Talib Kweli Album

[unknown speaker]
In order to understand today's modern phonograph record
we must understand the concept of revolutions per minute.
Revolutions per minute refers to the unity of frequency of rotations.
The number of full revolutions completed in one minute
around a fixed axis. It is used as a measure
of rotational speed of a mechanical component, such as a record player.
Unfortunately that doesn't even exist any more.
Talib Kweli + Hi-Tek on this particular record you're about to here
take revolutions per minute to a new dimension.
A shift in the paradigm of hip-hop.
Please be sure to download this recording
from your nearest internet provider.
Which is in itself, a shift in the paradigm of music.
May all of your dreams come true, tonight.
And tomorrow as well.
And on into the future... {*echoes*}

What we have here....
... is the alpha and the omega...
... i spit it...
... bare witness ... to the greatest ... and the latest
they try to hate us

witness the evolution of spitting, it's wicked and it's decadent
revolutions per minutes, everytime the record spin
retribution for cynics, like a stick-up kid with weapons
In Brooklyn, they say I run it, the 'Natti is checking in
No matter the terminology, blood splatter artistically
It's looking like a Jackson Pollock painting, it's a mystery
Really should be brothers united against the industry
The africans diaspora scatter at shattered history
the game missing me, rap is so repetitive
although I ain't your blood or your cous', it's all relative
I got a gang of rhymes
and Tones' beats is banging
we moving through the streets like we're slanging dimes
It's magical, how the track is so classical
the cats who got gassed up in their sweats like Plaxico
I'm back from my sabbatical
voice of the future, black radical
keeping all the damages collateral

Listening to instrumentals
Thinking about all the things I've been through
The music is just a peek into my life, it's a window
It's so high tech and it's also simple
Even if I'm knocked down, I don't stay down
Even if I get down, I don't lay down
Hotter than the tar on this empty playground
Hotter than the tar on this empty playground

Hey yo, I'm taking all bets and settling all debts
a giant leap for man begins with a small step
from a sword to a set
To my people on the picket line
Who's sicking of getting treated like them aliens in District 9
I juxtapose my business model with my spirit
What, I'm just supposed to keep you comfortable with the lyrics?
I know the flow's disturbing
I know for certain just because you know all about the artist
don't mean you know the person
you don't know me
I run labels
these unstable rappers is so phony
I try to listen but they're boring as missionary position
So I'm shitting on these niggas like dysentery conditions
I'm sitting on the throne, you dreaming that it's empty soon
Nobody feeling you, you're screaming in an empty room (Holla!)
the tree that fall in the forest, nobody hearing you
Even though you fall the hardest
don't get me started

Listening to instrumentals
Thinking about all the things I've been through
The music is just a peek into my life, it's a window
It's so high tech and it's also simple
Even if I'm knocked down, I don't stay down
Even if I get down, I don't lay down
Hotter than the tar on this empty playground
Hotter than the tar on this empty playground

Yo, I built up my defenses
When I'm left to my devices, time gets suspended
more than DMX's driver's license
my music's steady, not affected by the higher prices
people having sex in the streets like Dionysus
You know what my advice is?
fuck my advice, live your life
stop tripping like everything amount to crisis
I make the sacrifices
my history is black as ice is
I don't think that I can trust you if you're lacking vices
I never miss a beat, the liquor make me slurred
it takes my words, tries to twist them like a Swisher Sweet
with sticky herb
American History X, your teeth'll hit the curb
It's easy 'cause I'm ill with the wordplay
I still flip the bird, like Jeezy
strip it down, now it's exposed
I suppose my flow is the emperor's new clothes
Although I'm always by myself, I never ride alone
the music is on then I'm right at home, zoning

[Talib Kweli]
Yes, original rhythm, the drum beater
Hi-Tek in the house, Kweli in the house
Yo!

[Chorus: Talib Kweli] + (Res)
(No matter where you're from
I will always be in your corner)
Yeah, New York to California
The way we do it is fluid just like water
(No matter where you're from
I will always be in your corner)
Life got a way of sneaking up on ya
The way we do it is fluid just like water

C'mon, beat on the drum like bang-bang and tryna maintain
the same frame of mind while the game change
I know you sick of the same thing, we're different so
stop sticking the needle up in the same vein
The definition of insane, my theory is Big Bang
We hunting for big game, the quick changeover
got the rappers confused, Tek back on the board
Kweli is back in the booth, let's go!

