Talib Kweli Album

(Hook)
I got a part to play, we going hard
these days
Fuck the harder way, we doing it the
harder way
To my god I pray, that's how I start my
day
The bullets starts to spray the
revolution starts today
I say the shit these people ain't got
the heart to say
Fuck the harder way, we doing it the
smarter way
To my god I pray, that's how I start my
day
The bullets starts to spray the
revolution starts today

(1st Verse)
You say you never scared there's
kids in other countries
Making jerseys, jeans, and sneakers
they could never wear
Parents never there, they're busy
building homes they can't afford to
buy
Cars they can't afford to drive
Working jobs that don't support their
life
You busy screaming gangsta,
gangsta all that talk is trife
You already know lost the fight if you
don't know the cost of life
These kids is forced to fight a war
they can't outrun
Ain't got no shoes but got a gun
Now where the fuck he pulled that
out from?
People ask me how we wearing
diamonds
When there's little kids in Sierra
Leone
Losing arms for crying while they
mining
Probably an orphan who's momma
died of AIDS
He built a coffin working often but he
never paid
Forever slaving in the world that's
forever cold
Becoming the man of the house at 11
years old
This reality rap, I get inside the
mentality that...
Terrorize you like a cowardly act

(Hook)
I got a part to play, we going hard
these days
Fuck the harder way, we doing it the
harder way
To my god I pray, that's how I start my
day
The bullets starts to spray the
revolution starts today
I say the shit these people ain't got
the heart to say
Fuck the harder way, we doing it the
smarter way
To my god I pray, that's how I start my
day
The bullets starts to spray the
revolution starts today

(2nd Verse)
I was sold to a sick European by a
rich African battlin'
Middle Passages, I can't go back
again
Battlin' years of denied history, lies
and mysteries
Wives with misty eyes watchin' their
husbands be beaten viciously
Battle in the wilderness of North
America
Run by the river, only stoppin' to pray
chased by predators
Terrorists with etiquette who vote and
kill their president
Their capacity for evil so evident and
prevalent
Ain't no hesitation involved, a nation
dissolved
While we sit back waitin' to evolve
Those who would trade in their
freedom
For their protection deserve neither
Not a name, not tradition
Religion, you learn Jesus
Turn the other cheek
Inherit the Earth, just stay meek
Fuck the way you speak
Try to run, we chop off your feet
Fast forward to 2004 we selling
Yo this ain't what I'm settling for
I want more, yo

(Hook)
I got a part to play, we going hard
these days
Fuck the harder way, we doing it the
harder way
To my god I pray, that's how I start my
day
The bullets starts to spray the
revolution starts today
I say the shit these people ain't got
the heart to say
Fuck the harder way, we doing it the
smarter way
To my god I pray, that's how I start my
day
The bullets starts to spray the
revolution starts today

Yo, yo
Niggas always wanna cheak u, make sure u keepin it real niggga
Im over here doing me, you do u, come on

[(chanting) + talib kweli]

[HOOK]
(Back up offa me)ah high tec
(Back up offa me)why dont you get outta ma face
(Back up offa me)betta stay on your place
(Back up offa me)stand up !! ah how much can i take u need to jus
(Back up offa me)(Back up offa me)(Back up offa me)
(Back up offa me)i got money to make not a minuite to waste
(Back up offa me)need space what im tryna' create u need to jus
(Back up offa me)(Back up offa me)(Back up offa me)

I know he aint talkin this , this is grown men's business
Be your own man stand on your own feet
I thought we were homies, but now u coming at me acting like you dont know me
You think u do but your proberly wrong
Im surrounded by more babies than Ashanti's song
Aww baby !! i know you dont get it
Tryna' walk into ma shoes i know you won't fit in
Just coz i know you and your flow too
This mo too, and you wont get it, i dont owe you
You want high tec to do a record for you
So niggas do checkup for you,
Comfortable, coz niggas get respected for you
Get your own respect dude that aint mean it evil
Aint no crutches in no crew, my crew is crued equal
Shit was cool when we was teenagers we grown men,
You my people but
I dont need you moanin and groanin i cant feed you, i already gotta kid
Tell a nigga try to regulate some shit thats not his
Im not tryna' sign im not an artist nigga
Im jus tryna' rhyme and go the hardest nigga

