl ain't even cum yet
Seen her by the side of the stage givin' me energy
Potentially, wife material connectin' mentally
I felt like heaven sent for me, you're meant for me
The doubters and the haters had to acknowledge eventually
You was a non-believer too if memory serves
And a heart that gives shit, tryin' to play your boy for the her
The harder that I run to you, the farther you become
It's like my heart was part of some movie that hadn't yet begun
This woman moves me and I'm a mountain of a man
You pull me in like the waves do the grain of sand (love, love, love...)
Yeah, I love the way you bring it to me
I wrote a song for you, I love to hear you to sing it for me
And let the melody carry me through the jealousy
And we can cruise like Tom and Phenelope

(Chorus) (Faith Evans)
What we gotta do to make them see
We got a good thing going on
Wanna tell the world if they don't know
That what we have is real
Wanna shout it from the mountains baby
That I love you, but if they don't hear me
I know, you know, we know
(Repeat 2x)

(Talib Kweli)
Yeah! Come on! What it is
It's the P-l-a-n-e-t R-o-c-k
Kweli, BK, se-la-vis
You could tell I be hell-a-free like college radio
WQHT gonna play me though
this hot shit is to fly like the cockpit
got spit like a french kiss chicks lock lips
coming from the deep black like the Loch Ness
now bring apocalypse like the heart of darkness
it's like the heart of the artist become a target
pop music is the black market
recently we witness bizarre shit
the war hit the same time as SARS hit
terrorists send bombs at the concert
the show must go on yo regardless
I'm just some hip-hop kid to pop shit
and get on some rock shit and start a mosh pit

(Hook)
Yeah
We got the beat to make the planet roooccccckkk
(Come on, Come on)
Yeah, Come on
We got the beat to make the planet rooocccckkkk
(Come on, Come on)

(Talib KWeli)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
We got the planet to rock, Kweli's standing on top
I'm like a panther when I answer to cops
and bust back before the man get a shot
and the blood on their veins run cold like the cannibal lox
and bring heat like the blood of the mammal that's hot
and keep fighting like the boy with the mechanical heart
and watch time count down on the hands of the clock
till the hour when the pinnacle start
wow, and go fast like the bullet that ran through the dark
the hollow tip ripped a man apart, blaow
yo these soldiers die in petroleum wars
think they fighting for the holiest cause
it don't matter if you muslim, hebrew, or you a christian
information is the newest religion, is a true way of living
ain't no rule to a superstition stop me with going through with my mission
come on man

(Hook with minor variations x2)

(Talib Kweli)
Come on get down, get down, get down, get down
go ladies, go, go, go ladies, go, go
Come on all my ghetto people stand strong
we rocking on and on
one for me, now rocking with the best and is Kweli
you ain't no MC like me, you just a clone like KFC
Come on, B-Boys, B-Girls, we rocking the world

(Hook)

(Talib rhyming over hook)
Can't believe niggaz running the place
man everything is dangerous nothing is safe, nigga
think you a man with a gun in your waist
let the cops disrespect you right in front of your face
take it out on your girl, punch her in the face
you ain't a thug you a waste of space
nigga get out the way, B-boys gonna rock till the break!
how much can the planet take

(Repeat until end)
We got the beat...

(Bilal)
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock (It's your boy Kweli, BK MC)
So I can show you just what I got (Memph Blow in the house)
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock
So I can show you just what I got

(Talib)
Music is the air I breathe
The prayer I leave
Rippin' in the atmosphere
Up there in the breeze
Stronger then the revolution
That you wear on your sleeve
Its all I know
Not an idea you believe
I spit bars you can't touch
Like tits in strip bars
Get charged, man I drop hits that hit hard
Hit bars with my brown sugar sistah
the night just start, I'm waitin' ....

(Bilal)
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock

(Talib)
We all hop in the car deep
We bring Brooklyn to the city
My fellas lookin' sharp my ladies lookin' pretty
When the DJ let the needle drop
The beat'll rock, the beat'll start
Boppin' and my people got it poppin' like needle marks
3 o'clock and it's mass hysteria
I'm about to hit the cafeteria
I'm Waitin' ...

(Bilal)
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock (Put it down for y'all)
So I can show you just what I got
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock (Put it down for y'all)
So I can show you just what I got

(Talib)
I read the lines and all the between
In my mind I'm rewindin' the scene
The club ain't the place to be findin' a queen
You all in my dream girl
Though I can't sleep on you no
You was a star tonight
It like shown through
Vampires takin' a bite
I'm in the zone too
I always end up takin' the flight
Makin' a right for the fam
So tight in the jam
A fight began
Always heard bad niggas tryin' to act like a man
The DJ had the mic in his hand
Like calm down (Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock)

(Talib)
Yeah, it was like I was the audience at the concert
You had on Converse
With the Luis Vuitton purse
Tiger's eye around the wrist
With the fly and the prints
Lookin' up your arm and blendin' where the tattoo begins
I had to catch a plane but you make me wanna stay
I had to catch your name and I'm waitin' ...

(Bilal)
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock
So I can show you just what I got
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock (Put it down for y'all)
So I can show you just what I got

(Bilal)
Cuz they let me chasing (?) through the same old song
So just clap your hands together 'til they make that sound

(Talib)
Yeah, hot fun in the summertime, Sly said it
Guys see the flesh catch a thigh fetish
Honeys smellin' too sweet its like I'm diabetic
More stars in the sky than a seminar on Dianetics
Drop the top beat up the block
On Flatbush Ave. where they smoke a tree up
As shots reach the new tunes
Dogs who lose hollerin' at the new moon
Ours, I'm like the sun, the flower in full bloom
When I come out the house we complete like the number 9
You're gon' gimme some of yours, I'm a give you some of mine
Your off the sucka rhyme
A song will sound like one of mine
I know you love it when I shine, I'm waitin' ...

(Bilal)
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock
So I can show you just what I got
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock
So I can show you just what I got
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock
So I can show you just what I got
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock
So I can show you just what I got
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock
So I can show you just what I got
Waitin' for the DJ to, let your body rock
So I can show you just what I got

[Talib Kweli]
Yo, we been through this before right? (Word, word...) So we
figurin', if we gonna do it, we gotta freak it, y'know what I'm sayin?
(True, true, true...) Cuz everything gotta go up from here, right?
So Hi-Tek, turn it up a notch...


[Jane Doe]
Hail Mary, 'matta fact hail Jane
Niggaz take my name in vain/vein like I was cocaine
My affirmations kill emcees like assasination
Bringin' you pain until you wish you had a vaccination
Or vaccine, I shine like Vaseline
Gas plays like petroleum, walk over them like linoleum
My vocab expand like a rubber band
Walkin' nekkid through the motherland, give the finger to my brotherman
Niggaz just don't understand my reasons, I transcend like season
And scar these rappers like legion
It's treason, my suspension attract attention
I'm ventin', givin' these chickenheads detention
Did I mention my name, yo, go by the Jane Doe
Drenched in Polo, chill downtown in Soho
You don't know, this is just half my potential
Check my credentials, come harder than sequential
It's essential, you listen, I drive, you a pedestrian
They bless me on the track cuz I attack wit' the estrogen
Rhyme against the best a men, Jane burn it up
When you hear it in the whip, tell your man to turn it up!

[Wordsworth]
Yo...get it...yo
Yo, we fortified live, supportin' allies
The wack is tryin' to shorten our lives, it sorta waters my eyes
But here is some'n the cryin' talk about
The verse on that cassette you and cousin fought about
That led to God and Satan's fallin' out
Encourage the liquor for those who ain't here that you pourin' out
On 3-way, your parents, preacher and spouse called my house
Revive or ruin, my theories of mics
Sony or Aiwa, black or white, I fit in all stereotypes
Search for a cast to plot, I make you a laughin' stock
So shook, I could walk a half a block and feel the aftershocks
Rain of acid drops, seek some help
Now don't rewind, get it the first time,
Shouldn't have to repeat myself
Eternally verbally, I have numbers, succumb to time outs
In rhyme bouts you'll dial 9, just to get a line out
Known fact or factors and non-rappers fractured
Results in more cast appearances than a hundred actors
Emcees I'm testin' like diseases injected in gerbils
Wordsworth, Kweli, Hi-Tek, Reflection Eternal..what...

[Talib Kweli]
My style high life like Fonz when I burn heads like a conk
Cuz niggaz front, when their chances get slim like Pharoahe Monch
Thinkin' they shits is heavy when they light like ilumination
Intellectual masturbation with premature ejaculation
I'm comin' cleaner than vaccinations
My fascination with character assassination,
Got these niggaz burnin' like sensation
We keep it hot like matches and on lock like latches
Wack emcees get they microphones snatched like Lee patches
So YOU GO! To every wack muthafucka that you know (Scram...)
My lyrics they get up in your genes/jeans like Parasucos
So there's no mystery about the father, niggaz is hot and bothered
Like the bitches that they are, takin' pictures with stars
And got 'em open, but after they little hopes and dreams get broken
Me and Hi-Tek, we live long and prosper like Vulcans
Think I'm jokin'? We both got sons, we make cream and break dreams
See through the fake schemes, wipin' your slate clean
Like a squeegee, we be lightin' shit up like phosphorus
Turnin' flamboyant niggaz anonymous, depressin' to optimus
You stoppin' us is preposterous, like an androgenous masohganist
You pickin' the wrong time, steppin' to me when I'm in my prime like Optimus
Transformin', from rookie of the year to veteran
Hip-hop is big business like Con Edison or medicine
But fuck it, they gonna let us in, or else we rush the door
I got to many reasons, save your 'whys' and 'what fors'

CHORUS:
[Kweli] This is twice inna lifetime so I'm lettin' you know (let 'em know,
yo!)
Blackstar, Wordsorth, Punchline and Jane Doe (yo!)
[Mos] Lyrical com-pete and WE emcee
We got the fortified five, exhibit level degree

[Punchline]
Check it...
I keep dough in my pocket while you follow the false prophet
Get deep like Islamics wrapped in a white garment
I touch topics that try to open up your optics
Vacate in the Tropics, you dodgin' bullets in the projects
Cut the nonsense, I'm hotter than alot a men
Start honorin', got more wifeys than Solomon
Fuck the squad you in, a-yo we be the biddomb
Regardless what I spit on, you worse with the tracks I shit on
Once you get on, it's fair you can't trust (Yes!)
Words & Punch, make rappers march like the third month
I build with friends, lyrically spit gems
Call me diamond, cuz I'm your girl's best friend
Emcees are born losers, alcoholic abusers
I'll go on the radio and start a gay rumor
And then I'll talk about how the crowd tried to boo ya
Label shoot ya, stressed out with brain tumors
My gat claps, 50% of the wack
Take it back to real rap, Krylons wit' the fat cap
Get robbed for your ASCAP, leave you inside
Fortified live, reppin' NY 'til I die!

[Mos Def]
Black body radiation situation that we workin' wit'
My verb exists enlisted by the bogeys campin' services
The purpose is, make you go and purchase this, no nervousness
We are, hot like black tar, Black Star with emergerence
Superlative, you fabricated like the word absurditive
I'm rockin this from here to where the purges live
To Brooklyn where the merchants live
Next door to the murderers
And bourbon is a elder man's medicinal alternative
My memory is furnished with, back streets to back seats to fat Jeeps
Legendary athletes who play by the trash heap
My crew wasn't that deep, but beef we didn't act sweet
Treadin' on these stompin grounds you better catch some black feet
Flashy, it was between DeKalb and Pulasky
Off the meter like an out of borough taxi
They run your pockets fastly, black and nasty, nappy and crafty
And SWAT are either sittin' in Clinton or Kaksaki
Man Rudolph can screw off! You too soft to stop us
You and your coppers should see some foot doctors
Got your burnt chest popped up, but keep your guns cocked up
Cuz all them cats that you knocked up and always gon' be locked up
Hide yaself like Donna Summer, another number one
And comin' from the underground, this is how it's comin' down
Baby let me run it down,
Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Jane Doe, Punch, Wor.. umm..E!
Excuse me! Just ate another emcee!
Sometimes that's just how it be
Partner wash you down with green tea and some lime
We like the five on the fist, fortified organized like DIS!

Yo, when the bass thump, the place jump
Like it's way crunk, yeah,
Fake punks get they face lumped
Sent to the most high, by the most fit
You gotta do, fuck that almost shit
The fam is close knit
You diggin', know the clock don't stop tickin'
Glocks still spittin', the whole block politickin'
Lik epresidents with they minds dead on arrival
Leaving no evidence of a struggle for survival
Songs relevant to the times like the psalms read in the Bible
Stepping to this leaves thoughts in your head 'it's suicidal'
It's the T to the A-L-I-B the deep rooter
Rolling with my Wannabattle cats with Chief Buddha
And see through the overspecialized
Underpressurized
No lie texturized
Emcees who got the masses mesmerized
With empty rhetoric
They better quit
NIggas so hollow that they echo like sentiments

Nowadays rap artists coming halfhearted
Commercial like pop, or underground like black markets
Where were you when hiphop died?
Is it too early to mourn? Is it too late to ride? (6x)

Kwa is chillin', Tone is chillin'
What more can I say, we stay building
And make killings
Take children through the wilderness, by the hand
It's a great feeling, show 'em how to be a man
Exactly, pack trees in my khakis
My sound fat like a knee
While you thin like a Mackey
C'mon, shine so bright when I walk by
You got ta squint like the motherfucking sun in your eye
What! Say something
You stay fronting
It ain't nothing, let off like I'm big game hunting
Me and Tek stay way blunted
Wave running on beaches with white sand
With a slight tan
Smack the mic stand with my right hand
When I'm excited
Leave you so far in the dust that you forced to bite it
On fire like property lost to riots
Yo, ain't no stopping us when we all united

Chorus

(feat. Apani B-Fly Emcee, Talib Kweli)

[Apani]
Time zone travellin, unravelin
The secrets of mysteries that follow humans for centuries
Theories appear crisp and clear to me as air
Magically through meditative focus, mechanically I'm there
The dreams stay in connection, then awake
To the main theme in a carefully constructed scene
Which began with a bright beam of light
Become a satellite seen as a flash in the sky
Through the eyes of a writer, who shall remain anonymous
Lust for higher learnin, surgin, burnin, yearnin
Inspired by spirits of great grand descendants
Get rich off the dark skin signin over freedom on documents
Marked with X's, illiterate, stiffed up languages
Slave masters metaphorically ripped out they larynxes
Yet they beat drums and sang songs
Now I keep it movin along in the same form and context
Since the torch has been cast to the next generation
My main motivation is to be a cipher nation
360 degrees all around, above, and below
Is the planet where I hold jurisdiction, yo
Kweli I know you fed with this whole situation
I know you reflect on revolution
Can only be one conclusion, one action conduces
Changes - some civilizations have been in war for scores
Blood shed on history pages and in the end
What side wins? Old has been replaced by the new
When all is said and done, stand out amongst the few
As examples of what one can do
It's a true story, cried at the end when Denzel died in Glory
Knock on wood when I'm gon' be, launch me into the galaxy
I'll be a solitary star in the constellation
Transferrin information into the minds of young prodigies lookin up
Wishin all my energy until the day they become
Entities parallel to me, the universe's Cycle of Destiny
What exists is more than we see, more than we see...

Forget the years you been alive, we livin in the same age
Tell me where your mind is at, we livin in the same age

Tell me what's on your mind, we livin in the same age [x3]

[Kweli, vaguely] yo, yo, outrageous, courageous, advantageous..
[Kweli]
Once again on mission, driven by ill thoughts that we envision
Got a lotta ambition, now we got a pot to piss in
Cats seem to be quick to whip they shit out, and they missin
While I aim straight, it's a new era, you feel the transition?
Man listen, you know the libras, how they just balance it out
Through the ages, droppin wisdom like sages
While the whole world go through phases
Peep how the rhyme is vintage like a wine
Gets better with age and time
Niggas think they free - who need to change
When you can enslave the mind? like true conquerors
They call the explorers brave
Say they collectin when I say they rob graves
It's complex, you know what, I be ? Apani
Do this ego trippin, like De La, on Nikki Giovanni
So I try to put that behind me but it got me
In an ill position like the Kama Sutra
The past kicks my ass back to the future, it reminds me
Not the losers, but the winners tell the story
Ignore the truth, take out the gory details and get the glory
My grandfather died when I was a shorty
He fought for our country
It couldn't be his 'cause to this day, they still don't want me
My great grandmother put arsenic in the master's tea
After she came from hearin a speech by Marcus Garvey
Not separate or equal, so fuck Ferguson and Plessy
Folks of slaves, bringin it like Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey
The Age of the Industry, the plantation system was dead
Let em work, they can make enough to eat
And keep a roof over they head
You still a mothafuckin slave !
Doesn't matter if you near-white or little light
Or blacker than a thousand midnights
We right in the new age with new slaves, we need to bless the stage
'Cause the audience' brains affected by devils like cage
Call us brave, but the system got our peoples actin depraved
Forget the years you been alive, we livin in the same age
Yo tell me where ya mind is at, we livin in the same age
Take that wit'chu to your grave, grow up before you show up [x3]

[Apani]
Time is relative, we livin in the same age

Yo, we keep it type raw, and know exactly what we fight for
when the nightfall come, we in the right war
Cats who spill blood for a cause, not just because
Defy the authority and follow God's law
Revolutionary entrepeneurs; who make the fans
clap they hands and stompin the floor not start the applause
(Ahhh ssssh! Yeah!) Thank you very much, without further adieu
Let me
duce the rest of my crew, Mos Def!


