[Talib Kweli]
What we have here is the alpha and the omega, I spit it
Bear witness to the greatest and the latest
They try to hate us, yo
Witness the evolution of spitting, it's wicked and it's decadent
Revolutions per minute every time 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 african diaspora scatter with shattered history
The game missing me, rap is so repetitive
Although I ain't your blood or your cuz, it's all relative
I got a gang of rhymes, and Tones' beats is banging
We moving through the streets like we slanging dimes
It's magical, how the track so classical
The cats who got gas tucked in their sweats like Plaxico
I'm back from my sabbatical, voice of the future
Black radical, keeping all the damages collateral
[Chorus]
Listening to instrumentals
Thinking bout all the things I've been through
The music just a peek into my life as a window
It's so +Hi-Tek+ 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 the city playground
Hotter than the tar on the city playground
[Talib Kweli]
Aiyyo, I'm taking all bets, I'm settling all debts
A giant leap for man begin with the small steps
From a sword to a set, to my people on the picket line
who sick of getting treated like them aliens in District 9
I juxtapose my business mind with my spirit
What, I'm just supposed to keep you comfortable with the lyrics?
I know the flow 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 so phoney
I try to listen but they as boring as missionary position
So I'm s******* on these n***** like dysentery conditions
I'm sitting on the throne, you dreaming that it's empty soon
Nobody feeling you, you screaming in an empty room
The tree that fall in the forest, nobody hearing you
Even though you fall the hardest, don't get me started
[Chorus]
[Talib Kweli]
Yo, I build up my defenses when I'm left to my devices
Time gets suspended more than DMX driver's license
My music's steady, not affected by the higher prices
People having s** in the streets like Dionysus
You know what my advice is? f*** my advice, live your life
stop tripping like everything a minor crisis
I'm making sacrifices, my history is black as Isis
I don't think that I can trust you if you lack in vices
I never miss a beat, the liquor make me slur
They takes my words, try to twist 'em like a Swisher Sweet with sticky herb
American History X, your teeth will hit the curb
It's easy cause I'm ill with the wordplay, I still flip the bird
like Jeezy, we stripped 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 on, then I'm right at home, zoning
[Chorus]
[Talib Kweli]
Yeah, it's the pavement, word is bond
Don't be scared to think man, don't be scared
I know what's in your brain, it's scary man
You're only using like ten per cent
The other ninety per cent is scary man
But don't be scared, scary a** n*****, ay!
What we have here is the alpha and the omega, I spit it
Bear witness to the greatest and the latest
They try to hate us, yo
Witness the evolution of spitting, it's wicked and it's decadent
Revolutions per minute every time 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 african diaspora scatter with shattered history
The game missing me, rap is so repetitive
Although I ain't your blood or your cuz, it's all relative
I got a gang of rhymes, and Tones' beats is banging
We moving through the streets like we slanging dimes
It's magical, how the track so classical
The cats who got gas tucked in their sweats like Plaxico
I'm back from my sabbatical, voice of the future
Black radical, keeping all the damages collateral
[Chorus]
Listening to instrumentals
Thinking bout all the things I've been through
The music just a peek into my life as a window
It's so +Hi-Tek+ 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 the city playground
Hotter than the tar on the city playground
[Talib Kweli]
Aiyyo, I'm taking all bets, I'm settling all debts
A giant leap for man begin with the small steps
From a sword to a set, to my people on the picket line
who sick of getting treated like them aliens in District 9
I juxtapose my business mind with my spirit
What, I'm just supposed to keep you comfortable with the lyrics?
I know the flow 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 so phoney
I try to listen but they as boring as missionary position
So I'm s******* on these n***** like dysentery conditions
I'm sitting on the throne, you dreaming that it's empty soon
Nobody feeling you, you screaming in an empty room
The tree that fall in the forest, nobody hearing you
Even though you fall the hardest, don't get me started
[Chorus]
[Talib Kweli]
Yo, I build up my defenses when I'm left to my devices
Time gets suspended more than DMX driver's license
My music's steady, not affected by the higher prices
People having s** in the streets like Dionysus
You know what my advice is? f*** my advice, live your life
stop tripping like everything a minor crisis
I'm making sacrifices, my history is black as Isis
I don't think that I can trust you if you lack in vices
I never miss a beat, the liquor make me slur
They takes my words, try to twist 'em like a Swisher Sweet with sticky herb
American History X, your teeth will hit the curb
It's easy cause I'm ill with the wordplay, I still flip the bird
like Jeezy, we stripped 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 on, then I'm right at home, zoning
[Chorus]
[Talib Kweli]
Yeah, it's the pavement, word is bond
Don't be scared to think man, don't be scared
I know what's in your brain, it's scary man
You're only using like ten per cent
The other ninety per cent is scary man
But don't be scared, scary a** n*****, ay!