[Chorus: Talib Kweli] + (Res)
(No matter where you're from
I will always be in your corner)
That's right, we back again
You can like rap again
You can say that again, word
(No matter where you're from
I will always be in your corner)
That's right, we back again
You can like rap again
You can say that again
You can say that again

It's independent hustle, it got me on my grind
I flex my pen like a muscle and write a battle rhyme
I got to exercise, I got to get the ghosts out
I got to testify, the legend never die
I'm connected to the struggle, got a little light
and this little light of mine I'm bout to let it shine
I get better with time
So right when you about to say something real slick you like never mind
I stay grounded like airplanes that never fly
I still never come down, I'm forever high
My addiction is American as Devil's Pie
We stay where the snitches live and the rebels die
Men and women might try, numbers never lie
But I'm too fluid, there's no unit that I'm measured by
The nighttime when the ghetto come alive
and the artificial die like Yellow No. 5

[Chorus: Talib Kweli] + (Res)
(No matter where you're from
I will always be in your corner)
That's right, we back again
You can like rap again
You can say that again, word
(No matter where you're from
I will always be in your corner)
That's right, we back again
You can like rap again
You can say that again

Don't it sound African how the voice and the track just blend
The hands get to clapping and, the feet get to tapping and
The power I'm tapping into, it never was accidental
In fact, what a rap ascension to what make Hip Hop so special
You check my Hip Hop credentials, I'm on like I'm rap's potential
It's what I've been sent to do, the task is monumental
These wack emcees make me laugh like Comedy Central
Rappers be acting gassed, it's really not a big issue
They'll lose their bodily tissue, cause something hot just hit you
Just for waving off the nigga tryna politic with you
He's like I gotta get him, I'll try to politic with him
Man he tried to front, that's what he want when these shots hit him
Bet you he change his mind, better learn how to read the danger signs
Try to take my spot, get a number, wait in line
Try to skip, no, get to the back again
Yeah, we back again, you can like rap again, word

[Chorus: Talib Kweli] + (Res)
(No matter where you're from
I will always be in your corner)
That's right, we back again
You can like rap again
You can say that again, word
(No matter where you're from
I will always be in your corner)
That's right, we back again
You can like rap again
You can say that again

Becau-cau-cau
Becau-cau-cau
Because I'm paranoid

Becau-cau-cau
Becau-cau-cau
Because I'm paranoid

Becau-cau-cau
Becau-cau-cau
Because I'm paranoid

No boundaries, no borders
We're crossing many waters
Them haters can't ignore us
The government record us
They used to take our sons
And think it's fun to rape our daughters

No, our health care system pitiful
That's how hospitals profitable
They try to put the drugs inside of you
Lie to you, say that you gonna die tomorrow
So why pay? That's not logical
See the bullshit that they try to pull

They tapping laptops like a bad plot out of a bad movie
Obama say it ain't so, in a perfect world correlation
Of the willing is coalition of the rainbow
Who the enemy? Who the friend in need?
How do you choose your target
Who you aim for, what you aim for?

Damn, still running with the race
But I'm running out of pace
So fast just the last guy to let it go
Wondering if my concentration on the race misplaced
Take your marks, set, ready, go
Evolutionary flow, ever-luminary glow
When they show but the revolution never know

Shot to make you famous, we in your face with bangers
About to face some danger, I just misplace my anger
Violence entertainers, rappers took the place of Segas
Papa said, "Don't talk to strangers, don't talk to strangers"

Gotta let the people know from the get go
Bun B is a product of the ghetto
Good or bad man I just can't let go
No I ain't a rich man but it's been set though
And I'm still on the grind trying to get dough
Why the government wanna keep me in debt for?
They wanna keep me in debt for?

Look at AIG and the bailouts
Stepping on the fish just so you can help the whale out
Got his ass out or should I say tail out
Need another job like a paper or a mail route
We the fresh, best in take the stale out
Make it rain, they see it I'm a put a pail out
Man, I'm a put a pail out know, what I'm saying?