Yo, I am the world renowned, verb adjective adverb
pronoun preposition suffix prefix
Original or remix, sunburst and eclipse
Me and Kwe' combine like strands on a double-helix
My speech seasoned, with dialect of my region
Booga-nam Brooklyn Bed-Stuy Eastern
Where youth and policemen, they nah reach agreement
Pressure in the mornin, pressure in the evenin





You, need, to, get, up, right, now
and, move, with, this, yes, this, means, you
You, you


Yeahh, alright yeah, alright yeah, alright yeah
Alright yeah, alright yeah, alright yeah, yeah-ehhhh

Uh, uh, uh, uh, yo, yo, yo
Things changed since we came out, been some shit in New York
Niggaz stopped gettin jig in New York, bloods and crips in New York
The Y-2-K celebration wasn't big in New York
Babylon live in New York, should I keep a crib in New York
or just V.I., to handle my B.I.
When with my A-Alikes we see with three eyes


Yo Kweli I agree I, was thinkin the same thing myself
Smog in the city ain't no good for your health
Things changed in New York, type strange in New York
Forty-Deuce don't look the same in New York
Just politics, tricks and big games in New York
Switched trains a writer can't get fame in New York
Internet and Wall Street got paid in New York
Poor folks and workin class got slayed in New York
Even still, everyday they make weight in New York
Flashlights lookin for a brighter day in New York
In New York they say it's - red hot
Will the temperature ease up?Black I guess not
It's multi-lane traffic, no sign for rest stops
No corner breaks, put on your gloves and just box
No dance school to teach you to wop and bus stop
Better get up in the booth, hop up and just rock
If you think it's like that, it's not so just stop
All mankind time runnin down on one watch, just watch



If, you, are, just, coming, in, I, will
say it, once, more, so, you, can, hear, cause
You, need, to, get, up, right, now
and, move, with, this, yes, this, means, you
You, you


Yo, Mos Def and Talib Kweli bring disaster to the industry
We best-sellin authors writin great chapters in history
These cats undercover like gay rappers dealin with mystery
My platinum grey matter spray batter that's specifically
designed to make rappers break faster than eggshells in the mornin
Inhaled the divine in that's laid dormant
Water from the well STAY pourin
I answer back when I hear fate callin
Freedom fighter ready to attack at the crack of a new day dawnin
Way more than necessary skills for the application
My flow is Great like the Lakes and it rocks like Applachains
My facts more than make up for what you lack in imagination
You more confused than Tiger Woods when he made up Cabalaysian
I'm sayin!


Break bounds like the jet Concorde
Win awards before I leave for my (?) world tour
When they scream encore, that's when they want more
Flow steadily, whether I'm on or off shore
High potent, zone coastin, no jokin
Safecracker sniff gon' keep the joint open
Peep the focus, high resolution, high reception
My "Train of Thought" connectin with my bredren from Reflection like



You, need, to, get, up, right, now
and, move, with, this, yes, this, means, you, again!
You, need, to, get, up, right, now
and, move, with, this, yes, this, means, you, we goin
New York Philly
Chicago Detroit
Miami D.C.
L.A. The world
London Amsterdam
Paris Japan
Any place that a human being might stand, we goin..

[Talib Kweli]
Yo Dee (What?)
Come on (Yeah..)
What? What? Come on
(Yeah)

"Give me the fortune, keep the fame," said my man Louis
I agreed, know what he mean because we live the truest lie
I asked him why we follow the law of the bluest eye
He looked at me, he thought about it
Was like, "I'm clueless, why?"
The question was rhetorical, the answer is horrible
Our morals are out of place and got our lives full of sorrow
And so tomorrow comin' later than usual
Waitin' on someone to pity us
While we findin' beauty in the hideous
They say money's the root of all evil but I can't tell
You know what I mean, pesos, francs, yens, cowrie shells, dollar bills
Or is it the mindstate that's ill?
Creating crime rates to fill the new prisons they build
Over money and religion there's more blood to spill
The wounds of slaves in cotton fields that never heal
What's the deal?
A lot of cats who buy records are straight broke
But my language universal they be recitin' my quotes
While R&B singers hit bad notes, we rock the boat
of thought, that my man Louis' statements just provoked
Caught up, in conversations of our personal worth
Brought up, through endangered species status on the planet Earth
Survival tactics means, bustin' gats to prove you hard
Your firearms are too short to box with God
Without faith, all of that is illusionary
Raise my son, no vindication of manhood necessary

[M.D.] Not strong
[T.K.] Only aggressive
[M.D.] Not free
[T.K.] We only licensed
[M.D.] Not compassionate, only polite
[T.K.] Now who the nicest?
[M.D.] Not good but well behaved
[T.K.] Chasin' after death
so we can call ourselves brave?
[M.D.] Still livin' like mental slaves
[both] Hidin' like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin' you look twice
[both] Hidin' like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin' you look twice

[Mos Def]
Yo, I'm sure that everybody out listenin' agree
That everything you see ain't really how it be
A lot of jokers out runnin' in place, chasin the style
Be a lot goin' on beneath the empty smile
Most cats in my area be lovin' the hysteria
Synthesized surface conceals the interior
America, land of opportunity, mirages and camouflages
More than usually -- speakin' loudly, sayin' nothin'
You confusin' me, you losin' me
Your game is twisted, want me enlisted -- in your usary
Foolishly, most men join the ranks cluelessly
Buffoonishly accept the deception, believe the perception
Reflection rarely seen across the surface of the lookin' glass
Walkin' the street, wonderin' who they be lookin' past
Lookin' gassed with them imported designer shades on
Stars shine bright, but the light -- rarely stays on
Same song, just remixed, different arrangement
Put you on a yacht but they won't call it a slave ship
Strangeness, you don't control this, you barely hold this
Screamin' brand new, when they just sanitized the old shit
Suppose it's, just another clever Jedi mind trick
That they been runnin' across stars through all the time with
I find it's distressin', there's never no in-between
We either niggaz or Kings
We either bitches or Queens
The deadly ritual seems immersed, in the perverse
Full of short attention spans, short tempers, and short skirts
Long barrel automatics released in short bursts
The length of black life is treated with short worth
Get yours first, them other niggaz secondary
That type of illin' that be fillin' up the cemetery
This life is temporary but the soul is eternal
Separate the real from the lie, let me learn you
Not strong, only aggressive, cause the power ain't directed
That's why, we are subjected to the will of the oppressive
Not free, we only licensed
Not live, we just excitin'
Cause the captors.. own the masters.. to what we writin'
Not compassionate, only polite, we well trained
Our sincerity's rehearsed in stage, it's just a game
Not good, but well behaved cause the ca-me-ra survey
most of the things that we think, do, or say
We chasin' after death just to call ourselves brave
But everyday, next man meet with the grave
I give a damn if any fan recall my legacy
I'm tryin' to live life in the sight of God's memory
Like that y'all

[Mos Def]
A lot of people don't understand the true criteria of things
Can't just accept the appearance
Have to get the true essence

[Talib Kweli]
They ain't lookin' around

[M.D.] Not strong
[T.K.] Only aggressive
[M.D.] Not free
[T.K.] We only licensed
[M.D.] Not compassionate, only polite
[T.K.] Now who the nicest?
[M.D.] Not good but well behaved
[T.K.] Chasin' after death
so we can call ourselves brave?
[M.D.] Still livin' like mental slaves
[both] Hidin' like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin' you look twice
[both] Hidin' like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin' you look twice
[both] Hidin' like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin' you look twice
[both] Hidin' like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin' you look twice

[Mos Def (singing)]
Stop hidin', stop hidin', stop hidin' yo' face
Stop hidin', stop hidin', 'cause ain't no hidin' place

(Talib Kweli)
The proud
Stand tall or don't stand at all, c'mon
Uhh, yeah
Break it down
What we do?

(Chorus)
We survive, it's more than pride
We stay alive, ready to ride

(Chorus) - repeat through intro

(Intro: Talib Kweli)
One two, one two yo
Aight.. put it down yo
June 11, 2001
Timothy McVeigh is executed
And the country breathe a sigh of relief
Goodness prevails over evil, it seems
Somehow when he's gone, we feel safer
Little do we know

(Verse One)
Today the paper say Timothy McVeigh's in hell
So everything's okay and all must be well
I remember in Oklahoma when they put out the blaze
And put Islamic terrorist bombing, on the front page
It's like saying only gays get AIDS, propaganda
Like saying the problem's over when they locked that man up
Wrong! It's just the beginning, the first inning
Battle for America's soul, the devil's winning
The President is Bush, the Vice President's a Dick
So a whole lot of fuckin is what we gon' get
They don't wanna raise the babies so the election is fixed
That's why we don't be fuckin with politics
They bet on that, parents fought and got wet for that
Hosed down, bit by dogs, and got blacks into house arrest for that
It's all good except for that - we still poor
Money, power and respect is what we kill for, for real

(Chorus) - repeat through interlude

(Interlude)
August 4, 2001
A drunken police officer mows down an entire family in Brooklyn
The judge lets him go with no bail
It reminds us, of just how worthless our lives are to the justice system
I struggle, to explain the situation to my son, it's hard

(Verse Two)
Niggaz with knowledge is more dangerous than than niggaz with guns
They make the guns easy to get and try to keep niggaz dumb
Target the gangs and graffiti with the Prop 21
I already know the deal but what the fuck do I tell my son?
I want him livin right, livin good, respect the rules
He's five years old and he still thinkin cops is cool
How do I break the news that when he gets some size
He'll be percieved as a threat or see the fear in they eyes
It's in they job description to terminate the threat
So 41 shots to the body is what he can expect
The precedent is set, don't matter if he follow the law
How do I give my son pride and make him swallow it all (damn!)
Fuck the pigs! I think the pigs killed Big and 'Pac too
If they didn't they know who did, they got to!
Who they serve and protect, nigga not you
Cops shot off of ten G's but they got glocks too
Let you protect yourself, or better yet respect yourself
Straight into the hospital is where you gotta check yourself
They be gettin tips from snitches and rival crews
Doin them favors so they workin for the drug dealers too
Just business enforcers with hate in they holsters
Shoot you in the back, won't face you like a soldier
Kurt Loder asked me what I say to a dead cop's wife
Cops kill my people everyday, that's life

(Chorus) - repeat through final interlude

(Final Interlude)
September 11, 2001
Terrorists attack the Pentagon and the World Trade Center
Kills thousand and permanently scars America's false sense of security
We see the best examples of humanity in the face of the worst
As fire fighters, police officers, rescue workers
and volunteers of all sorts, fight to save lives
The world will never be the same again

(Verse Three)
My heart go out to everybody at Ground Zero
Red, black, yellow, white and brown heroes
It's more complicated than black and white
To give your own life is the greatest sacrifice
But it's hard for me to walk down the block
Seeing rats and roaches, crack viles and 40 ounce posters
People broken down from years of oppression
Become patriots when they way of life is threatened
It's a hard conversation to have
We lost kids, moms and dads, people ready to fight for the flag
Damn, when did shit get this bad?
America kill the innocent too, the cycle of violence is sad
Damn! Welcome to the world, we here
We've been at, war for years but it's much more clear (yeah)
We got to face what lies ahead
Fight for our truth and freedom and, ride for the dead

(Chorus) - repeat to end

[Intro-Talib Kweli]
Dave, this a monster

[Chorus-Talib Kweli]
When them boys wit the Tec's throwin' up they set
And the spot so hot the ceilin' start to sweat
Yeah, that's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The...
When you just a little tipsy, you lookin' at them lips
And you lockin' up them hips, get the drillin' wit the tips, and
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The...

[Verse 1-Papoose]
Knowledge is the founder of everything in existence
If you not droppin' knowledge about us it's 'cause you ig'nant
A top-notch scholar wit honors, I'm so gifted
Live is the most vicious, honest and prolific
I drop diabolical brollic wit no gimmick
Astonish the flow critics, rhyme wit the most lyrics
I paint pictures, jot it and dot it but won't print it
My ? is photogenic, I am the most vivid
Man, I got a brain the size of the most biggest
Wide as them cold rivers, wise as them old niggaz
Tired of this, though, half of you rhyme it but don't live it
Watch it and go spit it, stop it, I know Physics
Breakin' yo physical, demolishin' yo spirit
The struggle got me thinkin' demonic and so wicked
Man, I'm so deep I'm bottomless, yo, kill it
Wise wit the flow, rhyme about Hymen, it's so senseless

[Chorus-Talib Kweli]
When them boys wit the Tec's throwin' up they set
And the spot so hot the ceilin' start to sweat
Yeah, that's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The...
When you just a little tipsy, you lookin' at them lips
And you lockin' up them hips, get the drillin' wit the tips, and
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The...

[Verse 2-Talib Kweli]
Live New York rap, stay away from the pork crap
Actin' like you all that, get smacked if you talk back
Spiritual like Rakim on ice, like Kane with the females
Slick Rick and Biggie Smalls attention to detail
Political like PE, I'm spittin' fire like Ice Cube
Kweli and Ice do 'til you start fuckin' wit my fool
Rap 'll set the right mood, fin' to blow like a light fuse
You might lose, ya chance of winnin' slimmer than a size two
Plus, the shit you kick so wack niggaz ready to fight you
Fuck rap, you better off wit spoken word kickin' Haiku
Or rhymes got teeth that'll bite you, make it clearer than white booze
You ain't special, there's a million rappers like you
Far from clumsy, but I drop lines and spill bars
Smoke more trees and be around more Black chicks than Bill Maher
Peel a card off the deck, this that real hard Hip-Hop shit
Niggaz feel y'all, it's real, y'all

[Chorus-Talib Kweli]
When them boys wit the Tec's throwin' up they set
And the spot so hot the ceilin' start to sweat
Yeah, that's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The...
When you just a little tipsy, you lookin' at them lips
And you lockin' up them hips, get the drillin' wit the tips, and
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The...

[Verse 3-Talib Kweli]
The Beast is out when the police is out
They be pullin' out and really showin' you what peace/piece about
Upholdin' the law that's designed to keep my people down
Bourgeois niggaz walkin' around like everything is equal now
I'm peepin' how from the beat cop to the Interstate trooper
To the Feds who put a price on the side of head of Cuba, B
Protectin' the property value over the people life
To take action against a foul government is the people right
But not too many ready to fight
It's like you'd rather be at home watchin' a flick or a fight
Or maybe Nick-At-Nite
It's sick how I'm addicted to mics, become a flickerin' light
After I spark I'm always ready to write
Where I'm from, they be watchin' us, but we be watchin' them
And bust shots 'til the coppers bring the choppers in
The squad cars try to box me in
But I got knowledge of self and it's stronger than any cage you can lock me in

[Chorus-Talib Kweli]
When them boys wit the Tec's throwin' up they set
And the spot so hot the ceilin' start to sweat
Yeah, that's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The...
When you just a little tipsy, you lookin' at them lips
And you lockin' up them hips, get the drillin' wit the tips, and
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out
That's when The Beast come out

[Outro-Talib Kweli]
A lot of different Beasts or demons roamin' the planet
And they surface at any given time
You never know when they can surface and come right up out of you
No matter how righteous you think you are
Situation could go down when you forced
To let The Beast out

There's no emotions that make me feel this way
There's no emotions so bright to soothe a pain
How could it be so strong ?
Coz' when the time has come to escape from the storm
Just a little bit of this makes you feel so excited
You'd better pass it on
Before you're too stoned.

Natural Nubian Vibes
Feelin' so high
Temperature rising
Makes me feel so Irie
Temperature rising

Feel so free and special
When the smoky notes fall down on my head and heart
It is so real
Wishing it'll last forever
Coz' I just can't stop this rythm enchantment

Feelin' high
So high
Temperature rising
Makes me feel so Irie
Temperature rising

Ain't no way to stop this voodoo charm
From your left to your, right just pass it on

RAP
Feelin' so high
Temperature rising
Makes me feel so Irie
Temperature rising

Hey, Hey
Feel high
Throw your hands up in the sky
Move on side to side
De gauche A droite
Rising.