[HOOK]

Radio
Suckas never play me coz i dont let em
They like a pimp, on they hoe sweat em
When i do a show i love to catch a ladies eye
Thas a paperatsie's eye i dont wanna see no lady die
Sports, entertainment, academics, business and politics
Fine hoes swollow dicks, for dollas quick
Young boys brought up in gangs like young lords
Jump off stratagye way and now your done for
What you thought that shawrty about to act a rage(nope)
Right now somebody done at the back stage
Its a master's label relationship and guess who told me
Its the white girl from Colarada and guess who cobie
Try to tell you not to fall with this everytime
Thats more cobie than the jappnesse musta rhyme
Dont need these thieses and tryna catch nuttin'
And when they throwing pussy best believe u catcha suttin'

[HOOK]

[Talk]
Yeah man what he on back up offa me, nigga he think can talk about me , nahimsayin !!and i
Know nigga be talkin about me man,nahimsayin !! who u think put him on !! i put him on !!TALIB
!! KWELII
THAT WHATS BE HIS RAP NAME OR SSOMETHING LIEK THAT!!nigga's name was Henry Abernafy, thas what
His real name is
Henry Abernafy fitty first street.man he gonna get that money. i gotta book of rhymes but i
Gotta book of rhymes
Nahimsyain!! BACK UP OFF ME !! he need to back up off me.look im serious if he come round the
Block, if he come
Back round the block in my lines of ma grocery store, im tellin him right now soon as i bag his
Groceries.
U know what im sayin imma take imma take it liek a like a snape a bottle
And just crack accross his forehead and i be liek YEAH !! TALIB !! AKA HENRY ABERNAFY !! huh !!
BACK UP OFFA ME

[Pharrell] Kweli!!!
[T. Kweli] Yeah! They wasn't
expecting this! that's why ya
[Pharrell] Hahaha
[T. Kweli] Gotta hope for the best and
play 'em for the worst, c'mon!
[Pharrell] Muhfuckers is history!
[T. Kweli] C'mon!!

[Verse - Talib Kweli]
This the story of - Lucy In The Sky
Wit Diamonds
Ask her why she crying, she wanna
live, she got no time for dying
Was a science, dreams too big for a
small town
She gotta get to New York and
watch a door fall down
Hopped off the Greyhound, gotta
make her way now
She sleeping on the park benches in
the playground
But cash burn quick, don't wanna
have to turn trick
Ready to quit 'til she met the super
pimp
Flashing his toothy smile that drove
little Lucy wild
She quick to hop up on his dick
straight Hoopie style
She let the fella hit but she sang she
sell-a-bit [celebate]
He ain't buying that, she ain't selling it
She looking for love in all of the
above
Believing videos, trying to back up all
on a thug
Who wanna - put it in her, withdraw
like a Citi card
But now she shake that ass for tips at
the titty bar

[Chorus - Talib Kweli] (Pharrell)
Broken glass - everywhere! (IT'S
LOUDER!!)
Louder - than a bomb shattered in in
the air (IT'S LOUDER!!)
Try to hold back your tears baby!
(IT'S LOUDER!!)
Wait a second, what happens here
baby? (IT'S LOUDER!!)
Broken glass - everywhere! (IT'S
LOUDER!!)
Louder - than a bomb shattered in in
the air, yeah
(How many of y'all think you can do
what we do?!)
Yeah! Wait a second (One! Two!
Three! C'mon!)