'Cause I'm stuck in the mud like a tractor
I ain't gotta lie plus I'm not a good actor
Bullshit laws that they enact to keep us
Locked out the big game in the back bru
I got sacked, now I gotta get a sack to
Make ends meet cause the money is a factor
Oh yeah, the money is a factor

Damn, now I'm back on the block for the hustle
Used to be hot, now your boy just cold
Gotta build my bread up and my muscle
Haters talk down, sometimes it's a tussle
But the smoke gonna clear and the dust don't settle
Now it's like def jam wit no Russell
Like def jam wit no Russell, we'll be alright though

Shot to make you famous, we in your face with bangers
About to face some danger, I just misplace my anger
Violence entertainers, rappers took the place of Segas
Papa said, "Don't talk to strangers, don't talk to strangers"

[Intro]
In this world (This that feeling)
What's happening to love? (It's that feeling you miss)
I'd like to know (It's that love, it's that passion)
(Tone they don't get shit like this no more)

[Verse 1]
Welcome to my longitude and latitude
My attitude is shaping my surroundings:
Skyscrapers, public housing
The sheep is running from the sun
The wolves is howling at the moon
It's tragic how you in the street
'Cause you ain't got no avenues
When it come to rapping who's the baddest dude?
(In this world)
You still don't get it
This a recession, what recession?
Dog, we been stressing
Shit been a mess and we been dealing with this depression
Since way back, but you ain't got to say that
That's the greatest lesson
Slave to our possessions
Greed the devil favorite weapon
Fight to the death, only the greatest left
(In this world)
Let's get it

[Hook]
Lordy, lordy, lordy lord
I been hustling really, really hard
Get up off my ass start making some moves
Put two and two together start paying my dues
I got to get up for it, stand up
In this world

If skills sold truth be told, I'd probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli (Jay-Z)

[Verse 2]
I get respected by the best MCs
(In this world)
The recipe for my success is: one part pain and suffering
Two parts brains and hustling
Sprinkle it over Hi-Tek production
We bubbling like volcanic eruptions
You better buckle in
Push the panic button
Come get your momma to tuck you in
You know we did like no other did it
(In this world)
You gots to get with it

[Bridge]
In this world
What's happening to love?
I'd like to know

[Hook]

[Verse 3]
Ayo, I grab the mic until my hands develop the calluses
My style is bit I only see myself with John Malkovich
My grind miraculous, rhyme for slums to palaces
Facing all my challengers, raising the black power fist
Here to eliminate the counterfeit
(In this world)
Add it up it don't amount to shit
I paid my dues kept the receipt for taxes
Although we stack it we stay stuck in the bracket
It's like a straitjacket
My rebel tactics got the planet spinning off it's axis
The devil laughing when you lazy, man get off your ass and
Talent don't mean nothing without all the practice
(In this world)

[Hook]

Hook (intro):

I love you baby (Yeah, yeah)
I'll treat you right (Yeah, yeah)
I love you baby (Yeah, yeah)
I'll treat you right (Yeah, yeah)
I got work for you
(Give it to me girl)
I got work for you
(Give it huh)
I got work for you
(Give it to me girl)
I got work for you

Verse 1:

Ignore the amateurs
You're rolling with the glamorous
See all the clamor for the lights and the cameras?
They get scared when the glances turn amorous
Exposed to the heat, they go yellow like an amethyst
Used to be purple like the cannabis from welts and the bruises
Used to scream, help! It was useless...
Escaped into the night with her life intact,
A betrayal she described as a knife in the back
Stone cold killer, you'd probably shudder
At the amount of blood flowing through the Hollywood gutter
All because of the appetite for dreams that will eat you up inside
She on your mind probably keep you up at night
15 minutes, that's all she really need
Director yell, cut! And we see how you really bleed...
Stay in the game. Stay in the frame. Say her name: Fame, Fame

Chorus:

I love you baby
(Skip the foreplay)
I'll treat you right
(That's what they all say)
I love you baby
(Skip the foreplay)
I'll treat you right (Yeah)
I got work for you
(Give it to me girl)
I got work for you
(Give it huh)
I got work for you
(Give it to me girl)
I got work for you

Verse 2:

She's so fleeting, she's so deceiving, she's so misleading
She cut'em open and bleeding, she got'em overeating
She's so hot, soda pop, she's overheating
Her gun--American, her favorite rum--Puertorican
She's like a monkey on your back, 'till you start to crack
She'll make you famous like the stars of "Strapped"
The heart of the fact, to swallow that, she got a target on your back
Follow you until you drown in the sea of your sorrow
You overdose, she got you over, she got the potion
It's not a joke, how she got'em hoping--they should've tried the coke [?]
And, everything designer, from the kind of drugs she do
To the attitude when she get tired of loving you...
I hear them swear they don't need her, and throw dirt on her name
I'm out for the fortune, fuck Fame!
I hear them swear they don't need her, and throw dirt on her name,
I'm out for the fortune, fuck Fame!

