Listen, I got you phobic off of this like arachnids Drastic, it ain't plastic it's Pro-Blackness Grown man tactics, no pediatrics the kind of track that make the comeback miraculous the catalyst, Thought with the knack for splashin' I'm dashin' I mastered the craft of mashin' The level-headed throughbred, the female's passion Mag-netic attraction be keepin' them askin' The crews in the Cadillacs with the Pendergrassin' Swerve half-naked, won't come near crashin' But if I go to heaven, would y'all know my name or would it be the same for you like I was Eric Clapton, huh? Clap for you freedom dog, that's what's happening My spit take critical political action The hustle is a puzzle each piece is a fraction And every word that's understood is a transaction I'm an S.P. soldier, microphone holder Rep Philly set from Bolivia to Boulder Paris, France to Tip and Tioga How we gonna make it through the dark, I show ya
[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
Yo, where the freaks at? Lookin' at me You wanna see Black? Then jump on it And to the chumps who think they might want it I might spot your ride and dump on it And send a couple of boys to that corner of yours And role out with a nigga slumped on it You see Black fall back son Me and Shock up in a black Regal no insurance We like DEA serving warrants So tell the freaks you know to stop whorin We gon' grab the mics and get 'em off the wall so e'rybody in here can stop snorin Yo where the safe Money unlock it, pull it out your pocket Ben Banniker Bay with the Al Morrocan Black Thought on capitals like the sovereign Girls get your eyes back up out the sockets Focus, flawless. New York to Europe To lands where my feet ain't even touch the soil yet What a movement, the rap solution It thumps so hard we got 'em world wide usin them Tracks from Black for satisfaction The role of captain played by Samuel L. Jackson Yo ill insanity that's cold and morbid but when I'm in your orbit you soul absorb it A real raw nigga wont fold or forfeit A thorough bred gonna enforce it Tariq's where the beats at And where the people out their seats at For what? Cause y'all on it I'm like Aqua man and Brown Hornet I'm like Imhotep but don't flaunt it Dog, reintroducing master thespian Ho-telling-est, elin-est, emceein Fuck getting money for real, get freedom Black on the grind from AM to the PM Splash up crash up the X-5 B.M. Motive entertainment the philly mob we in Weak hearts, yo we not them Waddup nigga T3 nigga bahtem When the M-Ill get home we're gonna win First one to fall cats with no chin The mic the black hold remain smokin' And ladies up in the place is wide open For real you know what I'm talking about Pull it out your pocket
You feel this shit soon as they throw it on You feel this joint this is your new favorite song You at the dancehall, you got it going on It's time to show it off so throw your hands up Check it out yo You feel this shit soon as they throw it on You feel this joint this is your new favorite song You at the dancehall, you got it going on It's time to show it off yall niggas know whats up
Yo here go the rapper of the year, year of the rap Come from South Philly where the hammers are clapped huh? Violate and you will answer to Black You a thug not really there's the answer to that Lee ya, boxed silly with the hands skill attack Cancel your check flip, dismantle your trap huh? Wanna pack can't handle your strap You a schmuck type, shoot your man in the back Meanwhile I'm outstanding and I'm outspoken Wild out take fools out without joking If I run out of shots I'm going out poking On a date with sis we going out stroking And the shot is fantastic The fantastic is the romantic And to the freaks in the house if you're ready to bounce we can go to the flat then get tantric Yeah. you pronounce the name Tariq, any questions? Street hip-hop I bring forth the essence You see pulling up five deep with nothing but dimes inside of my jeep I'm not arguing to get in VIP cocksucker prick Suck a dick I'ma floss for the fuck of it Girls say the baw Black be on some other shit Nigga talk like you work for the government My words worth like Barnes & Noble Spit hot flames that'll harm your vocal Spit thought name I'm a bomb your local neighborness, for a ten mile radius Well every ghetto craving this new anthem My brain unstable and I'm just too handsome I bang with the best around Who can test the ground when I finesse the sound Here come the controller
You feel this shit soon as they throw it on You feel this joint this is your new favorite song You at the dancehall, you got it going on It's time to show it off so throw your hands up Check it out yo You feel this shit soon as they throw it on You feel this joint this is your new favorite song You at the dancehall, it's time to show it off you got it going on Y'all niggas know what's up
CHORUS: Comin to break you off I'm comin to break you off
1st verse Bad misses throwing raspberry kisses on me You looking for direction girl I feel your vision on me Just don't let him see you sweatin we ain't 'sposed to be involved Knowin when we get it off girl I mean it all Keepin ya pheenin til you're taken and tossed And when I'm breakin it off there's no denying the fact it's strong Cuz you got a man who's probably playin his part You probably breakin his heart He's trying to figure the reason you gone
Is it cuz he's superficial? Or is he too submissive? Or did I come along and hit you with the futuristic? Or is it cuz you really couldn't see a future with him All he bout is paper never took the time to choose or listen
You wanna get gripped up, flipped and thrown And get strictly shown The way to get in the zone. Of course, Dealing with this you won't be taking a loss You need to leave him alone and roll With the one who's breaking you off
Chorus
2nd verse Brother down the hall The one you bound to call Workaholics are really I'm rarely around at all
What we started got serious reprecautions in court We had a chance to turn back, but look now it's what Late nights twistin something Listenin to Neicey sing She got the beef for you telling me you deeply Appreciate the company, time we spend I feel the same, it's a shame you ain't my girlfriend Cuz listen, you need a brotha with the physical fix Who come through in the mix For you with no head tricks or fraud