[Verse - Talib Kweli]
Dreams shattered like broken glass
Press ignore it and your hopes get
broken fast
You complain for the life you
supposed to have
But when you try to make plans God
is known to laugh
Throw a song on the phonograph,
and Lucy start wilin
The trick start smiling, watch the loot
start flying
The Gucci start pilling up, she live
designer plush
Start lining up the coke so she could
find a rush
Time's up, she's about to turn 33
Her shit started to sag, she got
surgery
Now cats are used to drive past her
like a Church van
Acting on thirst, 'She Wants To
Move' like a N.E.R.D. fan
Bigger house, 10,000 dollar purse fam
She let you in, she wanted rent by the
1st man
She the ring leader in a clique of birds
And they shadowy, like the silhouette
behind the curtain

[Chorus]

[Verse - Talib Kweli]
She was a small city girl with big city
dreams
Niggaz try to figure how to get up in
them jeans
Put her in them scenes, get her on
the team
Hit her wit the cream 'til they figured
out the schemes
Now she all up in the club looking for
a new love
Really like Huey Lewis looking for a
new drug
Cause coke's getting old, started free
basing
Graduated to crack, smack on
occasion
Not catching the bus, but back at the
station
Back and forth pacing, acting all
impatient
Last hundred dollars, she got to 'Get
By'
Now gotta make a choice, go home
or get high
Mommy and daddy miss her, she left
for the fame
Now what's left is the dirt that's
thrown on her name
She need a ticket home if it's the right
course
Instead she bought a ticket to ride
the white horse

[Chorus]

(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 write my lyrics to you, you the
perfect instrumental
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)

[Intro - Talib Kweli]
7-18 stand up (c'mon) Talib Kweli, BK
MC
Turn it up (yeah)
We 'bout to drop it low
Baby I got the flow (yeah) to work
your abdominal (I'm goin in)
It's the lava flow (yeah) strictly A
game
Rock it fast, rock it slow (whoa)
You got to rock it fast, rock it slow
(whoa, whoa)
Rock it fast, rock it slow (c'mon,
yeah)
You gon' rock it fast, rock it slow
(whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah!)

[Talib Kweli]
Black rock and roll, black hotter flow
At the end of the black brick road,
lets get it goin yo
Geffen don't fuck the shit up, ship it
gold
So I could sell like the whole Jigga
back catalo'
Matta fact I'm tryin to sell out,
concerts and merch' fam
Always get the story straight accounts
first hand (yeah)
That nigga, the crack spitter, the
black fitted low
Give you that bit of information so
You could know what you see when
it's your time to go
The diamond flow cut glass, crack
binary code
You're kinda slow, you need a new
career (yeah)
You're kinda old, you need to hang
the mic up on the wall like a souvenir
Don't blame the mangers, "Be All You
Can Be"
Join the Army like Canibus, niggaz
avoidin me
like the draft and run to Canada, flash
like a camera
That's when his girl asked me to
dance with her - so we gon'

[Chorus]
(Hop to the beat and then stop)
Yeah, drop it low
Baby I got the flow to work your
abdominal
(Ladies I know I get hot) Like lava
flow
Strictly the A game, rock it fast, rock it
slow
(Hop to the beat and then stop)
Yeah, drop it low
Baby I got the flow to work your
abdominal
(Ladies I know I get hot) Like lava
flow
Strictly the A game, drop it fast

[Talib Kweli]
That's how we do it all the way live..
I put it down so hard that I developed
a rep (c'mon)
From the punchlines to cave in your
delicate chest
The fella can test, let's see how
jealousy get
I smell the fear in the air and I could
tell he was pet'
Kweli - look in my eyes and you could
tell I'm a threat
I wet my throat and get bent like a
pelican's neck
I make a gentleman's bet with my
ghetto connect
And got a .9 in my mind you can't
metal detect
I pull it out, put it to your head and
shoot from the hip
I fired 13 shots and left 2 in the clip
(yeah)
I spit the truth, that's it, I'm not
confused one bit (c'mon)
I'm so New York City streets that I'm
abusin your whip
Cruisin the strip, sunny day sky blue
like a Crip (c'mon)
For the rush hour Enuff threw this in
the mix
Quarter to six, Amadeus is producin
the hits (oh, oh, oh)
To get a screw loose in your chick,
son she losin her shit (whoa)