Let me holler at you
Can I talk to you?(x5)
I want you, cuz you make my heart skip the beat that I drum to
I want to be the one you run to, when pain confronts you
You're everything, sometimes I get nervous when I'm in front you
You can hear it in my voice when I ask you if you comfortable
Look how love do, I'd practice the Art of War for you like Sun Tzu
Come through and arouse you every morning like the sun do
If you blackout and collapse I want to help you to come to
Notice I haven't yet gotten to what I want from you
I want you to come to when I come through and make you shine like the sun do
I want you to be the valley for my river to run through
You're everything, send your soul through your lips to my heart
Sweet music will start I want you to be the music of my art
When people try to rip us apart we got to work to stay together
Go through the seasons of love and never change with the weather
This is my wish list, what I want not what I need there's a difference
These days I'm learning that words got power so I'ma be specific
Can I have a talk with you?
Can I make a dream come true?
Can I be in love with you?
Cuz I would if I could
Yeah sunflower
You must live in the infinite blackness that exists when I close my eyes
I see you when I fall asleep, I see you when I dream
Lil' darlin'
Set your soul on fire (lil' darlin')
Be your one desire (lil' darlin')
Lil' darlin'
Can I talk to you? (lil' darlin')
Lil' darlin', lil' darlin'
Can I talk? (lil' darlin')
Can I talk, can I talk, can I?
Lil' darlin' (lil' darlinc1

(feat. Mos Def)
[Intro] {Talib Kweli}
Whoo
We on fire tonight
Whoo
Yeah, we on fire tonight
Whoo
Black Star in the house fo' sho' (Yeah)
Yo, now everybody go... (C'mon)
[Intro Chorus] {Talib Kweli + Mos Def}
Ghet-to p-pole it's time to ride (Supreme, Supreme)
Bay-b get involved go side to side (Supreme, Supreme, Yeah, Yeah)
Side to side...
[Verse 1] {Talib Kweli}
'Bout to slap box with the beat
The shit I spit is a snapshot of the street
You can see the crack spot in the backdrop
The heat in the stash box of the black drop
You wonder why there's more crime
Free food, or a check the only time niggaz on line
Getting information from the nigga-net
The trickle-down theory guess it ain't reached niggaz yet
I make a bigger bet
Kweli 'bout to be a bigger threat
'Cuz there's hardly any real niggaz left
What the fuck these niggaz talking 'bout
Living a movie but the audience is walking out
I fight the temptation to rip the heart from your chest
'Til there's only five hard beats left
It's like a dead man walking
I turn on the radio and I hear dead men talking
[Chorus]
Ghet-to p-pole it's time to ride (Supreme, Supreme)
Bay-b get involved go side to side (Supreme, Supreme)
[Verse 2] {Mos Def}
Yo'
I got my headphones up like I'm listening close
Face blank with expression it isn't a joke
Start fire, sit back and spit its smoke
To get it provoked, blow it back to get in your throat
Mad problems...Take all the niggaz you know
Add that number up with every nigga you don't
Final number, some total of the niggaz that won't
Break me down, shake me of my fame, my style
What time it is, crew you can hate me now
And ten minutes from then you gon' love me again
Buck town republic again
Writing on the wall trouble again
Intensify struggle and such
Killers, Sadč lovers deluxe
Sound garnered, for the wild hearted
Downtrodden, up-starters
Young violent, uprising
Cocaine, and gunpowder
Up north, or bus crowded
Daily vibes to thug mountain
Cold caves or peaks of high
Think you present but unclear, and know how to hide
If you wonder why you got so much on your mind
'Cuz your living in a troubling time, this is a puzzling time
Fall back without recovering time, and time's up
Brooklyn, put your dimes up
[Chorus 2X]
[Verse 3] {Mos Def + Talib Kweli}
{Mos Def}
I put feeling inside of my rap
Hold it down for my side of the map
No matter what north, south east or west side of the mat
Bend a needle on the mind and it's back
{Talib Kweli}
Got a problem with that?
The holler back and the stars is black
We the New Era you just a Starter cap
Find out what happens when the artist in tact
Be sharp as a tack, fall back you smarter than that
{Mos Def}
Or perhaps you just ain't as smart as you think
Figure 8'n on the thin ice part of the rink
You a vessel that's promised to sink
Terra Firma ain't as hard as you think
Stare down, and you starting to blink
{Talib Kweli}
Like 182 this for fellas and the ladies who
Don't need to be spoon fed like baby food
I take a bite out the track like a Sabre-tooth
And spit out the truth
'Til the cops come and spray the booth
[Chorus 2X]
[Outro] {Talib Kweli + Mos Def}
Its all right with you its all right with me
Do the damn thing what you wanna be (Supreme, Supreme)
That's right, that's right that's right that's right
That's right, that's right that's right that's right (Supreme, Supreme)
[Repeated 3X More]
[Talking]

Ladies and gentlemen
Kweli!

[Hook:]
Won't you stay around with me?...
And please say the rhyme
Cause these rappers think that I'm
In love with your state of mind
Cause you a favourite of mine
And I know you on your grind
I don't want to waste your time
But baby won't you stay around with me?...
And let my love (and let my love)
And let my love

[Verse 1:]
Kweli you should rap about this, you should rap about that
Any more suggestions? You in the back, yeah you
You should rap more on beat, you should rap more street
And never ever get your mack on please, how bout you?
I like the way you're melodic, it's cause you capture hypnotic
Portraits and seem to make the average exotic
Probably unite, I know you getting some love, but you can't spit like a thug
And you a blow, you make a hit for the club, word
I don't like your voice, I don't like your choice of beats
It sounds like it's forced, and what was up with "Back Up Offa Me"?
I ain't like that, man you should get with Hi-Tek
Now he got nice tracks, them other dudes is type wack
Yeah, people keeping it coming, I keep it bubbling
Like the heat from oven boiling the water and the hate
So they light my fire...
I got a mic empire, my own label
I had to emancipate me-me like Mariah...
At some point I might retire, on some bullshit
My legacy, horseshit like Mariah's...
Illest flow found in the game, soothing like the sound of the rain
It's the dude profound with the fame, I refusing to be sounding the same
Keeping the verses, deleting the curses, defeating the purpose
When the people go on strike, I'm in the street with the workers
Speaking the words from a pulpit like the preachers at churches
Raise my hand, all the teachers get nervous
Cause they know I air them out
And they ain't even really gotta hear me out
Keep it dirty like pigpen, voice in the warrior's head like Lynne Thigpen
Clocking like Big Ben, old school slang still find a way to innovate
Pete Rock got em feeling great, the ladies say

[Hook:]
Won't you stay around with me?...
And please say the rhyme
Cause these rappers think that I'm
In love with your state of mind
Cause you a favorite of mine
And I know you on your grind
I don't want to waste your time
But baby won't you stay around with me?...
And let my love (and let my love)
And let my love

[Verse 2:]
Light the tip of the L, this heavyweight rap tipping the scale
And we never let the system prevail, real picturesque, missing the sale
Never that, it's forbidden like the candy sisters lifting the veil
I'm still leading the pack, these cats lacking
Just because you be having a dragon don't mean you got the fire...
It ain't nothing to play with, it's sacred
My pen is the paintbrush, and dipping in paint plus
Truth, love, joy, anger, hatred and anguish
That's the spectrum of colours I paint with
I don't feast at the banquet, cause freedom is the set that I bang with
Listen the conditions in my slum village is tainted
I grew through the pavement, like the flower the girl drew in the paper
The sky bluer and the? eye's? save you
The rules of engagement that they use, attitudes of a slave
Man got me stressed out losing my patience
The moves that I'm making across waters
Through contraband that I'm taking across borders
Information never lost in translation
Too many new words to be learned, I'm spitting fire giving third degree burns
Giving them heat stroke, hotter than rocking a P cote
At [? ], all these rappers super like me so, we go
Back in the days like reminiscing with Pete yo
Ladies welcome to the Kweli show
She goes...

[Hook:]
Won't you stay around with me?...
And please say the rhyme
Cause these rappers think that I'm
In love with your state of mind
Cause you a favorite of mine
And I know you on your grind
I don't want to waste your time
But baby won't you stay around with me?...
And let my love (and let my love)
And let my love

[Outro:]
Ladies and Gentleman, it's Talib Kweli
Yeah, this Ear Drum y'all
B-B-B-B-Banging on your ear drum
We got the incredible Pete Rock on the track like...
I like that, I like that
I want to give an extra big shout to my man Dave Dart
Holding me down as always and as usual
And his new born son, Cannon, brand new to the world
He's now down with Blacksmith, Blacksmith is the movement
Jean Grae, Strong Arm Steady gang, Talib Kweli
It's what it is, yeah

(Kweli)
Go right to left, left to right
Middle passage connection
Yeah, about to build
Tell you which way to go

(Both)
We go right to left, left to right
If you fight to the death, what's left to fight
X4
Yo, here we go

(Kweli)
I wanna write away
I wanna write here
I wanna write brave words to fight fear
Write dreams and nightmares
Might scare the folks stuck in the day
But nothing to say,
Well I'm way ahead by light years
So beware we keep the lights on
I wanna write the songs from right to wrong
Right on
Riding the light so you see in the dark
So deep you gotta be still like your beating heart
My words apply the pressure to make the bleeding stop
See the art, living right, eating smart
I wanna right to life, a right to death
Police read your rights from right to left
But I never write to remain silent
I fight through police line
Cops walk the beat that I write to
I teach minds, write rhymes with the right sound
Right now, journalists write up
I write down

(Both) :Chorus
Party people put a hand in the sky
Grab a cloud and squeeze til no man is dry
We wet it up, go ask the people if they plannin to die
Can't stay to live, consumers is plannin to buy
Smoke death operators is standing by
They take you order for the slaughter of the family why
Do they make it so hard for a man to provide
You better get wit it, or {stand to the side X7}

(Vinia Mojica)
And the story line goes on
Right to left, who's right who's wrong
Fuck the politics and pride
I just to try to stay alive
To witness where the battle lines are drawn
Speak my mind and sing my song
I'm passin on the moral y'all
This is ain't play
True, you got to know the way
It's hard now
Open eyes
See hopeful lives
Sing it now

(Kweli)
Making my way through life
Talking to elders and taking advice
Ignoring their words and paying the price
Living in the world where false preachers got us praying to christ
Get with the young girls in the choir and laying the pipe
No control of our soul we all wait at the light
So comfortable they we hating to fight to make it right
Late at night I'm controlled by the DJ on the mic
I love hip-hop and every joint he playing is tight
A day in the life is a brick in the foundation of like
A maze in Egypt amazing when I'm creating a sight
For the world to behold and the story to last
So one day ghetto children can visit their glorious past
After Pac and Notorious past what do we have
Niggas worth more when they dead, it's so sad
Started with the slavery we finish the plan
But I broke the cycle, and became a man

(Both) : Chorus

(Kweli)
Come on,
I got my man Savion in the house
We about to put it down
Here we go

(Savion Glover tap dances)

(Kweli)
Yeah, yeah
(Girl)
La, la, la (continuous)
(Kweli)
It's like what you gonna do when we come through when you
Yeah, shock body like
What you gonna do when we come through, Kweli
Uh, yeah, BK MC, like what you gonna do when we come through when you
Woo, yeah, come on

(Verse 1)
Watch how Talib Kweli Greene do it
What I bring to it
You hear the theme music
My rhymes' life support, dog breathe to it
Rhymes are bright, the sunshine beams through it
Stop haters in their tracks like high beams
Like the moment you was at the crime scene screaming "I ain't do it"
But, I seen through it, it's obscene how I spew it
Martin Luther King had a dream to it, people cling to it
I seen your momma lean to it in a green Buick
Wack niggas get passed over so much they seem Jewish
Better leave and do it now or seem foolish
This music I bleed to it, I raise my seeds to it
I MC with the truest in the game
I stay hungry like I'm the newest in the game
And stay hot like I'm bluish with the flame
You heard the truth when it came
And you knew it was the name that you couldn't pronounce
Now I'm all up in your mouth
My people all up in the house and we calling you out
Y'all niggas crying, what you bawling about
This shit is down like we chalking you out
Hey yo, that's what I'm talking about

(Chorus)
(Girl)
Look up in the sky recongnize it's sunshine (la, la's cont'd)
(Kweli)
Yeah, what you gonna do when we come through when you
(Girl)
How can you deny when it's right in your eyes
(Kweli)
Shock body, ro-ro-ro-ro-rock body
Like what you gonna do when we come through when you
(Girl)
Look up in the sky recognize it's sunshine
(Kweli)
Come on and, come on and
Kweli like what you gonna do when we come through when you
(Girl)
How can you deny when it's right in your eyes
(Kweli)
Yeah, come on

(Verse 2)
Check the writing skills forever coming tight with the quill
You sound like you liking the thrill
Or filling the pipe with the the krill
You must be smoking like the spliff we like to light when we build
Out of respect for the dead we let our Heinekens spill
Cats taking Vicodin pills to numb the pain that they feeling
Pertaining to stealing my rhymes finding their brains on the ceiling
I'm blowing their minds wide open when I'm flowing I'm fine
Hey yo my whole style banging like I'm throwing up signs
Niggas get cut like I saw someone I know in the line
I live life to the fullest cause I know I could die
Right now, I don't believe I know when to sto'
My face soldier's going to lie, when I'm going to buy
You gonna see a rainbow in the sky
And my momma's face glowing with pride
My first born held it down and through my baby's soul I survive
Put your hands in the air and let me know you're alive
I love this game y'all, I ain't even going to lie
I can see you all rocking cause you know when it's live, word

(Chorus)
(girl)
repeat chorus
(kweli)
repeat chorus
**Continue

(Outro)
BK, BX, Q-borough, like what you gonna do when we come through
ATL, Chi-Town, Los Angeles, Bay Area
Everybody like what you gonna do when we come through yeah
My whole world rocking
Yo BK like what you gonna do when we come through, Kweli

(Talib Kweli: repeat 16X)
Feel the rush

(Talib over the repeated line)
Yeah, I do this shit for real (you get Chuck D'd, "Shut the Fuck down")
Ain't no games being played (remember that, remember that)
It might be the career (yo)
It might be on the stage (yo)
It might be in the street (yo)
But the people come to me (why?)

(Talib Kweli)
They come to me for the lyrical, spiritual, raw shit I spit at you
Original, and I see collective, not individual
Visual, in the mic I'm un-fuck-wit-able
Invincible, offical nigga who they come to
For the hardcore, art of war, rhymes that I got in store
Triple W in curo son or die or
For education and culture, heads is waitin' for Mos to
Do the album with Kweli, we do it like we suppose to
Nobody come close to my crew, we wild nice
You ain't tight, your rhymes is like what a child writes
When he can't spell, you chase crumbs and get ate like Han-sel
Can't hold your mic, like your liquor, your style like an Amstel
Smack a nigga til my motherfuckin hands swell
You ain't fly and you prolly got can-cell
Y'all niggas shaky like handheld, amuteur camera work
In walking this planet of earth
I'm the illest emcee and a man of my word
When I came out, niggaz didn't understand it at first
I'm known to roll up my sleeves and put my hands in the dirt
We at war and I got a battle plan that can work
With the proper execution so I'm killin' 'em right
You get hit like a deer standin' still in the light
I'm spillin' it like, I ain't never had a meal in my life
Feed my family with my pen, it's so real what I write

(Bridge)
We fight, fuck, get buckwild
Kill, chill, make love, have child
Freestyle, b-boy, hit the block
Build, destroy, get it hot

Yo, I make the place go apeshit (c'mon)
Ain't no other way to say it, ain't nuttin to play with
I'm Langston Hughes, "Dreams Deferred" seen and heard in the flesh
Cause so many people believe the word even when it seems absurd
With keen observation I peep the game
And got blood on his hands, I can see the stains
My street slang spray like shots when heat bang out
Niggas keep my name in they mouth, I put they flame out
Where I'm from, action is first and talk is second
I'm sharp like the blade in the logo of Rawkus Records
New York's infected, niggaz beefin' on the mix-tape
Got Nickelback niggaz thinkin' they can fuck with big weight
Hell no, give it up, it's enough
We about to live it up, with ten of us
We ride and you live with us
Pick it up, party people, you about to get in touch
Give it up, everybody, you about to get a rush
You can find Kweli in the cut, wth a Cohiba lit up bout to split a Dutch
Get it up, everybody, you about to get in touch
Give it up, everybody, you about to get a rush (whooo!)