[Chorus]

Verse 3:

The mother cried, the butterfly was a caterpillar
Before he fell in love with Fame, 'cause he had to feel'er
The model--hot, she swallowed shots, straight Tequila
The bottles pop, she love you, but can't wait to kill ya
She lurking in the bushes, she the paparazzi
Her sex drive--way faster than a Mazarati
Every relationship is work, this is not a hobby
She make you famous like Beyonce, then she got your body
How she grimy like a project lobby
But still snooty, pack Louis Vuitton and act bourgey
She like a ghost 'cause I shudder when she pass through me
She yell, cut! And you stop acting--it's your last movie
She got you in the gym, she got you in the spa
Staring at the man in the mirror wondering who you are
You're a superstar, 'til she pass on ya
Take a picture, it will last longer

(Word!)

[Chorus]

Hook (outro):

I love you baby (2x)
I'll treat you right
I got work for you (4x)

When I get home, unplug the phone
Turn out the lights, I serve this song

I'm gonna call my baby
Tell him that I'm coming
See, I been gone for way too long
He needs some lovin'

See last night on the phone
He told me that he missed me
And I listened to his song
It sounded kinda sexy

Check it out, I said, um, I said

My baby on the job, I know she's workin hard
She independent and I love that show, I swear to God
The way she get up, I know she ain't really got no fear
No, I don't make it rain, but still I'm the one that got her bed

I need her all at once, I been on tour for months
Her body like a stage, as soon as I hit, I tore it up
She love how I perform, come get a hype like her favorite song
We riders of the storm, touch me, baby, like the dawn

Ooh, said I just can't wait till the nighttime comes
And I see my baby
Ooh, said I just can't wait till the midnight hour
And I see my, I'll be home tonight, I'll be by his side

Listen, can't wait till the night begin, can't wait to let her in
Ready to handle this, the candle's lit, the light's is dim
So dark be inner vision and she might lose her and inhibitions
Hourglass figure make it last past ten
Four hours last long no inhibition

I'll come every once in a while
Just to let her know her love in town
I'm here to stay so there ain't no way
I know she love the sound of that

I'll make her love come down to earth
That's worth another round
Can't take another clown, in love with the kid
'Cause he underground

Ooh, said I just can't wait till the nighttime comes
And I see my baby
Ooh, said I just can't wait till the midnight hour
And I see my, I'll be home tonight, I'll be by his side

Listen, somebody call my baby, say I'm on the way now
See, I been going crazy thinking 'bout you late nights
The way my heart reacts it lets me know I need him
See, I been getting flashbacks, I just got to see him

Hopped out the taxicab, she almost didn't pay
He let me get your bags, I got some things to say
I know you miss me, girl, you know I miss you too
We kissing taking turns, so let's go to the room

Ooh, said I just can't wait till the nighttime comes
And I see my baby
Ooh, said I just can't wait till the midnight hour
And I see my, I'll be home tonight, I'll be by his side

Listen uh, when I get home, unplug the phone
Turn out the lights, I serve this song
He said when you get home, unplug the phone
The lights is off, you know it's on, know it's on

Ooh, that I made it home, baby, lock that door
And be ready for me
Ooh, and it's been some months and we don't have long
But I'm here now

I made it home tonight
I'll be by your side
Don't worry 'bout the time
I made it home tonight, listen, uh

[Talib Kweli]
Ay, I ain't tryna get high alone
Yeah, whoo!