[Chorus]

[Interlude - 4x]
Check me out, yeah, yeah, yeah
Get your ass up on the dance floor
No we don't stop, when we in the
dance off
Baby girl whatchu wanna get into?
I wanna get in too, bring your friends
too

[Chorus]

[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

(Chorus)
Around my way...
Around my way...
All the corners filled with sorrow
All the streets are filled with pain
Around my way...

Around my way...
Around my way...
All the corners filled with sorrow
All the streets are filled with pain
Around my way...

(1st Verse)
People let me paint a picture
You know I ain't a christian
I ain't a muslim, ain't a jew
I'm losing my religion
I speak to god directly
I know my god respect me
Cause he let me breathe his air and
he really blessed me
I ain't knocking you, but I don't fuck
with hospitals
Spit the gospel, truly knowing jesus
like apostles do
Return like the prodigal son to honor
Mohammed too
Stay away from ham like Abraham,
Lord'll follow you
Even when you took my man Chaka
God and what I'm a do
You gave the hood a modern day
martyr in Brother Amadou
I'm on the block, I'm tracing your
footsteps, I keep the faith in you
Your love, plus hard work and
ambition
We gonna make it through, my songs
is psalms I'm spiritual when I'm lyrical
This is for my soldier niggaz looking in
the mirror who
Sitting home scratching off serials
eating cereal
The way we find a way to survive,
shit is a miracle
We got mice in the crib and roaches
in the toasters, rice in the fridge
Bread in the oven by the roaster
We be takin' gypsy cabs and chasin'
50 bags
They be laced with shitty swag and it
really get me mad
The way we saluting flags, wrapping
them around our heads
when niggaz ain't become American
till 9/11
Feeling like you gotta sneak into
heaven
When the reverend looking like a
pimp and the pimp look like the
reverend

(Chorus)
Around my way...
Around my way...
All the corners filled with sorrow
All the streets are filled with pain
Around my way...

These conditions make us strong
And we create our own businesses
so later on
Our children have things in their name
that they can say they own
A mix tape freestyle become your
favorite song
No place like home when the cops
ask you about your neighbors
Beat on you, threaten to incarcerate
you
Till you spill your guys like you a
Garcia Vega
We roll blunts not the papers
Cop the greatest take it coast to
coast
L.A. to Chicago like Smooth
Operators
Cop the Dro and cop the blacks
Cop the four, cock it back
Drop the flow, rock a hat on top a
stocking cap
Be a doctor or a lawyer or make your
momma a promise that
You'll finish school, but when you got
a dream you gotta follow that
And make sure when you make it out
the hood, you always holler back
Think about what you got from that
And always put your dollars back
On top of that, this is a legacy and we
a part of that
The hood is where my heart is at
Catch me around my way

(Chorus)
Around my way...
Around my way...
All the corners filled with sorrow
All the streets are filled with hate
Around my way...

Around my way...
Around my way...
All the corners filled with sorrow
All the streets are filled with pain
Around my way...