(Xzibit)
Yeah, yeah
Quality material
Yo, check this out
Yeah, you heard it
Kweli
You don't know how to say it by now, fuck you
Broadcastin' live, from Brooklyn, New York City
Yeah, turn this shit up
It's Quality music
You know how we use it
Feel the rush

(Talib Kweli: repeat to end)
Feel the rush

[Chorus: Kweli & Dice Raw]
Downtown everybody move to the beat
Uptown everybody moving the heat
Cross-town the party where both sides meet
Eastside, westside, there's always beef X2

[Kweli]
I tattoo the page with the permanent ink
Mr. Rourke on your Fantasy Island
The umbrella in your tropical drinks
Still run it up it, liquor in your cup
Fucking you up
Hang over the banister
You feel the rush of the blood going straight to your brain
Ain't no love, you only love bringing hate to the game
Taking my name in vain, mistaking license for freedom
He make music for the people, people dying to meet him
People!
We still abuse it, while the rich is made of music
He probably driving a Buick and be rocking van ?
G-you-E relevant, see how his man do it
Fucking with niggas from illa fifth, see how we ran through it
The river in the valley
The nigga in the alley
Rolling with the heat from BK to killer Cali
The hands will fake the clapping
You'll be collasping
You softer than the land on legs
Transforming the landscape
Like a sandstorm in the Sahara
I am the truest nigga
I do more shows than The Roots to Carol Lewis
Creative artist, never play the targets of game hunters
You may want to test this product like cane smugglers
Dis disco shit
Popping like Crisco
Hitting your face
Spit in your face like pistol shit
My style, wild like wipple whip
I go back like a pistol grip
It's pro-black, Kweli!

[Chorus] w/o Kweli

[Black Thought]
I'm a FED like Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Willy gank, spit the killer dank dialogue
Pyro-maniac like Dr. Molotov
I knock the bottle off
And knock the model off
Gots some non-believers here
Some how I'll save y'all
Or stop y'all worries, you makin me vexed
Hit up gekko, this ain't got gold correct
I'll fucking bounty hunt your body like I'm Boba Fett
Cause you a toy not a soldier yet
You better hold your neck
You dick smokers get no respect
With the blood, ice your watch, rock your rocks
Better rock it on the screen and not the blocks
'cause them crews don't stop them shots
It's so many that fly, they chase down, I just stop and watch
I'm from the south side of philly, it's known to get gruesome
Heavy hitter villians these alleyways produce them
Heavy hitter on a pocket we find a way to juice them
They may as well pay, schmuck
Introducing the be

[Intro]
Yeah, this that new Kweli
I'ma give it to you before the bootleggers get hold of
it
You know what I'm sayin'?
I figure I put it out first, make some money wit' it
Why not, right?
Okay, 1-2

[Verse]
Yo I'm Brooklyn like the '90s
Brownsville and Bushel keep it grimey
When I'm from flatbush that's where you'll find me
In Brooklyn, Tek wit' Justin and Sadat
And Free and Sid from ???
Always catch me wit' Juju and Rubiks, we was truant kids
Dollar band nooseses
Jump bell, run, and never look back
Mr. Man kept the hammer in his bookbag
Rubiks introduced me to Black and Forte
DJ Enuff on Avenue K I go back a long way
Wit' Super Nat in Washington Square freestylin' everyday
Peformin' at Lyricists' Lounge who ate off Jean Grae
Fuckin' wit' Mood is how I met Hi-Tek
Black Star came in effect when Elijah gave my tape to Mos Def
Reflection Eternal was next on deck
My crew the best and we proved it
We knew our music was the Vanguard of a movement
Every Rawkus release was bangin', they on the come up
They was like fuck the radio 'til Pharoahe said "Get the fuck up"
Flex listened, jabbin' at Bryant
The next position was right about now we need the
radio hit written
While I hit the road
On tour to support the records since the day it was sold
Corey had me followin' the example of De La Soul
Common and The Roots to me these the sickest niggaz
Get my figures wit' the Okayplayers and the Spitkickers
Rawkus got a deal with MCA, this the gray area
But let it stir for Music Cemetery of America
They tried to fool you by switchin' the name to Geffen
Now they Interscope's bitch and every artist who had a chance left 'em
Ain't no big surprise, wasn't no love there
Jimmy Iovine never signed me, I just kinda ended up there
But fuck that, literally it was my way or the highway
Hit the road with the Beastie Boys and toured Europe with Kanye
Gotta thank 'em for the love on the album
I knew out on "Electric Circus"
He'd get it by any means necessary like Malcolm
I dropped a single, shot a video, took control of my situation
Got a label poppin', it's a celebration (bitches)
Yo boy Free I had to get out
I put you on, that's where I'm at right about now

[Hook]
And if you're sayin' it's my time, you right about now
This what's goin' through my mind right about now
Hey yo, hey yo, it's time to write about now
And if you lookin' you can find it right about now
I put you on, that's where I'm at right about now
This what's goin' through my mind right about now
Yo, hey yo, it's time to write about now
And if you lookin' you can find it right about now

[Outro: Dave Chappelle {*DJ cutting*}]
That's right bitches, Talib Kweli
One of the baddest motherfuckers you've ever seen
That's right bitches, Talib Kweli
You're now rockin' with the best! I said it
The best! The best!
That's right bitches
You're now rockin' with the best! The best!
Talib Kweli
Where's-Where's my snares? Talib Kweli
Where's-Where's my snares?

Artist: Talib Kweli, Dead Prez and David Banner
Album: Beautiful Mix
Song: Ridin'


David Banner:

I'm from a place
Where You gotta let yo' nutz hang

Where them crakas used to cut your stomach open
Just to let your f**kin' guts hang

Right there in front of the kids

I might as well split your Whig
'Cause that's just what the master did

But now I'm the new Nat Turner
Spreadin' something to the kids
Like Sojourner, Man, the truth

F**k a 'Creek
? I care but you in doubts ?
And go "Woof"

He ain't dead
What pledge

There's a stank up in the Busch
Or a stank up in the White House

Shootin' board bullshit
Man, it's dead props
Here in Chicago
But hit this hi-lo

Warriors come play
Click the bottles

Cock them AK's (YEAH!)
Bust on KK's (YEAH!)

With the Knuckle boy
Or the Other Two
And the Stic-Man

Given Dead on your shirt
Like a Wristband
You a Grown Man
Nigga, Stand tall

Don't it hurt
'Cause you really
Ain't a Nigga, dog?

Don't it hurt
'Cause you really
Ain't a Nigga, dog?

(YEAH!)

Don't it hurt
'Cause you really
Ain't a Nigga, dog?

(Chorus)

Country boys, city boys
Cadalacs, Rolly Royce
Whatever...long as we Ridin'

Pretty girls, ghetto boos
On the boulevard, in the avenue
It's a long a walk
Now that we Ridin'

Dead Prez:

Yo'

Niggas is not orginal
Niggas follow the radio
Niggas think if You Blow
Then You gotta be on the TV Show

Crackas is hypocritical
Crackas will rob and shit on You
'Cause see You do what they do
They know freedom is powerful

Niggas is very visual
If we see it, we think it's true
Very few niggas make a move
And even less'll see it through

Crackas make up the chemicals
Then they call us the criminals
Crackas make all the loot
And we just get the residuals

Niggas will rob and shot on You
Crackas will drop a bomb on You
Niggas is having funerals
Crackas is having barbeques

Niggas sing the blues
That's reminicin' the spritual
But when You say GAWD is You
Niggas ain't really hearing You

Crackas like to capitalize
Them crackas a lie
They say if You don't ?unionnize?
Then You'll probably die

I hate callin' niggas niggas
So I'ma take it backwards
I ain't got now love for whithey
I love callin'em crackas (CRACKAS!)

(Chorus)

Country boys, city boys
Cadalacs, Rolly Royce
Whatever...long as we Ridin'

Pretty girls, ghetto boos
On the boulevard, in the avenue
It's a long a walk
Now that we Ridin'

Talib Kweli:

Yeah!

I call myself real
N-I-G-G-A
'Cause Kweli be
Showin' on the floor
And they policies
My philosophies
Show you that the block
Is a part of me
Freedom Fighter
Like Richard Carter be
It's deep how the street knowledge beef
'Cause it ran like a code inside of me
It's practical, not scholarly

Now why do I call myself
A nigga
You ask me
Who's got my back
When the cops harass me
Ya'll can label
Cinncinatti
Can ride the train
Or with the Caddie

When they call you
Nigga they scared of You
They fearin' You
So actually
If CRACK is gone
Be fearing Niggas
Then that's what the
F**k I have to be

Now

It's a badge of honor
And some say that
Shit's upsurd
It's more than
just a word
We flip the shit
Like it's a 'bird

Pass it down through
Generations, then
Cuss you out and say it loud
The first generation
Of Muthaf**kas
To grab Our Nuts and
Say it proud
Country Niggas or City Niggas
Tupac Niggas or Biggie Niggas
In the coridor, floor or door,
And all my Mississippi Niggas
We connected
All throughout
The North, the East, the West, the South
And if a Wyte boy say the shit
He'll still get punched
Right in the mouth

(Chorus)

Country boys, city boys
Cadalacs, Rolly Royce
Whatever...long as we Ridin'

Pretty girls, ghetto boos
On the boulevard, in the avenue
It's a long a walk
Now that we Ridin'

(Ending 2x)

All they got for You
Is a Cell my Nigga
They want You
Dead or in jail
Without Rebel my Nigga

In the streets
It's similar to Hell
My Nigga
But we gonna Boss up
And live well
My Nigga

"What'd you do last night?" "We did umm, two whole cars It was me, Dez, and Main Three right? And on the first car in small letters it said 'All you see is..' and then you know big, big, you know some block silver letters that said '..crime in the city' right?" "It just took up the whole car?" "Yeah yeah, it was a whole car and shit..." [spanish speaking woman] Escuchela.. la ciudad respirando (translation of spanish: Listen to it.. the city breathing) * woman repeats 3X * [spanish speaking woman] Escuchela.. [Mos Def] The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis Shinin, like who on top of this? People was tusslin, arguin and bustlin Gangstaz of Gotham hardcore hustlin I'm wrestlin with words and ideas My ears is picky, seekin what will transmit the scribes can apply to transcript, yo This ain't no time where the usual is suitable Tonight alive, let's describe the inscrutable The indisputable, we New York the narcotic Strength in metal and fiber optics where mercenaries is paid to trade hot stock tips for profits, thirsty criminals take pockets Hard knuckles on the second hands of workin class watches Skyscrapers is collosus, the cost of living is preposterous, stay alive, you play or die, no options No Batman and Robin, can't tell between the cops and the robbers, they both partners, they all heartless With no conscience, back streets stay darkened Where unbeliever hearts stay hardened My eagle talons STAY sharpened, like city lights stay throbbin You either make a way or stay sobbin, the Shiny Apple is bruised but sweet and if you choose to eat You could lose your teeth, many crews retreat Nightly news repeat, who got shot down and locked down Spotlight to savages, NASDAQ averages My narrative, rose to explain this existance Amidst the harbor lights which remain in the distance So much on my mind that I can't recline Blastin holes in the night til she bled sunshine Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline Heard the bass ride out like an ancient mating call I can't take it y'all, I can feel the city breathin Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening Sigh before we die like the last train leaving [Talib Kweli] Breathin in deep city breaths, sittin on shitty steps we stoop to new lows, hell froze the night the city slept The beast crept through concrete jungles communicatin with one another And ghetto birds where waters fall from the hydrants to the gutters The beast walk the beats, but the beats we be makin You on the wrong side of the track, lookin visibly shaken Taken them plungers, plungin to death that's painted by the numbers with Krylon applied pressure, cats is playin God but havin children by a lesser baby mother but fuck it we played against each other like puppets, swearin you got pull when the only pull you got is the wool over your eyes Gettin knowledge in jail like a blessing in disguise Look in the skies for God, what you see besides the smog is broken dreams flying away on the wings of the obscene Thoughts that people put in the air Places where you could get murdered over a glare But everything is fair It's a paradox we call reality So keepin it real will make you casualty of abnormal normality Killers Born Naturally like, Mickey and Mallory Not knowing the ways'll get you capped like an NBA salary Some cats be emceeing to illustrate what we be seeing Hard to be a spiritual being when shit is shakin what you believe in For trees to grow in Brooklyn, seeds need to be planted I'm asking if y'all feel me AND THE CROWD LEFT ME STRANDED My blood pressure boiled and rose, cause New York niggaz actin spoiled at shows, to the winners the spoils go I take the L, transfer to the 2, head to the gates New York life type trife the Roman Empire state [Mos Def and crew] So much on my mind I just can't recline Blastin holes in the night til she bled sunshine Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline Yo don't the bass ride out like an ancient mating call I can't take it y'all, I can feel the city breathin Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening Sigh before we die like the last train leaving [spanish speaking woman] Escuchela.. respirando ?? [Common] Yo...on The Amen, Corner I stood lookin at my former hood Felt the spirit in the wind, knew my friend was gone for good Threw dirt on the casket, the hurt, I couldn't mask it Mixin down emotions, struggle I hadn't mastered I coreograph seven steps to heaven And hell, waiting to exhale and make the bread leavened Veteran of a cold war It's Chica-I-go for What I know or, what's known So some days I take the bus home, just to touch home From the crib I spend months gone Sat by the window with a clutched dome listenin to shorties cuss long Young girls with weak minds, but they butt strong Tried to call, or at least beep the Lord, but didn't have a touch-tone It's a dog-eat-dog world, you gotta mush on Some of this land I must own Outta the city, they want us gone Tearin down the 'jects creatin plush homes My circumstance is between Cabrini and Love Jones Surrounded by hate, yet I love home Ask my God how he thought travellin the world sound Found it hard to imagine he hadn't been past downtown It's deep, I heard the city breathe in its sleep Of reality I touch, but for me it's hard to keep Deep, I heard my man breathe in his sleep Of reality I touch, but for me it's hard to keep [Mos Def and crew] So much on my mind I just can't recline Blastin holes in the night til she bled sunshine Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline Yo how the bass ride out like an ancient mating call I can't take it y'all, I can feel the city breathing Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening Kiss the Ide's goodbye, I'm on the last train leaving

What what what, what what, what what, what what
Woaaaahhhhhhh!
One two three, Mos Def and Talib Kweli
We came to rock it on to the tip-top
Best alliance in hip-hop, wayohh
I said, one two tree, Black Star shine eternally
We came to rock it on to the tip-top
And Hi-Tek make the beat drop, wayohh

[Talib Kweli]
RE:DEFinition, turning your play into a tragedy
Exhibit level degree on the mic, passionately
Niggaz is sweet so I bet if I bit I'd get a cavity
Livin to get high, you ain't flyer than gravity
We Die Hard like the battery done in the back of me by the mad MC
who think imitation is the highest form of flattery, actually
Don't be mad at me, I had to be the one to break it to you
You get kicked into obscurity like judo, no Menudo
cause you pseudo, tryin to compete with reality like Xerox
Towards destruction you spiraling like hairlocks, wipe them teardrops
Chasing stars in your eyes, playing games with your lives
Now the wives is widows soakin up pillows, weepin like willows
Still mo' blacks is dyin, kids ain't livin they tryin
_How to Make a Slave_ by Willie Lynch is still applyin
Regardless, the Mos is one of my closest partners
Rockin ever since before Prince was called The Artist
Rocker before Funkmaster Flex was rockin Starter
When 'Pac and Biggie was still cool before they was martyrs
Life or death, if I'm choosin with every breath I'm enhancin
Stop, there comes a time when you can't run

[Mos Def]
What, lyrically handsome, call collect a king's ransom
Jams I write soon become the ghetto anthem
Way out like Bruce Wayne's mansion, move like a phantom
You'll talk about me to your grandsons
Cats who claimin they hard be mad fag
so I run through em like, flood water through sandbags
Competition is mad, what I got, they can't have
Sinkin they ship, like Moby Dick, did Ahab
Son I'm way past the minimum, it's a verb millenium
My rap's the holy gas in your bag, like Palestinians
Ancient now descend the year, try to whole the Gideon
Official b-boy gentlemen won't turn off at the interim
Born inside the winter wind, day after December 10
These simpletons they mentionin the synonym for feminine
Sweeter than some cinnamon the danish brings rotten to men
Rush up on adrenaline, they get they asses sent to them
(Gentlemen) without a tenament more than a ?sibilant?
Leave your unit tremblin like herds of movin elephant
Intelligent embellishment, follow for your element
from Flatbush settlement, kid posseses melanin
Hotter than tales of crack peddlin, makin em WOOP
like blue gelatin, swing like Duke Ellington
Broader than Barrington Levy, believe me
The hot oppresion rent who burn down your chief teepee
You see me?

One two three, Mos Def and Talib Kweli
We came to rock it on to the tip-top
Best alliance in hip-hop, wayohh
I said, one two tree, Black Star shine eternally
We came to rock it on to the tip-top
Because we rulin hip-hop, yes we is rulin hip-hop
Talib Kweli is rulin hip-hop
Say we Black Star we rule hip-hop-ah-ahh-ah-ahh-ahh
Whoahhhh!