{"Lifting off"} Never been so high
I get on my plane and see planes go by
High enough to see the angels fly
Now that we back in the game, these lames gon' die
{"Lifting off"} Like the Mars rover or the weight on your shoulder
that held you down with the weight of a boulder
Whether a drug dealer baking the soda or a revolutionary soldier
We here for you yo, the waiting is over, cause we
{"Lifting off"} Off the ground, take you up in the clouds
Floating on the notes and tones
Until the condensation drip from my brow, we'll disappear in the crowd
till I'm surrounded with sounds, count it down and we
{"Lifting off"} Five on it, used to the split the cost
Roll it up, take a hit and cough, relax
Keep reefer like a fifth of ros'
We make 'em dance like Kalashnikov, take 'em higher, we

[Chorus: 2X]
{"Lifting off"} Light it up, take a blade, divide it up
It's not enough, grab your arms and tie 'em up
Go further, hit the pipe and fire it up
Cause they like the rush, when they

[Talib Kweli]
{"Lifting off"} I've never been so low
When I smoke, I don't wanna be dependent on the dro
for the happiness, cause happiness should come from your soul
I sold myself, like at least you don't fuck with the blow
{"Lifting off"} I tried to buy LSD
but a dred refused to sell it to me
He was like, well yeah I got it, but that's a white man drug
Not for us, I said aight man, love, still I be
{"Lifting off"} In the limelight, indication dazed
Shrooms had my mouth dry looking for the gatorade
On a date with the high made me fade away
I left shorty at the table with a razor blade
{"Lifting off"} But see I'm getting off track
No tracks in my arms, I never fucked with the smack
or the crack, only vice was the trees and the 'gnac
Until my man Jimmy got me onto Jack, throw it back and I'm

[Chorus: 2X]

[Talib Kweli]
{"Lifting off"} It's such a passionate high
No sense in passing it by
I'm like Inspectah Deck, the clouds are so far relaxed in the sky
Coming down, looking back in the Stuy', ain't no problem they
{"Lifting off"} On the daily
behind the restoration plaza where they got a production of Alvin Ailey
At the theater named after Billy, she struggled with it too
If she was here right now she'd probably hit it too
{"Lifting off"} But still there's no excuse
Spread the myth that if I don't get high then I don't produce
These people acting like they want the truth
But the appearance of the truth is good enough, they don't want the proof
Huh, they get to too confused
They looking too confused, the pigeon flew the coop
I stay out the bubble, but they keep me in the loop
Soon as I'm in the house it's through the roof and we

[Chorus: 4X]

[Talib Kweli]
Can you feel it? Can you feel it?
Here we go, are you recording?
Aiyyo Tone, is it ah-ah-on? ...

Let it bump, they love it in the red
Reflection Eternal, that other shit is dead
Yes, let me know if you alive
Put your hands in the air, let me know if, bring it live
Hey! C'mon, hey! I love music

Music is the river, we floating, we get to live it
like the souls of those swept away crossing the Mississippi
Honorary spokesman, my focus is so scary
Vocalist for the hopeless, I'm championing my city
Cracks in the levee, we catching the last ferry
Apply this application that's crashing your BlackBerry
"Rock Steady" like Aretha, it's got heavy
What's that about cat and mouse, Tom and Jerry?
Commissary get commissioned, the prison no sanctuary
for the locked up, every relationship adversary
Ain't no replacement, so make a statement before you buried
We very legendary already, no need to worry
Pay attention to the music, led your hazard to bury
Mixed for transistor radio speakers, Marvin married
his daughter in sort of a quest for a father figure
Adding E to the end of his name, you got the picture yet?
The little Stevie Wonder was killing 'em at the shows
Best songwriter since Smokey and Quincy Jones
Gill Scott and Last Poets turned they poems into song
Everybody know that my favorite Nina Simone
Rest in peace Michael Jackson, I think I need a "shamone"
Paid attention to his lyrics, he wished we leave him alone
{"Leave me aloooone"} Huh, Leave him alone
Huh, leave him alone
James Brown and Michael Jackson was working until they gone
On tour just so they could make payments on they homes
Everybody cried when Usher sang him a song
Joe Jackson was promoting his label, he know he wrong
Shame how our heroes are broke, we call 'em stars
That's because when they falling to Earth, they falling hard
Everybody balling hard but they sound wack
If you in the resistance then this your soundtrack
Let it bump, they love it in the red
Reflection Eternal, that other shit is dead
Yes, let me know if you alive
Put your hands in the air, let me know if you alive

[No lyrics]

Chorus:

This is the ballad of the black gold
They call it Texas tea
But it's bigger than a cowboy with a lasso
It's deeper than a black hole
Create monopolies
Except they collect a fee when you pass-go
Crisis' international
The government de facto
We got no control in this fiasco
Darker than the back roads
Bubble hotter than Tabasco
More than what you bargained for or asked for