[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 holliest
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 surpestition 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]
Don't belive 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 a planet take

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

[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]

(feat. Common, Anthony Hamilton)

[Intro: Talib Kweli]
Ghetto to ghetto, backyard to yard
We tear it up y'all, bless the mic with the gods (come on)
Precious metals round our necks and arms (yea)
We tear it up y'all, bless the mic with the gods
Ghetto to ghetto, backyard to yard
We tear it up y'all, bless the mic with the gods (come on)
Precious metals round our necks and arms (yea)
We tear it up y'all, bless the mic with the gods

[Hook: Anthony Hamilton]
Whatever in your heart is where you want to be
My hood is the ghetto
Even when you look
Its never what you see
My hood is the ghetto
I've been down before up is just a reach
Cause my hood is the ghetto
Catch a second wind
Then begin again
My hood is the ghetto

[Verse 1: Common]
Black magic in the hood, its tragic but understood
Crack addicts, crack windows, crack wood
Even whats bad becomes good, status becomes stood
Upon the pedestal welcome to the ghetto show
Federal buildings, pissy hallways filled with children pushing children
Fiends lips peeling, shit seems real and
What's real is the estate of mind that we're in
The situation feels great
My man peels weight, so he can fill plates
You might get love but you still feel hate
Through and chain plates, we communicate
Chicago to brooklyn nigga real ones do relate

[Verse 2: Talib Kweli]
If lyrics sold then truth be told
I'll probably be just as rich and famous as jay-z
Truthfully I wanna rhyme like common sense
Next best thing I do a record with common sense
Cause its the music, its blues, its jazz, its acoustics
Soul, rock and roll the hip hop we be producing yea
It's the gear, it's the flare, it's the stare
Nowadays they'll shot you where they used to shoot the fair
Remember the lost soldiers, pour a beer, shoot the air
We got our own elected officials, no matter who the mayor
I know you know what I'm talking about
From New York to the South, take off your shoes when you walk in the house

[Hook]

[Verse 3: Talib Kweli]
Yo
I grew up where they're playing skele in the parking lot
And sell paintings of Aaliyah, BIG and Pac up in the barbershop
Buildings too big so you don't really see the stars a lot
But rapping, drinking, and going to prison you see them bars a lot
I feel the spirit in the dark and hear it in my heart
And always keep my ears to the block till I dearly depart
Hip hop is really the art
We have to express the part of ourselves that make us want to martyr ourselves
It ain't harder to tell when somebody stick you up and put the hammer to you
They want them dead presidents like Stickman and Mutulu
With a gun to your jaw, these kids don't run anymore
Kicks is a hundred or more

[Verse 4: Common]
A man in front of the store, begging for money and mercy
I told him say a prayer under his breath, he cursed me
Niggaz is thirsty, I heard it's a drought
Up early, serving from their grandmother's house
Sometime the ghetto feels desolate, yo the eyes of the hood yo is desperate
Effected by the deficit, times and lessons get hard
Either get by or get god, but but you try to get by
It's like the block keep blocking
You try to make moves, its like the car just keep stopping
We shorties in the court, need cochran yea
I tell them why the weed seeds popping, in the game you need options
No time for feet watching, me and kwe keep rocking for the ghetto

[Hook times 2]

[Talib Kweli]
I do it for the people, I do it for the
love
I do it for the poet, I do it for the thug
This is for victory, and this is for the
slaughter
I do it for my mother, I do it for my
daughter
Promise I'll always love ya, I love to
kiss and hug ya
You and your brother should be
lookin out for one another
I'm so blessed, man, y'all the reason I
got up
Somebody put his hands on you I'm
gettin locked up
I'm not playin, that's the prayer I'm
sayin for Diani
And if I die then she'll be protected by
Amani
That's her bigger brother and I love
the way he love her
She a girly-girl, she love to imitate her
mother
But she a Gemini, so stay on her
friendly side
She'll put that look on you, it's like
somebody' friend just died
My pretty black princess smell sweet
like that incense
That you buy at the bookstore
supporting black business
Teach her what black is; the fact is
her parents are thorough
She four reading Cornrows by Camille
Yarborough
I keep her hair braided, bought her a
black Barbie
I keep her mind free; she ain't no
black zombie
This is for Aisha, this is for Kashera
This is for Khadijah scared to look up
in the mirror
I see the picture clearer thru the stain
on the frame
She got a black girl name, she livin
black girl pain
This is for Makeba, and for my
mamacita
What's really good, ma? I'll be your
promise-keeper
I see the picture clearer thru the stain
on the frame
She got a black girl name, she livin
black girl pain