(Kweli)
We be blazin' (uh)
So amazin' (yeh)
Everybody get down
Everybody get down (uh, yeh)
We be blazin' (uh)
So amazin' (c'mon, uh)
Everybody get down
Everybody get down
Yeh

(Talib Kweli)
New year, new record, time to do bigger shit
Caught a plane to Cali linked with my nigga Quik
I figure with the combination we bomb the nation but stay calm and patient
As the world get hyped from hearin our musical conversation
This a beautiful situation right here
Given birth on the track cuz the cypher stay pregnant with ideas
And we rockin it - rock, rock, rockin it
Tell the hater players put a sock in it!
Proper shit, that you got to get, cause we properly document
How cats look more like dicks than the Washington monument
Validly try to challenge me, but who you racin wit'
It's amazing the lyrical lyngerie I be lacin shit, we be blazin it
Put it in the air with the chronic
My lyrics like drugs got you hooked on my phonics
From Brooklyn to Compton the lounge of Soundbombing
Still rockin' over "Balance and Options," now

(Chorus)
If you got a spliff then put it in the air
If you want a rift then put it in the air
If you shakin yo' ass, put it in the air
If you makin it last, put it in the air
If you leave the crib strapped then put it in the air
Take ya hand of your gat and put it in the air
Snuck your bud in the club, put it in the air
Got nuttin but love, put it in the air

(Talib Kweli
They say my rhymes is too heavy, I come thicker than the fog
You get it when I retire and battle my catalogue
Writin rhymes in my captain's log, BlackStar date
MC's fake like Egyptian Gods in +Stargate+
Lovin the hate, bubble all types of weight in they rap
I draw blood like mosquitos y'all annoy like gnats
Pop that around the wrong cat get laid flat
Concrete adjust to the contours in your back
Quik where you at?

(Quik)
Yo i'm in the back room makin a run
Ain't even touched her n makin her cum
N you can catch me out in Portland we startin mine
Everybody doin shows but i'm the hottest flyin'
Bitches say honest, I swear to God
So how come then believin them is so damn hard
Could you really blame a nigga if you fucked a skate
You ain't even pay that's why you flunked today
All you heard was he sellin talk shit about niggas and drink wine
And your answer kept changin cos bitch you keep lyin'
Talkin bout 'he make me sick
All he do is disrespect me keep callin me bitch
And he only wanna fuck me when he all for that dough'
What the fuck you think i'm here for not to love you I hope
All i'm bout to do is listen for a minute
While I get my drink in n' introduce you to my dog Kweli n go up in it

(Chorus)

(Kweli)
C'mon
We be blazin' (c'mon)
So amazin' (yeh)
Everybody get down
Everybody get down (yeh, c'mon, yeh)
We be blazin' (uh)
So amazin' (c'mon, yeh, c'mon, c'mon)
Everybody get down
Everybody get down
Now let me tell you how I am

(Talib Kweli)
I'm mild-mannered at day but superhero at night
I got the special invite to make your spot look right
No ice, no rain, not bottles of champagne n'
HALF these motherfuckers can't pronounce my name
I'm so cool while you hyper in the coffee shop
Hype niggas make girls be like 'get off me stop'
Real niggas like thirst so of course we rock
Cos the game unauthordox, off top
You got cold feet like I pulled off your socks
Always goin down town pullin all the stops
Your breath smellin like fish from right off the docks
Dats how you lost your spot
You too hype

(Chorus)

Yeh
We be blazin' (c'mon, uh)
So amazin' (yeh, everybody c'mon)
Everybody get down
Everybody get down (yo, all the people in the house)
We be blazin' (c'mon yeh)
So amazin' (yeah, c'mon)
Everybody get down
Everybody get down
Yo, 1, 2, (c'mon) 1, 2
We be blazin' (c'mon, yo)
So amazin' (c'mon get dowwwn)
Everybody get down
Everybody get down (yeh, everybody yo)
We be blazin' (light it up, light it up)
So amazin' (yeah, i'm feelin that, c'mon)
Everybody get down
Everybody get down (yeh)
Yo do that shit
We be blazin' (yeah)
So amazin' (c'mon get dowwwn, uh)
Everybody get down
Everybody get down (yo, yo do that shit)
We be blazin' (c'mon, yo)
So amazin' (yeh)
Everybody get down
Everybody get down

(feat. Jean Grae , Talib Kweli)

[Chorus: x2]
Power, money and influence
I had a taste of it, now I'm all into it
The game ain't over 'till I get my share
'till I have my run, this here is my year

[Jean Grae]
Man, I'm a tycon, whether in person or slick right on
Crisp Nikes on, six niggaz with sick pythons
Right around your area, face close like a scared
Straight playin your host, you get bitched out
This ain't fluffin a rang, this clip ain't bang
You sittin lame duck, shittin on the names stuck
I vow this year, power's mine
If I gotta sketch up my name, empowering rhymes
If I gotta attend jail just to boost up the sales
I know a laber owner that I'd love to bruise up for bail
I know my family got it, they pull together but it's amniotic
I mean baby like askin for a name spot it
The talent, the influental and erotic
Put on the back burner but potential as a parent
Every track is a murder but could treat it like lobonic
The play that graze here, now MC's in a daze mind

[Chorus]

[Guru]
In one second flat I tear your whole frame
Plus we pack like a stadium does, at a pro game
Got so many ways to end yo glory
Rub you out, shut you down, then it's end of story
I'm like Robert Horry with a clutch three
You can't touch me, the black double oh-seven, nigga trust me
Modern day Ali when it comes to the rhyme
Know how to hold the fort down when they comin for mine
I'm crafty, I move swift and changeable
Plus I'm aware, of what jealousy and anger do
You can't help yourself then you can't help me
Can't smell what the truth is then you can't smell me
You can tell a million stories about how gully you are
Then as soon as you finish, I'm be pullin your card
I step so courageously, I rap so amazingly
I guess you could say, that niggaz slept on me basically

[Chorus x2]

[Talib Kweli]
Jean Grae, Kweli, Guru, for the first time
Let the games begin like Jaceson Taylor wrote his first rhyme
Technology make niggaz lazy, with the pro tools
Even you could write your verse in the booth like you were Jay-Z
A Hollywood between reality tv and rap
Is there ain't no more use for the classically trained actor
First light bulb ever made is still burnin
They sell the ones that burn out to take the money you earnin
Word that marijuana grow too natural to be a cash crop
We have cops at bars, smokin squares, throwin back shots
They walk the street and bring the heat to the apshalts
Servin, protectin the half, beatin on the half not
Niggaz talk greasy in the magazines
'Till they track down and you hear the sounds of loaded magazines
Havin dreams 'till they ribs got a gat in between
Passion for cream, make a nigga wanna splatter your spleen
That shit is mean

[Chorus x2]

C'mon, Yeah
I like to take this opportunity, to thank everybody who been riding with me so far
It's a been a long journey
But they say your life's path is not about the destination
It's all about the journey
I appreciate y'all

[Chorus:]
It's my blood, sweat, tears, years
Struggle, love, hate, fear
New york city!
You could make it here, you could make it anywhere
I came to prepare
For the rain, hail, sleet, snow
Whatever the weather, we ride
Let my people go!
To a place where knowledge is born
We welcome you to the 3rd eye of the storm
Check it out!

[Verse:]
Futuristic lyricist, straight from the renaissance
Top of the suffer chain, raps up a edge a lot
My people suffering, slave to another chain
This voyage is maiden, like my mother of the name
Is this your first trip to hell?
Avenge a capitalist, if it's a product then we got it for sell
When I first started to spell, my words fell into rhymes
Turned into songs, everything else fell into line
I paint the pictures, you could see the people bleeding my bars
When I was a teen, I was mean, about to reach for the stars
So if I fail or fell, write in the clouds, tighten the vowel
Niggaz word, there use to be no bitin allowed
Now the gangsters no grindin' allowed
Probably see a fight in the stage, fore you see a fight in the crowd
I send this out to my people facing the storm
Homie we riding it out
You inspire what I'm writing about

[Chorus:]
It's the 3rd eye of the storm [x4]
Check it out! [x3]
Been fucking around!

[Verse:]
I'm not a judge, but I'm handing out sentences
To political prisoners, regular inmates with no visitors
Niggaz in the streets outside to reach up for ministers
Not those that say they spiritual, but actual parishoners
Rap listeners, we open the black businesses
This underground shit, with samples to lack clearances
Once you get a past appearances
You could tell who shit is fake and who's shit is based upon the past experiences
We really been to war, hand to hand like crack sales
Bill the man, the man they try to kill off the blackmail
Female left to raise up a son
From the day he was one
Til' he twenty, and he raise up a gun
Get the blazin, fore the blaze of the sun
Smoke bracin' his lung
Young in his years and he's facing a ton
None of his peers wanna share the road
Love the child, care to provider
But they hand a blunt and share saliva
You ain't a rider
And you hustlin' backwards
To many excess, with imitating these crackers
So our kids looking up to drug dealers and rappers
Taking away all the work away from our black actors
Revelation is first and armageddon is after
Tsunami's, hurricanes and natural disasters
Fast food culture be this, is always a factor
It's the gratification
They want the cash faster!

[Chorus:]
It's the 3rd eye of the storm [x4]
It's the place where knowledge is born!
Check it out! check it out!
Talib Kweli!
That's what it is...
Break it down

(Verse One)
I know there's a first time for everything
First time I let her in my bed she got wetter then the perfect storm
That we weathering together and
This the first time that I've ever considered wedding rings
But first things first yo
I met her at the bar rolling with three wise men like I followed the star
There she is shorty bi coastal
Thick like bifocals, stacked like 2Pac vocals her body so loco
Jewel of the Nile so I'm romancing the stone
The rhythm is to the words and I watched her dance to my poems
The way she move them hips let me know in advance that she grown
I pictured it like Paris Hilton when she answered the phone, yo
Dancing alone because she extra fly
But I got good look so I catch her eye
Gave the rest a try now give the best a try
Leave your nest and I'll fly make you testify
Damn baby I know we got some haters and.

(Hook)
I don't care what people say
As long as you and me okay
Because I never been in love before
See I use to be a player and
All of this is new to me
And this ain't what I'm used to see
Because I never been in love before

(Verse 2)
You running back to the kid like this was home base
Or a marathon I let you set your own pace
Your own space and the beautiful struggle
Now baby tell what's it gonna take to prove that I love you
When I'm gone you be missing me too
It let me know that my prayers is the music God be listening to
Don't get it confused I'm trying to get religious with you
I never thought I feel like this its like a miracle you
You You stole my heart like a crook in love
Crossing the bridge to the Brooklyn love
When I took above it's clear skies that's surrounding my earth
Your love is drugs and I'm down to serve let's deal with it yo
We go to the spot and you still get it low
I get excited fast and still love to hit it slow
till the walls come tumbling down like Jericho
And you hear the sound is stereo
Hear we go

(Hook)
I don't care what people say
As long as you and me okay
Because I never been in love before
See I use to be a player and
All of this is new to me
And this ain't what I'm used to see
Because I never been in love before

(Verse Three)
You looked good when I tried you on
So I had to write a song
Use to be the guy that always made her cry when I'm gone
Always kept a stable and I never spent a night alone
no cable or no hard line phone why
I'm never home scared of commitment
Ready to forever roam
We at war like sister souljah and she welcome to my terror dome
Head strong our connection proved them haters dead wrong
From now to R.I.P. Proceeds my name up on the headstone
Leave her be for five minutes
Dudes try to dive in it first
They want to spit on my name and tarnish my image
I tell them do you I don't care who she speaking with
Because I already know she made it clear who she leaving with
And it feels so beautiful
Put it in a rhyme because it feel so musical
Plus you ain't no groupie hoe
Sitting in the studio
Before we do this though there something that you should know

(Hook)
I don't care what people say
As long as you and me okay
Because I never been in love before
See I use to be a player and
All of this is new to me
And this ain't what I'm used to see
Because I never been in love before

Every night, slips away (phone ringing)
in other words, (yo, who's this?) I should say
there are no words, (y'all heard it) you should say
there are no words, (I mean it's life)
every night, slips away (I mean, what can I say? it's best)
in other words, I should say
there are no words, you should say
there are no words

Ms. Hill, you got skills, that's a gift, it's real
get ill, what you spit got the power to uplift the heel
I wish I could talk to Lauryn
I mean excuse me, Ms. Hill
and let her know how much we love her is real
the industry was beating her up
then those demons started eating her up
she need a savior that'll bleed in a cup, yup
we used to kick it in the salad days
when she look at me like she ain't know me when she see me nowadays
I nod, she nod back, that's how it stay
her songs still better than anything out there
hotter power play
remember how they accused her of saying
she did her album without help
then she went to Rome to sing
and tell the Pope about herself
just after she left the Fugees
started rolling with the Marleys
got back with her crew at Dave Chapelle's Block Party
she made songs about Zion
and trying to be faithful
took the Blackstar on tour in Europe
I was so grateful
speaking for myself but I'm sure I could speak for Dante
I got to watch a show with Nina Simone and Harry Belafonte
we used to chill at Nkiru, her moms was a customer
she used to love to buy the books by Octavia Butler
Parable of the Sower, the main character's name was Lauren
what the album did for black girls' souls was so important
I got concerned when she got sick on the road
she ain't heavy, I'm a brother
and I wish that I could pick up the load, but no

every night, slips away
in other words, I should say
there are no words, you should say
there are no words
another night slips away
in other words, I should say
there are no words, you should say
there are no words
Ms. Hill, you got skills, that's a gift, it's real
get ill, what you spit got the power to uplift the heel

got your assitant on the the phone
"I need to talk to Lauryn"
and I wanna walk through the storm, and I could be the umbrella
when the rain is pouring
please, this no disrespect to whoever your man is though
this relationship is strictly music like D'angelo
I know you hate Babylon, and wanna see it fall
but they won't let you read your poem at the BET awards
you give us hope, you give us faith, you the one
they don't like what you got to say
but still they beg you to come, whoa
now that's powerful sis, it's black power
we get money, keep our eyes on the final hour
and no I ain't saying you Christ, that would be sacriligous right?
but you can blow up the night, sisters the rats is vicious
the raps the sisters recite with their black fist up
the devil's last wish is a queen that rise past bitches
we used to read Francis Crest or anything
by Third World Press will press
but what the power of the word suggest
hatched ideas in our heads like birds in the nest
you gave birth to a new sound like Don did West, yes
should I be saying all of this while the mic is on?
I might as well let it out because one day I might be gone
I write this song and hope you feel how much we love you
and you play it, cause I really ain't got the words to say it
but yo

every night, slips away
in other words, I should say
there are no words, you should say
there are no words
another night slips away
in other words, I should say
there are no words, you should say
there are no words
Ms. Hill, you got skills, that's a gift, it's real
get ill, what you spit got the power to uplift the heel

[talking]
Yo, you know what we got to do, man, we need to get a whole CD.
Get a collection of all the music and everything we've ever done.