[Verse 1]
You never see happy-hungry people that ain't rational
They blasting through the gates and they attack you at the capital
Run up in your palace, find the head of the states and crack a few
Get a taste of power, then they become fascists too
The fiscal conservatives, don't know what they purpose is
Money on the war, then they cut the goods and services
Murderous, corporate monsters is breaking records
Exxon is at 40 billion a year, they raking in record profits. Stop it!
How they banking while the auto industry is tanking?
Leadership is sinking; oil pollution in the water stanking
Loyalty to petroleum; royalty spoiled the economy
We won't get it poppin' till we're oil-free
If you're oil-rich then we invade it
They call it occupation but we're losing jobs across the nation
Drill, baby, drill, while they make our soldiers kill
Baby still, the desert where the blood and oil spill

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]
Nigeria is celebrating 50 years of independence
They still feel the colonial effects of Great Britain's presence
Dictators quick to imitate the West
Got in bed with oil companies and now the place is a mess
Take a guess, which ones came and violated
They oiled up the soil, the Ogoni people was almost annihilated
But still they never stayed silent
They was activists and poets using non-violent tactics
That was catalyst for soldiers to break into they crib
Take it from the kids and try to break'em like a twig
And make examples of the leaders; executed Saro-Wiwa,
Threw Fela's mom out the window right after they beat her
In an effort to defeat hope. Now the people's feet soaked in oil [?]
So the youth is doing drive-bys through speed boats [?]
They kidnap the workers, they blowing up the pipelines
You see the fires glowing in the nighttime

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
History, a slippery creature
Its full of plot twists and surprise endings like a mystery feature
This oil shit is slicker than preachers
It make the problems in the region amplify like victory speeches
Poison the water and lead the boys to the slaughter
Go in somebody country and rearrange the order and destroy the borders
You see them dancing through the fields of fire
World domination--their real desire
The devil is still a liar

[Chorus 2x]

"We've only just beg-un..."

[Talib Kweli]
Oh yes indeed, I like this, I like this
Aiyyo Hi-Tek, do me a favor man
Speed it up a little bit

From the intro you know I'm so influential cause I'm glowing like a candle
The focus is so essential dog, what you tryna get into?
I steady the flow, ready to blow like snotty tissue
They snitching like Donnie Brasco, I'm counting like Monte Cristo
The ghetto full of betrayal like Iago and Othello
Your fellow neighbor will slay you, they'll smoke you like cigarillos
Police, want that info, they'll grill 'em like Portabellos
I'm murdering instrumentals cause I rap with the conscience
Of felons, killers and monsters, so revealing and honest
We're still feeling the promise, some nights I kill 'em with kindness
Hitting like Muhammad Ali, you more like Tatyana
All this is probably Karma, you dishonored the father
Whether it's God almighty, or the almighty dollar
We follow the prophets like Islamics or the Dalai Lama
Your bullet points so hollow they could probably pierce body armor
Look in the scope, my people still a target

[Jay Electronica]
Smile on my face, tears of a sad clown
Feeling out of place as I whistle a cab down
If I tip extra, can I huff a cig'?
Blow my smoke out the window, dropping ashes on the bridge
Uh, I'm in New York now, like Akeem and Semi was
Tryna get the lobby door open from a semi-buzz
I just wanna go to the slum
And throw my money on the floor like the Notorious BUM, uh
Build a home, teach a class, start a revolution
Free the mind, heal the body, talking evolution
This that black Elohim Anunnaki rap
That Farrakhan Hakeem Olajuwon Qaddafi rap
I dedicate this to my niggas in New Orleans
Rocking black and gold stocking caps and fleur-de-lis Shockey hats
I'm in the coatroom, screaming 'Who that?' on the double
Serving gumbo with a shovel, dog I'm on another level
Me and Kweli come together like two pieces of metal
We magnetizing the ghetto

[J. Cole]
Yeah, now here's the memo
I'm a rebel without a cause, a bezel without no flaws
And shorty, you straight, bet you look way better without no drawers
Let's sweat out this alcohol, bet I'm about to ball
And never let up, look how I just crept up without applause
Fed up with all the frauds and left y'all without a job
The center of attention, this is clever, I'm Pau Gasol
Really though I'm LeBron, really don't got my mind
On this new school of rappers, I will really go Columbine
And throw up the diamond sign, boy you know I'ma shine
Flow is in Ramadan, cause couple years ago the game had they pyjamas on
But now they on my dick, man I should throw a condom on
Ay, cause a nigga coming raw like I ain't got one on
And I ain't stopping nor copping no pleas, I just lock and load squeeze
Dog I'm on a higher level, I'm on top of nosebleeds
Niggas say they sick, but when they rock they don't sneeze
Like the nigga on the block waving his Glock but won't squeeze
Please