[Hook]
My mama said life would be so hard
Growin up days as a black girl
scarred
In so many ways though we've come
so far
They just know the name they don't
know the pain
So please hold your heads up high
Don't be ashamed of yourself know I
Will carry it forth til the day I die
They just know the name they don't
know the pain black girl

[Jean Grae]
This is for Beatrice Bertha Benjamin
who gave birth to
Tsidi Azeeda for Lavender Hill for
Kyalisha
ALTHLONE, Mitchells Plain, Swazi
girls I'm reppin for thee
Mannesburg, Guguletu where you'd
just be blessed to get thru
For beauty shinin thru like the sun at
the highest noon
From the top of the cable car at Table
Mountain; I am you
Girls with the skyest blue of eyes and
the darkest skin
For Cape Colored allied for realizing
we're African
For all my cousins back home, the
strength of mommy's backbone
The length of which she went for
raising, sacrificing her own
The pain of not reflecting the range of
our complexions
For rubber pellet scars on Auntie
Elna's back I march
Fist raised caramel shinin in all our
glory
For Mauritius, St, Helena; my blood is
a million stories
Winnie for Joan and for Edie, for
Norma, Leslie, Ndidi
For Auntie Betty, for Melanie; all the
same family
Fiona, Jo Burg, complex of mixed girls
For surviving thru every lie they put
into us now
The world is yours and I swear I will
stand focused
Black girls, raise up your hands; the
world should clap for us

[Hook]
My mama said life would be so hard
Growin up days as a black girl
scarred
In so many ways though we've come
so far
They just know the name they don't
know the pain
So please hold your heads up high
Don't be ashamed of yourself know I
Will carry it forth til the day I die
They just know the name they don't
know the pain black girl

(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

[Sample]
This is a tear jerker

[Intro] {*echoes*}
The revolution is here, the revolution
is here people
I said it once, I'll say it twice
You gots to be ready
The revolution is inside of you
People, the revolution is here, yeah

[Hook]
The revolution's here
No one can lead you off your path
You'll try to change the world
So please excuse me while I laugh
(yeah)
No one can change your ways (rock
with me for a second)
No one can lead you off your path
(come on)
You'll try to change the world
So please excuse me while I laugh

[Verse 1: Talib Kweli]
Yo, I heard it's said the revolution
won't be televised
But in the land of milk and honey
there's a date you gotta sell it by
Otherwise it just expires and spoils
And these folks jump out the pot
when the water too hot
Cuz the fire boils inside
You go to church to find you some
religion
And all you hear is connivin' and
gossip and contradiction and
You try to vote and participate in the
government
And the muh'fuckin' Democrats is
actin' like Republicans
You join an organization that know
black history
But ask them how they plan to make
money and it's a mystery
Lookin' for the remedy but you can't
see what's hurtin' you
The revolution's here, the revolution
is personal
They call me the political rapper
Even after I tell 'em I don't fuck with
politics
I don't even follow it
I'm on some KRS, Ice Cube, Chris
Wallace shit
Main Source, De La Soul, bumpin'
"2Pacalypse Now"

[Hook]
The revolution's here (yeah)
No one can lead you off your path
(uh uh)
You'll try to change the world
So please excuse me while I laugh
(ha ha, ha ha)
No one can change your ways
No one can lead you off your path
(uh uh)
You'll try to change the world ('scuse
me)
So please excuse me while I laugh