[woman singing]
Bringing back sweet memories (3x)

Life, living in Flatbush and going to house parties
Red lights, bumping, life is what you make it, then sorry
In my lifetime, ain't done too many things
better than watching your first son put his sentences together
Yo, it kinda make me think of way back when
I was the portrait of the artist as a young man
All them teenage dreams of rapping
Writing rhymes on napkins
Was really visualization
Making this shit actually happen
It's like something come through me
That truly just consume me
Speaking through the voices of the spirits speaking to me
I think back in the day, I absorbed everything like a sponge
Took a plunge into my past to share with my son

Bringing back sweet memories (3x)

Like thoughts out the back of my mind
Going back in some time
Like when you used to cut and had to go to the back of the line
Look back and you find
Tracks that make you relax and recline
Now cats rap about packing a nine
When they lacking divine
Inspiration
Running out of topics of conversation
Well I drop it in the pocket because rocking's my occupation
I do it remarkably, spark up a leaf
And possibly you could follow me
Tap into your chi
Utilize your memory
To help you see clearly, then get back to me
Actually, nothing's new under the sun
So when life be stressing me
My remedy is 'bringing back sweet memories'
Like the faces that are woven in the fabric of my consciousness
)From cities where making 21's a big accomplishment
Like when my people understood their prominence
And my past life visions of the continent
Like the first time I saw KRS live, rockin' it
I heard Resurrection by Common Sense
Dominant in my psyche
I chose my direction like Spike Lee
To speak my life through mics, and I never take it lightly
It might be something you did to bring you down when you were high
But that karma's a bitch, you steady asking God why
Like when my parents first split up
Yo, I was illin'
Seems like some years they was together for the sake of the children
And I love them for that
I don't know if they saw that
So I'ma say it, and convey it when the world play it (3x)

Bringing back sweet memories (3x)

Like black is beautiful, names from the seventies
Let me tap into your energy
Fields of dreams become my property
When I reach my destiny like a prophecy
Especially when I 'm 'bringing back sweet memories'
I got deep into my mind, see I got a treasury
That float through my head like a sweet melody
What you telling me
Reflection is a collection of memories
Definitely this is how hiphop was meant to be
Eventually, I knew I'd run into Hi-Teknology
It was only a matter of time like centuries
Check the recipe or technique to how it sound so sweet
I freak with word power, my man speak with beats
If I could make it in New York, I figured anywhere I'd make it
Came to Cincinnati linked with Mood, and we did Sacred
Hi-Tek beats became my favorite
Hussle on the Side was the cut
We started to put songs together like 'What!'
Travelled the world, came back to the crib
And hit the motherland
Yeah, this year we put in work and got some other plans
In fact, that's where I'll take the fam
when the Reflection joint is done
By the time you hear this, I'll be basking in African sun
Like Wow!
We made it
We here

Talib Kweli]
Yo we're going to have the word love
in many different languages translated all through the track
So whenever you hear the word love
Know that it's going to be in a different language
The language of love cannot be translated yo

Love is blind you just see bright light
You up in the club feelin' the night life lookin' for the right type
Blood rushing to your heart making it beat
When she swept you off your feet and made it complete
You know the plan you had to conquer the world
Thinking you Scarface, looking for that perfect girl
And now you found her
Started with romantic, then got to frantic
Then things thats normally small become gigantic
Now y'all sinkin like the Titanic here come the panic
Bein with you like a habit without you I can't stand it
It's tragic when you wonder when you lost that magic
Without understanding that you never had it try to grab it
In the bed gettin a nut off, communication cut off
Getting mad cause you turned or wondering where she shut off
Constantly comparing you to someone in my past
We don't smile anymore, and we argue over cash
Advance to that physical shit
See what happens if you keep talkin
See what happens if you lay a finger on me motherf...
Yo, see what I'm sayin'
It's like one big mind game that everybody playin and
Niggas say bitches is trife, bitches say niggas is
We just don't understand our fundamental differences
I'm still learning though, actually
I just do what come naturally, naturally, naturally

(Chorus):
L'amour n'a pas de, frontiere (Love has no boundaries)
Restes car je t'aime comme tu es (Stay because I love you as you are)
J'ai traverse l'ocean du verbe (I crossed an ocean of words)
Et je t'ai trouve (And I found you)

[Talib Kweli]
Women thrive on emotions, men refuse to acknowledge
So when we arguin nobody win
Words get in the way time and again
Sticks and stones break your bones words break your heart
Whether you in touch with that part or not say "word"
Words are weapons for the revolutionary
Used for evil make the situation very scary
Word up, but love is brave
It flies in the face of fear
Yo, wherever you want to go love'll take you there
Let's go, you know a flower that grow in the ghetto
Know more about survival than the one from fresh meadows
It got love for the sun, that's where I'm comin from
Spit in this fashion cause I love rockin over drums
Word (te quiero) I put my love into my music
If you with me then you love how I do it
If my heart you're livin' in your ocean I'm swimmin' in
Never drowning got me floatin' watching you in slow motion
Love potion overdosin approachin
The explosion of my senses everyday without your heart
is like a sentence in jail
Trust I'll always be mentally free
You got the key to let it out I'll show you how it could be
Love {*different language*} it ain't nuttin but a word
A chicken ain't nuttin but a bird
Yo, yo, yo

(Chorus):
L'amour n'a pas de, frontiere (Love has no boundaries)
Restes car je t'aime comme tu es (Stay because I love you as you are)
J'ai traverse l'ocean du verbe (I crossed an ocean of words)
Et je t'ai trouve (And I found you)

[Talib Kweli]
Some of y'all in love with that material but
love enter my life like a miracle and
It reciprocal that's why I'm feeling you love
We exibit our natural behavior
Like making love under the moon in Jamaica
Get you so hot you call the name of the creata
The morning we hop back into action again
Up on the wall lovin how the sun blacken your skin
Remember when we explored the beach
Swam in the ocean and saw beneith
How the colors of the coral reef looked like the illest floral peice
That's what your beauty remind me of
It's hard to find a love like ours, taking it high above
Them other duns try to spit game but, I dont sweat it though
Know in my heart that we connected so I let it go
Now if they call you out your name and that's a different thing
Anything but Queen I'll go to war like a King
Your friends sweat you cause you aint got a band
But they dont understand
Some things is meant to stay between a woman and man
And they ain't privy to it so they try to get into it
Both you and me see through it so the way we flow is fluid
We speak the love language, they speak from pain and anguish
Some don't love theyselves so they perception is tainted
Out they joint like "Shit, he payin for your rent" missin the point
When you rub me into your skin just like an ointment
It's more than pillow talk, it can't be translated
Learn how to speak it, and become emancipated
It's a language

Universal love...

(Chorus):
L'amour n'a pas de, frontiere (Love has no boundaries)
Restes car je t'aime comme tu es (Stay because I love you as you are)
J'ai traverse l'ocean du verbe (I crossed an ocean of words)
Et je t'ai trouve (And I found you)

Love love love love, love, love (Repeated

(Talib Kweli talking) (Sample Voice)

This the year of the BlackSmith...
Talib Kweli...
Kwame...

Lets Go! (Listen!!!)
Yea niggas dont- (Listen!!!)
Back in the days we all used to- (Listen!!!)
Now shit is so wack, nobody- (Listen!!!)to that real hip hop (Listen!!!)
Yo (Listen!!!)

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready, here come (Listen!!!)
Talib Kweli and im BANGING on ya Eardrum (I think i wanna hear you!!!)
Wha? now lemme get up in it
Wait-(wait just) Wait-(wait just) Wait-(wait just a minute!!!)
Wait!

(Verse 1)
Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me ya ears
Start repentin' cause the ending is near
But don't (Listen!!!) panic, you can't function if you livin' in fear
Pay attention you gotta listen to hear
(Wait just a minute!!!) Who the fuck you talkin' to?
Put you on hold, get a specialist to walk you through
Kweli, the flow captain of fast and slow rappin'
I'm so crackin', you ain't heard? ya shit appear like "Closed Captions"
King of the bars and I'm goin' hard cause-
All my confidence comes from knowin' God's Laws (Listen!!!)
Bangin' on the system, fightin' my kinda war:
Loud as a whisper, quiet as a lion's roar
(Wait just a minute!!!)

(Hook)
Ladies and gentlemen, get ready, here come (Listen!!!)
Talib Kweli and I'm BANGING on ya eardrum (I think I wanna hear you!!!)
Now lemme get up in it (Listen!!!)
Its for ya spirit so (Listen!!!)
But y'all don't hear me though (Listen!!!)
Get up, get into it and get involved (Listen!!!)
There's a little something that I wanna spit for y'all (I think I wanna hear you!!!)
Now lemme get up in it (Wait just- Wait just- Wait just a minute!!!)

(Verse 2)
Get it now, get it fast, get it right
Get it big, get it loud, get it done, get it tight (I think I wanna hear you!!!)
But you don't really hear me though
I (Listen!!!) spit clearly so (Listen!!!) it's live outcha stereo
(Listen!!!)To your heart while its beatin' in ya chest
(Listen!!!)When you speakin' to Execs
And they see behind the desk
(Listen!!!) To ya spirit, nothing weaker than the flesh
So while you try to keep it fresh, you gettin' deeper into debt
(Wait just a minute!!!) Real Hip-Hop is missin' from the shelf
Yup, it's what you felt when you listen to yaself
(Listen!!!) Only a few is makin' cuts that's spinnin'
So before you spend ya hard earned spinach
(Wait just a minute!!!)

(Hook)

(Verse 3)
You love the sounds comin' out your speaka
I spit rounds like a Nine Millimeta (Listen!!!)
The youth today they frown at the teachers
They ain't down with no leaders they don't wanna- (Wait just a minute!!!)
They like, "What?! Nigga wait right there.
I got 'Reservoir Dogs', you'll be missin' a 'Right Ear'"
(Listen!!!) Get it clear, i figure its my year
I'm everywhere makin' appearances in nigga's nightmares (Wait just a minute!!!)
Hear the word, peep the flow, check the cadence (Listen!!!)
What you heard as a Pro, I'm so amazing (Listen!!!)
Don't front girl, you know its ya favorite
New Kweli, yo, they runnin' out of patience (Wait just a minute!!!)

(Hook)

Yo, don't it sound so good to you? (Listen!!!)
Unh!, it's the return of the greatest y'all (I think I wanna hear you!!!)
Talib Kweli, BKMC (Listen!!!)
BlackSmith is the movement (Listen!!!)
BlackSmith is the music (Listen!!!)
Whatchu ridin' for?
Whatchu livin' for? (Listen!!!)
Whatchu dyin' for?
(I think I wanna hear you!!!)
Bangin' on ya Eardrum, Yea!
(Wait just- Wait just- Wait just a minute!!!)

(Listen!!!)

(Wait just- wait just- wait just a minute!!!)

(Talib Kweli talking) (Sample Voice)

This the year of the BlackSmith...
Talib Kweli...
Kwame...

Lets Go! (Listen!!!)
Yea niggas dont- (Listen!!!)
Back in the days we all used to- (Listen!!!)
Now shit is so wack, nobody- (Listen!!!)to that real hip hop (Listen!!!)
Yo (Listen!!!)

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready, here come (Listen!!!)
Talib Kweli and im BANGING on ya Eardrum (I think i wanna hear you!!!)
Wha? now lemme get up in it
Wait-(wait just) Wait-(wait just) Wait-(wait just a minute!!!)
Wait!

(Verse 1)
Friends, Romans, Countrymen lend me ya ears
Start repentin' cause the ending is near
But don't (Listen!!!) panic, you can't function if you livin' in fear
Pay attention you gotta listen to hear
(Wait just a minute!!!) Who the fuck you talkin' to?
Put you on hold, get a specialist to walk you through
Kweli, the flow captain of fast and slow rappin'
I'm so crackin', you ain't heard? ya shit appear like "Closed Captions"
King of the bars and I'm goin' hard cause-
All my confidence comes from knowin' God's Laws (Listen!!!)
Bangin' on the system, fightin' my kinda war:
Loud as a whisper, quiet as a lion's roar
(Wait just a minute!!!)

(Hook)
Ladies and gentlemen, get ready, here come (Listen!!!)
Talib Kweli and I'm BANGING on ya eardrum (I think I wanna hear you!!!)
Now lemme get up in it (Listen!!!)
Its for ya spirit so (Listen!!!)
But y'all don't hear me though (Listen!!!)
Get up, get into it and get involved (Listen!!!)
There's a little something that I wanna spit for y'all (I think I wanna hear you!!!)
Now lemme get up in it (Wait just- Wait just- Wait just a minute!!!)

(Verse 2)
Get it now, get it fast, get it right
Get it big, get it loud, get it done, get it tight (I think I wanna hear you!!!)
But you don't really hear me though
I (Listen!!!) spit clearly so (Listen!!!) it's live outcha stereo
(Listen!!!)To your heart while its beatin' in ya chest
(Listen!!!)When you speakin' to Execs
And they see behind the desk
(Listen!!!) To ya spirit, nothing weaker than the flesh
So while you try to keep it fresh, you gettin' deeper into debt
(Wait just a minute!!!) Real Hip-Hop is missin' from the shelf
Yup, it's what you felt when you listen to yaself
(Listen!!!) Only a few is makin' cuts that's spinnin'
So before you spend ya hard earned spinach
(Wait just a minute!!!)

(Hook)

(Verse 3)
You love the sounds comin' out your speaka
I spit rounds like a Nine Millimeta (Listen!!!)
The youth today they frown at the teachers
They ain't down with no leaders they don't wanna- (Wait just a minute!!!)
They like, "What?! Nigga wait right there.
I got 'Reservoir Dogs', you'll be missin' a 'Right Ear'"
(Listen!!!) Get it clear, i figure its my year
I'm everywhere makin' appearances in nigga's nightmares (Wait just a minute!!!)
Hear the word, peep the flow, check the cadence (Listen!!!)
What you heard as a Pro, I'm so amazing (Listen!!!)
Don't front girl, you know its ya favorite
New Kweli, yo, they runnin' out of patience (Wait just a minute!!!)

(Hook)

Yo, don't it sound so good to you? (Listen!!!)
Unh!, it's the return of the greatest y'all (I think I wanna hear you!!!)
Talib Kweli, BKMC (Listen!!!)
BlackSmith is the movement (Listen!!!)
BlackSmith is the music (Listen!!!)
Whatchu ridin' for?
Whatchu livin' for? (Listen!!!)
Whatchu dyin' for?
(I think I wanna hear you!!!)
Bangin' on ya Eardrum, Yea!
(Wait just- Wait just- Wait just a minute!!!)

(Listen!!!)

(Wait just- wait just- wait just a minute!!!)

Oh American citizen, come collect your freedom
no matter what your living in
no more giving in
Oh American citizen, come collect your freedom
no matter what you're living in
it's time to win
keep us in the four walls of our childrens will be quiet
most of us aint even democratic or Republic
can, and by coincidence we love the elected until the detected of being human
American falls, minorities lose war
but if we unite we would have won the war
on poverty
on drugs
on medicated
on love
Freedom isn't given it is taken
freedom isn't free it's earned
not, no, it's learned
been hung and burned,
yet rest in peace, resurrected plea
this aint black or white, it's grey
this is not about my face
most of us don't know what to say
right from wrong, I'm free from slaves
Let freedom reign
do you wanna be free or do you wanna be
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be
free,
let freedom Reign
(repeated)
[Talib Kweli]
America the beautiful
suspect as usual
liberty and death give me freedom on my funeral
I walk across the planet with the steps of a giant
my rhymes bridge the gap between religion and science
cause my evidence is spiritual
I know my sheer presence is a miracle
I wasn't supposed to be here to share with you
but here I am, standing with my chest out
I take my place in history I never get left out
You stressed out and scared so it's causing you to act hard
freedom aint free, gotta put it on my black card
my passport claim I'm an American citizen
the constitution said I'm three fifths
I'm not a semi and gorrilla
make my songs stronger than the horn of Gideon
truth is the ? gave the native people syphillis
Consider this: Christopher Columbus ain't know where he was goin'
So lets stop calling our Native brothers Indians
[Chorus]
[Black Thought]
We were carried here in shackles from the homelands
? chop, chain locked, brain washed, programmed
time's change, freedom reigns, I'm a grown man
holding the future in the palms of my own hands
in this World, the coonery and tomfoolery
all I'm trying to do is stay true to my community
the daily news aint the only thing that's schooling me
watching these haters operating with impunity
tis journey dollar signs, black and white collar crimes
running out of time, out of sight, out of mind
it gets realer and it's real in Palestine
troubles of the World start to seem intertwined
war criminals, conflict minerals, pillagers are coming home
and five star generals telling lies in press conferences and interviews
I'm trying to take back the power cause it's been abused
[Chorus]
[Chrisette Michele]
I'm just black in America
I'm not afro american
just a passive american
making belief I'm better than
what we've been, what we've been
I said
I'm just black in America
I'm not afro american
just a passive american
making belief I'm better than
what we've been, what we've been

[Mos Def]
Hey, hey, heyyy man
I Strike the Empire Back..
I Strike the Empire Back..
Fuck the Empire!!
High flyin like the Millenium Falcon, piloted by Han Solo
I never roll for dolo, frontin on me's a no-no
Understand? Doin this for my family
Ha ha, check it out y'all

Yo I'm tryin to make a dollar out of what makes sense
Add it up, told my daddy I'd be a rich man
You never know when your fate gon' switch hand
Get today's solid ground out of yesterday's quicksand
I was a young boy -- who dreamt about being a big man
on small looseleaf sheets I sketched a big plan
Gotta handle business properly, boost up my economy
Store it up and get my mom some waterfront property
Yesterday was not for me but nowaday it's time for me
The streets is watchin me, I watch back, that's the policy
Movin along my oddesey like blood through the artery
Navigate the treacherous and make it seem effortless
Let those who make the exodus seekin the North beacon
from beatin and hog-eatin, from punishment all season
from hands cracked and bleedin -- cotton thorns in your palms
It's for y'all that I sketch these songs, and it goes..
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow
I fear no man, because faith is the aarow
My vocal chord travel worldwide to block narrow
We can blow with the ammo or go mano-a-mano
Kweli is you wit me? (Whattup whattup?) Let's make it happen
I *BURN* through your argument with action
My eyes stay fastened to tomorrow lookin for a brighter day
When y'all wanna leave y'all? Right away

Shout it out from East-West (from South to Northern)
From Cakalak' (to California)
From the coldest (to the warmest)
To the borders ('cross the waters) understand..
".. and know that I love you.."
We got love in the place
Shout out to all the Queens (all the Seeds)
To all the teams (that's gettin cream)
From outlaw (to emcee's)
Make it happen (do your thing) understand..
".. and know that I love you.."
Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and
gentlemen

[Talib Kweli]
Guess who? The illest MC in the atmosphere, yeah the Soul
Controller
who roam the frontier like a Buffalo Soldier
I follow the code of honor like a real man gonna
Never disrespect no women cause I love my momma
These cats be givin us praise but it ain't that accurate
I give it up to God, all that, love and attachment, get
scary well-prepared with the shears when it get hairy
like how these niggaz is lookin like some fairies
and singin like canaries to the beast
and anybody who will listen to em clearly
Y'all don't hear me though, even when I'm comin through in
stereo
You make a mockery of what I represent properly
Yo why you startin me? I take that shit straight to the artery
Intellectual property I got the title and the deed
I pay for rent, with the tears and sweat, and what I bleed
MC's imitate the way we walk, the way we talk
You cats spit lyrical pork with no spiritual thought
Plus your flow a little bit off, you come across soft
Back in the days, niggaz like that on stage got tossed off
Need to get crossed off the guestlist
It's like you gotta be disrespected and thrown out the exit
to get the message
Sometimes your sunshine get snatched like a necklace
when you get too drunk on power and your drive get reckless
Check it, MC's in my face after I slug you then I hug you
If I gotta dead you know it's only cause I love you

[Mos Def]
Shout it out from East-West (from South to Northern)
From the richest (to the poorest)
To the elders (in the coffins)
Livin native (dyin for it) understand..
".. and know that I love you.."
Yea, yea, we got love in the place
Shout out from up top (to the middle)
To black bottom (SKY HIGH)
Whether you colder than December
or hotter, than July
It don't stop 'til we complete this
(".. and know that I love you..") keep this fly
It's so much to life when you just
stay black (10X)
My people, my people, my people people p-people (8X)
My PE-ople, oh-oh-OH-oh-OHH, oh-OHH...