You need a new position and who can get you open Like eucalyptus and have ready to go for yours Come on and wo
South Philly, North Side, Oakland, Texas, Georgia Black people, uh Worldwide Na what I'm sayin'? This is for my nigga Dumb and blind
They say a record aint nothin if it's not touchin', grippin' draw you in close and make you wanna listen to it and if you real ill at makin' music the listna gonna feel like he living through it that's how my nigga do it I met Slacks back in like ninety-one rappin' we went to Millersville to get away from gun clappin' it aint last, i be in class dreaming 'bout fifty-thousand fans up in the stands screaming out Encore, yo I'm heading back to philly, nigga you rollin with me? I'm tryna get busy We walked dogs that was off the chain, lotta times at the shows people hardly came I just, took it in stride as a part of the game but inside people down with me started to change It was a couple thangs, little syrup, little pills Instead of riding out on the road you'd rather chill I know the way the pleasure feels, I'm not judgin' but still I'm on a mission yo I'm not buggin I got fam that can't stop druggin', they can't sleep they can't stick to one subject and can't eat it's people steady comin at me out in the street like Riq yo what up with ya peeps, it gets deep nigga
(Chorus) Yo, you need to walk straight masta ya high Son you missing out on what's passin' ya by I done see these streets suck a lotta cats dry, but not you and I my nigga, We got to get, c'mon over, over, the water (x2) yo, water (x2)
We done been through many meals a couple of deals shared clothes and wheels, killed mics and reels we done rocked shows abroad and slept on floors trying to figure wh
Something in the way of things Something that will quit and won't start Something you know but can't stand Can't know get along with Like death Riding on top of the car peering through the windshield for his cue Something entirely fictitious and true That creeps across your path hallowing your evil ways Like they were yourself passing yourself not smiling The dead guy you saw me talking to is your boss I tried to put a spell on him but his spirit is illiterate
I know things you know and nothing you don't know 'cept I saw something in the way of things Something grinning at me and I wanted to know, was it funny? Was it so funny it followed me down the street Greeting everybody like the good humor man But an they got the taste of good humor but no ice cream It was like dat Me talking across people into the houses And not seeing the beings crowding around me with ice picks You could see them But they looked like important Negroes on the way to your funeral Looked like important jiggaboos on the way to your auction And let them chant the number and use an ivory pointer to count your teeth Remember Steppen Fetchit Remember Steppen Fetchit how we laughed An all your Sunday school images giving flesh and giggling With the ice pick high off his head Made ya laugh anyway
I can see something in the way of our selves I can see something in the way of our selves That's why I say the things I do, you know it But its something else to you
Like that job This morning when you got there and it was quiet And the machines were yearning soft behind you Yearning for that nigga to come and give up his life Standin' there bein' dissed and broke and troubled
My mistake is I kept sayin' "that was proof that God didn't exist" And you told me, "nah, it was proof that the devil do" But still, its like I see something I hear things I saw words in the white boy's lying rag
Said he was gonna die poor and frustrated That them dreams walk which you 'cross town S'gonna die from over work There's garbage on the street that's tellin' you you ain't shit
And you almost believe it Broke and mistaken all the time You know some of the words but they ain't the right ones Your cable back on but ain't nothin' you can see
But I see something in the way of things Something to make us stumble Something get us drunk from noise and addicted to sadness I see something and feel something stalking us
Like and ugly thing floating at our back calling us names You see it and hear it too But you say it got a right to exist just like you and if God made it But then we got to argue
And the light gon' come down around us Even though we remember where the (light or mic??) is Remember the Negro squinting at us through the cage You seen what I see too?
The smile that ain't a smile but teeth flying against our necks You see something too but can't call its name
Ain't it too bad why'all said Ain't it too bad, such a nice boy always kind to his motha Always say good morning to everybody on his way to work But that last time before he got locked up and hurt, real bad
I seen him walkin' toward his house and he wasn't smiling And he didn't even say hello But I knew he'd seen something Something in the way of things that it worked on him like it do in will
And he kept marching faster and faster away from us And never even muttered a word Then the next day he was gone You want to know what
You want to know what I'm talkin' about Sayin' "I seen something in the way of things" And how the boys face looked that day just before they took him away The is? in that face and remember now, remember all them other faces
And all the many places you've seen him or the sister with his child Wandering up the street Remember what you seen in your own mirror and didn't for a second recognize The face, your own face
Straining to get out from behind the glass Open your mouth like you was gon' say somethin' Close your eyes and remember what you saw and what it made you feel like Now, don't you see something else
Something cold and ugly Not invisible but blended with the shadow criss-crossing the old man Squatting by the drug store at the corner With is head resting uneasily on his folded arms And the boy that smiled and the girl he went with
And in my eyes too A waving craziness splitting them into the jet stream of a black bird Wit his ass on fire Or the solomNOTness of where we go to know we gonna be happy
I seen something I SEEN something And you seen it too You seen it too You just can't call it's name name name name name name name