[Verse 2]
Yo, I speak at schools a lot cause
they say I'm intelligent
Nervous cause I'm dope, if I was
wack I'd be irrelevant
I'm like the dope in your tracks until
your high is settled in
You leanin' to the left, the laughter's
the best medicine
But the troubles you have today you
just can't laugh away
Stay optimistic, they can change, it's
gon' come like Donny Hathaway
You have to pray, on top of that, act
today
Cuz opportunity shrivel away like Tom
Hanks in "Cast Away"
Everybody pass away, the past will
pay, the family mournin'
Everybody act accordin' to the
season that they born in
You fight in the streets, start bleedin'
'til the blood is pourin'
In the gutter, mothers cry 'til the Lord
be livin' by the sword and
All that folks want is safety, they goin'
gun crazy
The same reason Reagan was
playin' war games in the '80s
The same reason I've always rocked
dog chains on my babies
The struggle is beautiful, I'm too
strong for you to slave me

[Hook]
The revolution's here (yeah)
No one can lead you off your path
(uh uh)
You'll try to change the world
So please excuse me while I laugh
(ha ha, ha ha)
No one can change your ways (yeah)
No one can lead you off your path
(uh uh)
You'll try to change the world ('scuse
me)
So please excuse me while I laugh
(yeah)
The revolution's here
No one can lead you off your path
You'll try to change the world
So please excuse me while I laugh
No one can change your ways
No one can lead you off your path
You'll try to change the world
So please excuse me while I laugh

[Outro: Talib Kweli]
It's a beautiful thing that's happenin'
right now
Right now G
Yo, I'm rockin' with my man Hi-Tek on
the track right now
We fightin' the good fight
The Beautiful Struggle
Yeah, let's go

(So please excuse me while I laugh)

[Chorus: repeat 2X]
Set it off, set it off, get it off now
Get out or you headed North now
Ain't comin at you like its soft now
We pullin out tonite
Rapapapapa pa
Rapapapapa pa
Rapapapapa pa
Rapapa pa

[Verse 1]
Y'all dudes be watchin T.V., see the MC, get the CD
Believin every word he's heard spit, you best believe me
So when I get to spittin, this should be so excitin
You see your favorite rapper and you can't believe you like him
Saw a tear comin from your eye now
Can't really pretend you fly now
So you still frontin but why now
Feel like you can't touch the sky now
What the people really feelin, let's find out
If you rockin with a nigga, let's ride out
We got no time to lie down
Young girls in the fuckin cryin out
Its the way that I walk and I talk like
I'm a real Brooklyn-New York type
You know the type to push niggaz off bikes
One summer only rock Air-Force Nikes
Gonna put it down answer the door right
Go hard to the paper with all night
Spit that murder rap, murder rap rap
Sounds like rapapa

[Interlude]
Rapapapapa pa
Rapapapapa pa
Rapapapapa
Rapapapapa pa
G-yeah, g-yeah, g-yeah, g-yeah
G-yeah, g-yeah, g-yeah
G-yeah, g-yeah, g-yeah, g-yeah
G-yeah, g-yeah, g-yeah
G-yeah, g-yeah
Here we go, here we go
Here we go, here we go c'mon

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]
These niggaz screamin how they take your life ??? dreamin
They leave the proof so they can keep their man a cure appointment
Say they be on the block and they got ammunity
They can't even scare white people and they pay their community
And I know you got a wife and you not playing with your kids
That's why I don't believe in half the shit you say you did
Treat you like Craig, you ain't gotta lie
Like B.I. somebody gotta die
I keep these niggaz on their toes, fuck it, somebody gotta try
I make the mystery DIE, I'm like Magnum P.I
Its just a fax when I RAP, I got 'em trapped like T.I
Niggaz get 24's and shit they ain't got money for
And put on some funny clothes to holla at some funny hoes
And what you think that make you a man huh
That don't make you nothin but a bumma
Drop, pause and they ain't no cameras
Gangstas gotta cry your manner
You rockin a shook demeanor, probably scared to throw some joints
Ain't gonna bust a nina, nothin sweeter, what's the point?

[Interlude]

[Chorus]

[ad-libs]