A keynote speaker's about to come on now
I just wanted to say a few words about him,
and you all know who he is
Talib Kweli
Please, hold your applause 'til the end
We are glad
to come
and hear you speak
We love it!
Kweli doesn't like me to talk about this but
one time we were drivin'
through the Mississippi Delta
And there was a brotha runnin' up the side of the road
And he didn't have any, shoes on
He didn't have a, shirt on
And I started to drive right by this man
but Kweli said, "Stop the car, beause that brotha, might be in trouble"
And I stopped the car
Kweli said to the man, he said,
"Brotha, are you OK? Do you need a ride somewhere?"
And the man looked at Kweli and said,
"Shhhh . . . I'm escapin'"
And kweli took him by the hand and said,
"My brotha, you didn't get the memo. We have been FREE,
for some time now"
Well, I'm windin' it up
Please welcome,
a good friend, scholar, ghetto philosopher,
three time Nobel Peace Prize winner,
first black man to pilot an air craft,
the nigga that made up the Nike Swoosh,
the man that made Kool Aid say, "Ohh Yea"
Brooklyn's own,
Talib Kweli

[Talib Kweli]
So many emcees focusin on black people extermination
We keep it balanced with that knowledge of self, determination
It's hot, we be blowin the spots, with conversations
C'mon let's smooth it out like Soul Sensation

We in the house like Japanese in Japan, or Koreans in Korea
Head to Philly and free Mumia with the Kujichagulia TRUE
Singin is swingin and writin is fightin, but what
they writin got us clashin like titans it's not excitin
No question, bein a black man is demandin
The fire's in my eyes and the flames need fannin (3X)

With that what? (Knowledge Of Self) Determination
*repeat 4X*

[singer]
Things I say and do, may not come quite through
My words may not convey just what I'm feelin

[Talib Kweli]
Yes yes come on, yes yes
Knowledge Of Self is like life after death
With that you never worry about your last breath
Death comes, that's how I'm livin, it's the next days
The flesh goes underground, the book of life, flip the page
Yo they askin me how old, we livin the same age
I feel the rage of a million niggaz locked inside a cage
At exactly which point do you start to realize
That life without knowledge is, death in disguise?
That's why, Knowledge Of Self is like life after death
Apply it, to your life, let destiny manifest
Different day, same confusion, we're gonna take this
hip-hop shit and keep it movin, shed a little light
Now y'all bloomin like a flower with the power of the evident
Voices and drums original instruments
In the flesh presently presentin my representation

With that what? (Knowledge Of Self) Determination
*repeat 6X*
these two parts overlap
Things I say and do, may not come quite through
My words may not convey just what I'm feelin
*repeat 2X*

[Talib Kweli]
The most important time in history is, NOW, the present
So count your blessings cause time can't define the essence
But you stressin over time and you follow the Roman calendar
These people enter Cona like Gattaca, you can bet
they tryin to lock you down like Attica, the African diaspora
represents strength in numbers, a giant can't slumber forever
I know you gotta get that cheddar whatever
Aiyyo I heard you twice the first time money, get it together
You must be History, you repeatin yourself out of the pages
You keepin yourself depleatin your spiritual wealth
That quick cash'll get your ass quick fast in houses of detention
Inner-city concentration camps where no one pays attention
or mentions the ascension of death, til nothing's left
The young, gifted and Black are sprung addicted to crack
All my people where y'all at cause, y'all ain't here
And your hero's using your mind as a canvas to paint fear
With, broad brush strokes and tales of incarceration
You get out of jail with that Knowledge of Self determination
Stand in ovation, cause you put the Hue in Human
Cause and effect, effect everything you do
and that's why I got love in the face of hate
Hands steady so the lines in the mental illustration is straight
The thought you had don't even contemplate
Infinite like figure eight there's no escape..

From that what? (Knowledge Of Self) Determination
*repeat 4X*

Things I say and do, may not come quite through
My words may not convey just what I'm feelin
*repeat 2X*

..

Things I say and do, may not come quite through
My words may not convey just what I'm feelin
*repeat 2X*

What I'm feelin, what I'm feelin, ooooh, what I'm feelin...

(Talib Kweli)
Wooaahh! yeah
On top of the world
Yeah, that's how my seeds got me feeling' right now
On top of the world
Yeah, you ever felt like you could do anything (Yeah)
On top of the world
Amani Fela, Diane Ashe, I'ma hold y'all down for real (Gotcha!)

(Talib Kweli)
It was 1996, 4th of July, looking off in the sky
dealing with thoughts inside, when something caught my eye
It was a silhoutte of a beautiful woman, bright with life
carrying my first seed, looking like she gone bear fruit tonight
We at the African street festival, and she walking around
talking about the midwife said, that bring the baby down
I'm about to be a father, the sights and sounds, seem brighter around me
and for starters, I know I'ma work harder, word
We got home at three in the morning, I was beat
them contractions started coming as soon as I fell asleep
3:05, like every five minutes, then the water broke
we on the go, yelling at the cabbie, cause he's sort of slow
You know them hospitals all trying to get paid, no questions
hear come the doctor's with they drugs, trying to do c-sections
But my baby stay's strong, in labor for yay long
eight-pound baby boy, to carry my name on, joy!

(Chorus: Mos Def) + (Talib Kweli)
Huh, yeah
I know how you feel, Kweli I know how you feel
(That's the sound of joy)
See my brother, I know how you feel, Kweli, I know how you feel
(That's the sound of joy)
So when you, have a seed, come in the world, say dog that shit's real
(That's the sound of joy, y'all)
Huh, Kweli, yo I know how you feel, Kweli, yo I know how you feel

My baby girl

(Talib Kweli)
June 10th, 1999, I been on the grind
since the birth of my son, it's been about, way more then rhymes
Baby on the way, my lady glowing today, at least
that's what the midwife said, on the phone
Anyway, the music got me going away
Like everyday, but it's a blessing, so I gotta have patience
and she got pregnant on a Jamaican vacation
So it's all good, this time well have the baby in a house
I went the hospital route, I know what they all about (Never again)
So I'm out on tour, in Baltimore
get the call around four, when the water hit the floor (Damn!)
I gotta rock my show, but I gotta go
got second thoughts about her not going, to the hospital
I left the show early, Mos held me down, good looking (No doubt)
call the car service, like, take me straight to Brooklyn (Uh huh)
Got the news in the car, stayed sorta calm
but I cried tears of joy, when they put my daughter in my arms, how precious!

(Chorus: Mos Def) + (Talib Kweli)
Huh, huh
Said I know how you feel, uh, said I know how you feel when you
(My precious joy)
Said I know how you feel, uh, Kwe I know how you feel
(I know you do, huh, my precious joy y'all)
Huh, uh, said I know how you feel (yeah), said I know how you feel
(My precious joy)
Huh, man I know how you feel (yeah), said I know how you feel

(Talib Kweli)
I do it for the seeds y'all, in they formative years when they need y'all
we gotta believe, in what we conceive y'all, it's deep y'all
I give them the truth, so they approach the situation, with ammunition
I keep nothing away, they hear everything, cause they know how to listen
Teach them the game, so they know they position, so they can grow
and make decisions, that change the world, and break old tradition
They put kids in jail, for a life they ain't even get to start
that's murder too, and it's breaking my heart, it's breaking our nation apart
We gave the youth all the anger, it's just
we ain't taught them, how to express it, and so it's dangerous
You can't talk to them
Unless your language is relating to what they going through
so busy ignoring them, you can't see what they showing you
And you wonder, why we called baby-daddy's and baby-momma's
when we grow up, we can't act like adult mothers and fathers, yo
I'm so blessed to have a boy and a girl, everyday they bring joy to my world

(Chorus: Mos Def) + (Talib Kweli)
Huh, yeah
I know how you feel, Kweli I know how you feel
(That's the sound of joy)
Brother Kwe', I know how you feel, Brother Kwe', I know how you feel
(Baby girl, my precious joy)
Kweli, I know how you feel, say bro' I know how you feel
(Fela, be my joy, yo)
Huh, if you know how the people feel, let me really know how you... yo

I do it for the seeds y'all (Repeat 5x)

(Talib Kweli)
Yeah, yeah
New Talib Kweli
Yeah, you know what it is
Come on, come on, yeah
Hey yo *repeats*

(Hook: Mary J. Blige)
I try, I try (that's all we can do)
I try, you know I try
I try, I try (yeah)
I try, you know I try

(Verse 1: Talib Kweli)
K. West! Kweli!
Got searched on the plane, Arabic first name
Disturbed by the fame just like Kurt Cobain
Breath of life, kiss of death, my lips pursed the same
You flirt 'til she came
Nothin' hurt like the pain and torture
Daughters of the dust lookin' for a vein
Something to take in vain like the Lord's name
Put your hands together, got 'em all sayin'

(Hook: Mary J. Blige)
I try, I try
I try, you know I try
I try, I try
I try, you know I try

(Verse 2: Talib Kweli)
Yo, it's all ghetto in gear higher, the floor settle
More metal for beef that we don't let the law settle
I try to navigate the treacherous waters of
America's ghettos that set up the slaughteres
But there's more of us
Although we speak in different languages
We all pretty familiar with what anger is
Young and dangerous, ???
Get up on some gangsta shit
Guns to bang ya wit'
And we put it on records to entertain ya wit'
I'm grown with pains way deeper than my receivers
Our uniforms is white sneakers and white T-shirts
On top of wife beaters
We like to light reefers
The 'hood need us for rappers, just ain't the right leaders
I put a lot into it
This is my product and I gotta move it
Stop the industry but you can't stop the music

(Interlude: Mary J. Blige)
An upside down kingdom where life is just not fair (upside down kingdom)
Some many sufferin' cuz deep inside they're scared (so scared)
Fear pumped into their veins to keep them from their destiny
Where would they be if you and I don't care?

(Hook: Mary J. Blige)
I try, I try, you know I try
I try, I try, I try, you know I try

(Verse 3: Talib Kweli)
Yo, the things I'm seein' on the news is insane
A stock broker shoot his kid and throw himself in front of a train
A mother leave her baby home for two weeks all by himself
Three years old, eatin' ketchup and mustard, cryin for help
Tryin' to bring your struggle to life
The label want a song about a bubbly life
I have trouble tryin' to write some shit
To BANG in the club through the night
When people suffer tonight
Lord knows I try

(Hook: Mary J. Blige)
I try, I try, I try, you know I try
I try, I try, I try, you know I try

(Interlude: Talib Kweli)
Life is a beautiful struggle
People search through the rubble for a suitable hustle
Some people usin' the noodle, some people usin' the muscle
Some people put it all together, make it fit like a puzzle
Come on, say it now
Life is a beautiful struggle
People search through the rubble for a suitable hustle
Some people usin' the noodle, some people usin' the muscle
Some people put it all together, yeah

(Outro: Mary J. Blige)
I try, I try, you know I try
I try, oh Lord I try
Everyday I

{*Mary J. Bliges harmonizes with the beat*}

Upside down kingdom
Oh, they're so scared
Everyday on the news we can't look around with
something somewhere
I try, I try, you know I try
I try, I try, I try, you know I try
Lord knows, Lord knows we try
Yeah

As a kid growing up in brooklyn, my pops was a DJ
he had a bunch of records: Funk, jazz, rhythm & blues, soul
know what I'm sayin
there was this one gospel record i liked, like, like
like Holy Molly, I might get some religion and leave ya holy holy, ya this rhyme so fat its rolly polly
ill give intimate details so you can get to know me,
these corporate rapers like why this dude pickin on me
you rap your way to the top but now its gettin lonely,
kids is hungry and you lookin like steak from nick and tony's
but don't nobody want your jewels cause ya shit is phony
say word yo shit is real, yo shit is corny,
rhymes turn a new page like mark foley
and touch kids like when larry clark gave the part to chloe,
rest in peace to Harold Hunter, the greatest from New York
who started out skating for Zoo York, word
hangin out at the gavin, i was very lucky
the talk to rash once i got past Darren Dudley,
got him on respiration that's pre-Badu
bet you Garnett Reid got a Matt Doo tattoo,
some times it feels like im drowning i gotta tread water
head above the water i always remember headquarters
heads up eyes open i got my mind focused
i find hope inside a line, my rhymes defines opus


sometimes hopeless people fill my soul with evil
my record so hard it broke the needle,
at the mixtape awards niggas act like they don't give a f**k though
disrespect the legacy of Justo
what the blood clot? no, let the blood flow
you aint come to pay your respect then what you come fo,
too many good niggas die, it's like a stop loss
good niggas ghetto like fried wings and hot sauce,
how you hard the cops lettin 50 shots off
baby jay-z's with the knock off Scott Storch
beat you are not Short you are not Katt
you not a playa or a pimp money stop that,
learn to masta your speech and be eloquent
rappers keep peddlin sweets the beats weaker than gelatin,
we used to kick em dust and now we settling
rest to peace to Dilla, Weldon we can't forget you
professor x and proof we miss you word,
rest in peace to Shakka, 21 gun salute in the air like
Bloc! Bloc! Bloc!
Still here cause your livin through me
your like a gift god give it to me.
uh uh uh what!