[Mos Def]
Hold your applause until the ceremony end
Yours truly, truly blessed, yet again a noble pla-anted
Super magic, abracadabra kid
Mysterious master Jim, blacker pen, arrowhead
With the long-barrel stem, and his apparel fresh
Harbor lights shining out the black power grid
With the Black Power grip, and pure power don't power trip
Push the cellar ceiling up and make the tower tip
The Gladwell point and Babylon polish
All about nothing where it's all about the dollar
And mansions on the fault line of a shaky market
The Devil at the dancehall thirsty for a partner
Get off him, there is not a parcel or a portion
Or a measure of a fortune more awesome
Gorgeous, the funky Four Horsemen and one more
With Hi-Tek on the score, once more, of course

You're welcome, thanks
Appreciation for your participation
Special dedication
Celebration, bitches

[Talib Kweli]
This right here go out to all the ladies
who cannot predict when the sun will shine
Just make sure when it do, you bask in it
You embrace it, you let it hit you in the face
Huh, you know what I'm talking bout
Yo, yo, ay, ay

The sun was in the sky
I was bumping "Sly Love", hard to find in the summertime
You can spend a lifetime tryna predict when the sun will shine
or simply bask in it like the flowers that come alive
Summer days always start extraordinary
Summer nights there's water in the air, wish it would storm already
I hit the corner store, I had a taste for strawberry quick
Seen the broad, very tall, very thick, licking her lips
Hips barely fit through the door
Imagine that, she bought a dutch and a lemonade out the Escalade
Bumping "Renegade" by Em and Jay
Symmetrical braids, incredible edible legs
Just to track her down, I went on a ghetto crusade
Serenade this angel like Cyrano de Bergerac
The lightness of her being was unbearable
So here I am at her apartment building, apart from feeling
"Heartless" like Kanye with a talk-box
I walked four blocks out my way cause her walk had me focussed
Her scent had me open, and since we had a moment
What I'ma say? Hey, I seen you in the store?
She went into a building and I had to guess the floor
Knocking on every door, that took bout a half an hour
till she answered "whoa", was still soaked from the shower
I seen some sour diesel broken up on my CD
She introduced me to her room mates, this Vanilla Dutch and this is Swisha Sweety
I got you open yet?
It ain't over yet, I love you when you're soaking wet
Been looking for you like the bounty hunter Boba Fett
I'm the one but you don't know it yet
The wettest skin, what a better beginning, she let me in
Let us begin, perfect weather for sinning, my Seraphin
We on the floor, barely made it through the door
New high score, she never came like that before, wow

[No lyrics]

(feat. Musiq & Wordsworth)

[Talib Kweli: talking]
Yeah...
As we continue on..
Yeah (We recordin' in the house)
Ladies and gentlemen
This the soundtrack (In the natural sound)
Do not be alarmed (Children playin')
Don't panic, be calm, yeah... (Crickets chirpin')
We gon' hit you with... with the words
We gon' hit you with the music (We in Fort Greene right now)
'Course we gonna hit you with that Kweli shit

[Musiq:]
One of these days a change gon' come
For you and I and our children
Where you can live and just have fun
Don't nobody trip on where you come from
Everything is good yeah it's all love
It's freedom in the hood for all to get some
It's every woman to a man
To a child to a fam
With all us on a higher level of understanding
But if it's gonna take a while I'll chill
I can bask in the glory on that day
And if I gotta chill then boy I will
It's no problem for me because yo I be
B-Boy position standing here
Anticipatin' patiently just waitin'
To grind out for my dream
And you (you) can't stop me boy

[HOOK: Musiq]
Listen...
Ladies and gentlemen don't be alarmed
This is the soundtracks of what's goin' on
And if you want you can get it
I promise you if you let it
The rhythm'll be good to you
Yeah, let the rhythm be good to you
I promise baby it'll be so good to you
And now, you 'bout to witness the sound
Of these Words, Musiq, and Kweli