[Mos Def]
Kweli say, "Everybody act according to the season that they born in"
Some are the night, some are the morning, some at noon
Some in winter, some in June
It's all cool, it's the natural
The science is a jewel
For me and mines, yours and you
Let's move, tell you a little about mine, yo

I was born in a season where the world was quiet and cold
Celebrations were going on
Some were happy, some were sad
Some felt bad from being good
Some felt good from being bad, feelings pass and change
but they never leave, they here to stay
Holiday, holiday, happy birthday
Teenage love, the first cut run deep
Soul on flesh, this is the Brooklyn streets
Year of the Ox, seven and three
M.D., the history (come on)
Every soul got one indeed (yes)
It's where you been and where you be
And without understanding you cannot proceed
Complete, the start then an end
Then it just go round again... again

[Talib Kweli and Mos Def]
Again and again, brand new
Again and again, so fresh
Again and again, newness

[Talib Kweli]
I was born in the decade of decadence where they worship what they have
Ford was president, do the math
The war was ended when the North Vietnamese stormed the city of Saigon
We was like "Bye", we was gone, let bygones be bygones
I'm goin' spread love, it's the Brooklyn way
Where the hug you with the firearm side arm
Like new school clothes, Black Star official
Smash when we do a show, it's facts, no mystery
I'm down with the crew like Mussolini in Italy
I rock with The Roots like the Given Tree
Powerful, bigotry I work, me and my people got history
These rappers dumb it down considerably
We "Get it Poppin'" like a hit chorus
The flow is historic, they can't get rid of us
Ubiquitous and we lay the law like Leviticus
Ten years ago we made history so they missing us

[Mos Def]
And don't call it come back in particular
Even if it blend into ephemeral I fade into peripheral,
Transition of the minister's original we're broadcast clear
Without diminishing, Black Star, so tight
Burning soul temperatures and ministers
Alkalines aminos and minerals, essentials
Served over Dilla time signatures
It's miracle material, remember it's right now foreverness

[Kweli]
People keep askin me, where's the underground? There's mad talented
cats underground with that raw shit. Ya know what'm sayin? Bringin the
raw skills. Ya know what I'm sayin? Really...
To me, It's a Small Wonder, like Vicki, why I'm picky
These niggas suck like kitty,
and still get the shit they slip in like Mickies
I'm sick of the hater-players, bring on the regulators
With the flavors like a farm team fucking with the majors
Like a river how I run through it, I do it so cold
Freezin up your bodily fluids, your style is old
You runnin your mouth, but don't really know what you be talkin about
You should retire, get that complimentary watch, be out!
Yo, with the quickness, so swift you miss this lyrical fitness
Now get this, these emcees wanna test me like litmus, bear witness
I'm like shot clocks, interstate cops, and blood clots
My point is, your flow can stop!
By all means, you need more practice, take that ass home
Everybody lookin at you, fish tanks and drome
In full effect, I stay catchin lyrical rep
And keep it blacker than the back of your neck
What you expect, that shit's hollerin
Cause we developin the followin
gettin played like ?stones? off tapes and ?dollar vans?
I'll reverse you, universal, your demise is first
Before your rise gets worse
You need a night nurse like Gregory, beggin me
Stop it hurts, what you say to me?
Like thats supposed to mean something
You don't wanna scene, frontin in the club
Your actin, I don't buy it, I got the Dub
Come on everybody, come on and show your love
*repeat 4X*
Chorus: *chanted in background*
Wo-oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-uh-oh *repeated 4X*
[Mos]
Visions occupy my semantic's space
Command and shake, to illustrate my mind's landscape
The tall grass, the low plains, the mountanous ridges
Thickets among the forests, rivers beneath the bridges
Presence of hilltops, lit up with tree tops
Eavesdrop; and hear the incline of sunshine, nine
Stones in orbit, refuse to forfeit
They all form a cipher, and they came to observe it
I follow suit, and face it, embrace it
Shinin bright, but still I'm careful not to waste it
Destined to rise, because I'm basement adjacent
Spirit is still so just chill and be patient
Some heads approach like I'm the one to base with
Clowns about, screamin but don't say shit
I ain't your student so I ain't to be tested
I'm majestic, I represent my strength without ?Epitmass?
Method is unorthodox, but of course it rocks
My serious synopsis will drop kick, my topics
Run the gauntlets and galvanize the audience
I must represent, I don't come off with no corniness
I'm all luminary, despite commentary
Some people say, Mos how you get so?
My sign will make you jump around like calypso
And murmur to yourself like a schizo
There ain't no bottom on the ???
Chorus
[Talib Kweli]
Come on, come on, come on, come on. Here we go. Blackstar, hop on the
Blackstar line. We bout to take y'all home. Ya know what I mean? Here
we
go...
We got all markets on lock
From meat to stock
Blackstar, what? throwin like head rock in bars
Men flock to where we are, cause its the place to be
I grab my pay, jump on-stage and deface emcees
We sell our souls like Spawn and come for the drone I sit upon
Freestyle or written songs so we can get it on!
Going back and forth, fallin back, all across the track
Passin the mic's like quarterbacks
of course its phat, get off of that!
Reverse psychology got em scared to say when shit is whack
Got fear of being called a hater, imagine that! We ain't havin that
We just passed the star status that your grabbin at
My battle raps blast your ass back to your natural habitat
So floss, cause what it costs ain't worth it to me
Cause I'm the one these Spice Girl emcees Wanna Be
But they can't, ain't no points forever, so why bother?
Cause your girl calls my name out like Claerance Carter, Claerance
Carter, Claerance Carter!?! (I be strokin, thats what I be doin)
Aiyyo, as we rock harder
And always drop the bonified head nodders
Aiyyo, later for the hater-players
Yo-yo, yo-yo, later for these hater-players
Chorus
Blackstar keeps shining
Chorus
Blackstar keeps shining

(feat. Black Star (Mos Def and Talib Kweli))

[Mos Def talking]
See, now y'all cats think I'm playing haha
(???) can't see yo, see yo, see you too
It's not easy, it's not easy to see all you haha
See good, you know?
If you can shop, you know

[Mos Def]
(???)
Hotter than the summer at Kajasa
Where Francis Coppola and Dennis Hopper burned down the Don Store Opera
Hijack ya sponsor
Some surrender greens, yet we remain unconquered
The Black Star galactical, contemporary, classical, magical
Mr. Tim's other hand slappin you
Tread the narrow passage through the regulator habitats
Place where ain't no crackers at
Place where all the crackas at, outer city limits
Hotter than the Red Light District
Dealin rap flows, strictly cash flow business
Stakes is high like astrophysics
Play with mine, you'll have no winnings
Let these mother scratchers know from go ginnin
They better move slow like old women
We want the whole cake, whole milk and no skimmin
Hand crafted flows wove in silk or linen
Word is war/wore like denim, we textile blendin
Topper say top spinnin
Transcribe the document, prominent on all continents
Black Star congregates and dominates
Burn through your armor plates
Pipin hot and we not from concentrate
Make the mass mob the market place
Cuz we rock the black market tapes
Hard margin (hard margin)

[Mos Def talking]
Haha haha, these cats is funny man
Think it a big joke?
They make a lotta presumptions based on some nonsense
Yeah mon, ya don't know me
Ya don't know me, think you know me, ya don't know me
Ya vision not sharp
Ya vision can't see the light proper, ya see?

[Talib Kweli]
Movin the crowd like cattle from here to Picadilly Circus
Try to battle us, it's clearly silly and worthless
You really can't hurt us and it's ridiculous to try
So stick us with us unless you wanna die and not know why
Yo we spray you with ambition like an inner drive by
Feel the pain of my rain when I snatch the sun out your sky
Thinkin you fly, signin contracts with the devil, bust guys iller
We flatten your town like Godzilla
Whether guilt is a skrilla, Franks or banks, five pence or ten cents
Whatever the currency we currently intense like great sex
You make bets before you gamble your life away
On mics I break up vets like fights
Crumble up rookies like cookies
Lest y'all can deal with them bookies
Aww sooky sooky, now looky looky here
Yo you softer than pink cashmere
Just catchin up with rhymes that I fuckin dropped last year
I flow clear like Evian, tap on that ass like Savion
My style's way beyond the average rhyme savage
The shit that they be on, it ain't doin no damage
If lyrical skills is food then them niggaz is famished
They can't manage so their shit is poorly represented
Necessity's the mother of everything that's embedded
I came up with the style to see right through your smile
My rhyme is true and leave you kinda blue like Miles
Pick my gun up and run up on you just like the river Nile
Bringin life to the mic like midwives deliver child
Now the stakes is high so I'ma take you there
That beef will get you all bloody cuz your steaks is rare
The hard margin
Why you startin? Your life get finished
Corny cats, no experience, green like spinach
Lookin diminished and malnourished
Me and Mos flourish
The illest shit ever dropped by American tourists
Hard margin

[Mos Def]
What if I drop the hard bargain?
We the reason why Cipher start sparkin
Curse on your whole dance squadron
Black Star shine and never darken
(???) enlarging, hard margin, hard margin
So what if I rise and start sparkin?
From never foolin lofty ass gardens
Rock your whole head, code red like margarine
Black Star shine, we never darken *echo*
Hard margin

[Mos Def says more ad libs]

(Talib Kweli)
Now, If I'm out of town my crew take of your bodies the more the merrier
Point and spray the area
Niggas is quick to bury you
Punk niggas feel inferior
Guns make us superior
Cats start acting scarier
Situations get hairier, yo
You know who killing it, niggas saying they militant
The only blood in the street is when the government spilling it
You could have a hand gun or a cannon
And you still (?)
without the knowledge and wisdom and understanding of
a 22 derringer
a 38 long
a 44 desert eagle
a Glock Nine
time to protect the fam I'm a cock mine
I make the streets run red like a stop sign stop lieing

(Hook)
Co Coi Coi Clak Clak Clak Clak Clak
Gun man music never take shot back (oh!)
Co Coi Coi Clak Clak Clak Clak Clak (Come On)
Ghetto Red Hot 'round the world you hear that (oh oh oh come on)
Co Coi Coi Clack Clak Clak Clak Clak
Gun man youth never take shot back (Yes!)(Brooklyn)
Co Coi Coi Clak Clak Clak Clak Clak
Ghetto red hot 'round the world you hear that
In Jamaica (Kingston), In Brooklyn (Flatbush), In Ethiopia (Yep)
We Go There and Back (Come On)
To all my real live soldier cats where you at
Dogs don't hold them back
those the cats that go to strapped to blow a back

(Talib Kweli)
You could be whoever, a black panther or lap dancer
when respect is the question folks coming with the gat answer
Shoot at your feet like spider, you a tap dancer
What am I amusing to you?
You better have that answer
Toys for guns, I got guns for toys
Silencers bring the heat without bringing the noise
Bringing the funk of dead bodies, go ahead bring in your boys
You'll see the soul of black folk like W.E.B DuBois
Israelies got tanks and Palestinians got rocks
Inmates got shanks and dirty cops they got glocks
We got tribes in Africa that listen to Pac
fighting with brothers who pump Biggie like they live on the block

(Hook)

(Cocoa Brovaz)
These are the tools of the trade
that we use to get paid
When we cruise on escapades
and escalades with guns to blaze
we been this ways since the younger days
Safe from the hunger pains
Pop Bang when the trouble came
Pioneers of gun slang
Supply you with them things
a little something, something
set fire to the game
my system be thumping
Co Coi Coi! the sounds of guns busting
Co Coi Coi! your heart just start pumping

(Talib Kweli)
From a 22 derringer
a 38 long
a 44 desert eagle
Time to protect the fam I 'ma cock mine
I make the streets run red like a stop sign stop lying

Gun Music y'all

(Kweli talking)
Yeah...
Yeah! That's what I'm talkin about!
Let's do it... Kanye West, c'mon turn me up and
Black Thought, c'mon turn me up and
Pharoahe Monch, c'mon turn me up and
Talib Kweli in the house with

(Hook: Kanye West)
Guerrilla monsoon rap - all the shorties like "who dat?"
Got the whole crowd like "how ya do dat?"
Nigga you, get smacked 'til ya blue black
And ya crew, give me dap like true dat
We come through and all the shorties like "who dat?"
Got the whole crowd like "how ya do dat?"
Nigga you, get smacked 'til ya blue black
And ya crew, give me dap like true dat

(Black Thought)
Yo, I hit these emcees with the grip of death like I was a Vulcan
Ain't a lot of "ifs" an "ands", it's just straight talkin
It's hard to swallow at times, so take portions
Bitin off more than you can chew, create offense
Emcee species endangered like dolphins
Rappers is spittin nails into they own coffins (c'mon)
Hear come the Dundee moves rocket-launchin (yeah)
Black Thought, quit playin him close and back up off him

(Talib Kweli)
Kweli -- spruce to the tree, Bruce to the Lee
The real emcee, that your favorite rapper used to be
One by one I knock 'em out like Schoolly D - my rhymes is eulogy
A flea could move a tree, before ya think ya movin me
I black and blue emcees - actin new to me, get smacked stupidly
That lack skills, like the black community lack unity (uh)
Still my rhymes heard like Ali DePhrase
Step off the stage to shouts of "Kweli boomayyay!!"

(Pharoahe Monch)
See these four emcees came to get down
Rearrange the rap game, change ya whole sound
Nigga YOU, got ta, understand the plot ta
Movin and groovin and always improvin alot-ta
I'll outfox the, average Porsche Boxster talk
Break the bank on some old Frank Sinatra (New York...)
Slash Chi-Town, slash Philly
Check the blast from Geneva, you can get slapped silly

(Hook)

(Black Thought)
Okay... my sound drenches, each of the five senses
And hold the shock value of electrified fences
It's truth or consequences, ride wit us or against us
Is you a dedicated soldier, or you a princess, dog?
I'm in it to win it and not for the wealth
Got a crib with a Grammy and a gat on the shelf
Nan nigga competition, gotta battle myself
And me and Kweli on a mission, hittin' Pharoahe for help

(Talib Kweli)
From natives walkin in trail of tears to players sippin Belvedere
We always comin well prepared, and all my dogs' smellin fear
PLUS, even my niggaz from the Bay they say you hella-scared
Truth or consequences, and all senses be well-aware
Your style - under-developed there, hell if I care
What hardship you claim to see, but I can tell by your stare
Nigga you fool gazin, sayin ya crew blazin
like sayin Miss Cleo is a true Jamaican, we makin...

(Pharoahe Monch)
Guerrilla monsoon rap, smell the fumes, get in tune wit it
When I attack your city, y'all gon' think Dr. Doom did it
Spit it like white trash in seed-spittin contests
With a vendetta that sent a betta letter bomb to Congress
I'm pissed - cumulus clouds of ominous
Words of the Thor, the rawness that'll restore ya calmness
Unless, you wanna be leg and armless
That's parapaleg' for those who believe in bomb threats

(Hook)

(various ad-libs til fade)

(Kweli) + (woman's Voice)
Yea (yeaaah)
Come on
Uhh
Yeah
Kweli

(Bridge)
Yo Yo
Ayo my silent moments, loud as the crack of thunder
My hunger is like the crocodile that attacks the hunter
It ain't commercial or underground, its true cause I
(wanna be good to you)

(Chorus)
Call it skill, call it game, call it glow, call my name
Like the lord, all in vein, screaming like you all in pain
Treat it like a drug, all up in ya vain cause (wanna be good to you)

(Verse 1)
We make the squares dance, and get the do like dotsey
Y'all niggaz roll with pussy-cats like Josey
All spoiled rotten like ghetto groceries yo
I clutch the mic like ya grandma clutch her rosary yo
Swooping the industry, like a bird to prey
My stance has got stamina, ya verses lack vertebrae
I heard them say I was a conscious rapper
But I'm a monster when I hafta smack the shit out of a nonsense actor
Using my 'hands solo' and I don't need chewy
Over your head like Yamakas and Koofies yo
Fuck the screen gems y'all niggaz act in B movies
Type of niggaz proud to be groupies
Followers in the herd running over the cliff
I'm the +Buffalo Soldier+, smoke ya like a dread like rasta
blowing the spliff, loading a clip to spit high
Like you holding blow in a stolen whip, rolling the strip
Looking to hit cops, now that's a 4 alarm
Black queen falling on my arms, you could call it charm
Mater fact call it what you want, its up to you bro
(wanna be good to you)
Yea
Yea
Yea

Chorus (1x)

(Verse 2)
How many niggaz ever been in love'
How many niggaz really think they thugs
And can't think without the drink and drugs
How many niggaz can't get in with hats and sneakers on
Say 'fuck security' and get inside and keep them on
How many niggaz think that gats make the weaker strong
Can't do for self and wanna snatch the plate you eating on
That don't take heart, slave, nigga play ya part
I'd rather jump over board nigga, face the sharks
We stay doing it, later for the conversation
Hammers is cocked and waiting, niggaz is not debating
We ain't got the patience You found popping shit
Come in to town just to run you down like poppa ditch
And dig a proper ditch, you lying like a politician
Your proposition meets opposition like contradictions
Get out my house, you ain't no real representative
I make it happen, you ain't official, you tentative
Niggaz is sensitive, see how they catching feelings
It's so hot, the sweat rise and it wet the ceiling
Barracuda, Spitkicker nigga that's the crew (wanna be good to you)

(Breakdown)
Whoo! (yeaahh)
Come on
Yeah
Low ride
Yo
Yo
Yo

(Verse 3)
Niggaz be claiming shit, find a gangsta movie, put
they name in it, biting like there ain't no shame in it
You the hardest on the beat, I'm the fire that you playing with
You a artist from the street, I'll give you the blood to paint it with
So yeah I'm positive, I'm positive I'm the best
Spit bullets to split ya vest and deposit them in ya chest
Dark is the flesh on my bones, calling Brooklyn home
Hang up on niggaz like 'I want you to meet my nigga tone, word
Leave me alone like Michael Jackson
Or there will be more than butterflies in your stomach
waiting to see what happens
You see me out, know that my crew is flawless
So called gangstas need more security than the Rawkus office
Yo, I thought you bust ya gun
You just a big joke, thinking you a Big Pun
Yo, Kayne this is the big one (wanna be good to you)
me and my niggaz having big fun

Bridge (1x)

Chorus (1x)

Come on,
BK and
BX and
Q boro and
Manhattan and
Harlem niggaz and
Long Island
Wanna be good to you you you come on! (wanna be good to you)
The whole world rocking
Yo the whole world rocking
Ayo uhh