[Wordsworth:]
Community blocks waitin' 'til my opportunity knocks
But the door is usually locked because it's usually cops
Most of wish we had a car and jewelry shop
But spend my days tryin'a fuck or find a movie to watch
Talkin' big plans to live large and move from the block
Your only option from your moms is to move to ya pops
Cigarettes tryin'a hold on to the few that you got
Price is crazy high for you to give up a loosies a lot
Areas we from you scared you don't run
Don't care what you've done
Be wary of tongue snitchin' 'n' hope the jury is hung
Tryin' to go from zero to one like a hero becomes
While here air in my lungs ideas I share with my sons
People down here so shady they could stare at the sun
Can't wait 'til that unemployment check clear once it comes
Daily routine, but my only theory when young
Was get money, get a job and hope her period comes... it's real life

[HOOK]

[Talib Kweli:]
Walkin' the block at night I, stopped at rhyme cypha
Circle of rhyme writers broken up crime fighters
They said we loiterin' started orderin' us around
We ain't jump at the sound of they voice,
They said "Get on the ground!"
This cuz we black or what?
I'm sick of cops harassin' us
Probably because we ain't degrade ourselves fast enough
The people passin' us stopped 'n' the cops start actin' right
Somebody had my back tonight
Off they go in a flash of light
You try to see the future take a mental picture of it
City life is hard when your apartment don't fit in your budget
You need to get a room like people who kiss in public
Plus you tempted to say "Fuck it" until you kick the bucket
There's more to life than appears it ain't no crystal stair
As nails'll stick out 'n' snare you and this is crystal clear
Ain't no officials in chairs or fans that scream your name
It ain't a game but it's still a challenge just the same

[HooK]

[Musiq:]
But if it's gonna take a while I'll chill
I can bask in the glory on that day
And if I gotta chill then boy I will
It's no problem for me because yo I be
B-Boy position standing here
Anticipatin' patiently just waitin'
To grind out for my dream
And you (you) can't stop me boy

[HOOK]

[No lyrics]

[Talib Kweli]
Yeah
Yes indeed, got 'em up to speed
We got what they need, yeah
Reflection Eternal
My life, my life, my life, my life
This is my life, my life, my life, my life
My life, my life, my life, my life
This is my life, my life, my life, my life

Yo, what's the daily word?
You ever feel like giving everything up and buying a boat so you can sail the world?
Aiyyo, what's really hood?
He got a gift with the lyrics, the beat is lifting your spirit when you ain't feeling good
Sometimes he feel like the whole world is turning on him
The people miserable and try to place they burdens on him
He revealing the truth like he a portal
A vampire sucked his blood, now he immortal
First he ignored, then he worked the applause
He thirsty for more cause they loving how he perfectly flawed
Most of these rappers softer than the allure of Juicy Couture
and from the start he put his heart in every verse he record
Caused to perform for the corporation, he made a profit with Satan
Then got with the Beat Konducta for his "Liberation"
and for free at last
Till everybody started selling it but him, he's like I need to see a piece of that
And get right with God, he knows his gift is a phenomenon
He catch it when it strike like a lightning rod
His rhymes are the spitting image he created us in
We getting paid in wages of sin
True, it's like death in a room
Every lie we ingest and consume is guaranteed to make us vegetables soon
Sometimes it's so hard, can't go on
Where did he lose his focus, where did he go wrong?
He should love his life, he got a loving wife at home
but still find himself roaming through the club at night
Kiss his children and they hug him tight
Gotta prove his love in family court tomorrow cause he and they mother fight
These other artists really don't know what to make of him
So they afraid if him, but they ain't breaking him
It's been over ten years since he gave you "The Blast"
The ones that counted him out, they didn't do the math
The fans tell him he under-appreciated
Underrated and hated, but he thankful they debated
Thankful that he made it to glory while some faded
Thankful that he keep it surreal while some fake it
Thankful for the skills that's keeping the family stable
Thankful for the meals he put on the family table
He pay the bills when he able and spend for pleasure when he can
This the true measure of a man
Some things he'll never understand, that's okay though
He know we're moulded in the image of God like Play-Doh
But still he wax philosophical like Aristotle
Maybe one day they'll come up with a better model
But till then, he the best there is
More than ten-thousand hours in
So that make him the specialist, oh yeah it's way more than relevance
It's classic, original, you remember this