Mos Def And Talib Kweli Are Black Star

[child #1] ...and then jackie chan just started kickin em
Like pow! pow! pow!

[child #2] whaaaaa??!

[mos def] alright y'all, alright y'all enough of that
It's time to go to bed y'all
Time to go to bed -- i don't wanna hear that
You know what time it is, you know what time it is

[children] uncle mos?
[mos def] yeeesss?
[children] would you read us a bedtime story please?
[mos def] okay, okay. ya'll tucked in?
[children] yeessss...
[mos def] heeeere we go...

Once upon a time not long ago
When people wore adidas and lived life slow
When laws were stern and justice stood
And people was behavin' like hip-hop was good
There lived a little boy who was misled
By a little sha-tan and this is what he said
"me and you kid we gonna make some cash,
Jackin' old beats and makin' the dash..."
They jacked the beats, money came wit' ease
But son, he couldn't stop, it's like he had a disease
He jacked another and another, michael jackson, stevie wonder
Set some r & b over the track for 'deep cover' (187!)
The kid got wild startin' actin' erratic
He said "yo, that presidential i got ta have it..."
With liquor in his belly son, he made up the track
But little did he know that his joints was wack
The shiny a & r said "great new hit g!"
"whenever you need a loop, yo come get me..."
The kid got amped and he starts to figure
"i'm-a get dough like all-a these otha niggaz!"
So, he's in the studio workin' 'round the clock
For pop radio, jacked the beat to 'planet rock'
Was out in the street when he met this sister
Who couldn't sing for shhhh but the mix would assist her
Hooked up the track and in excitation
He decided he'd head for the radio station
But (but!) he was runnin' and he made a left
Was skeezin' at top speed and ran into mos def
I slowed the young man down and i started: "yo money,
Yo, why you sellin' lies to our wives and children?"
He ran upstairs up to the top floor
Opened up the door then guess what he saw? (who?)
Jane the chickenhead radio host
Who be yappin' 'bout beef between east and west coast
He said "this one's a bullet, you got ta give it run!"
The chicken said "thanks." and spanked it #1
He went outside, was gettin' props all over
Then he dipped into his ride, the 4-point rover
Raced up the block doin' 83
Some cats with hennessey saw him at a r-e-d
He winked his eye like his star status mattered
They rat-a-tat-tatted to make his blood splatter
"you rockin' crazy ice and all you do is cling static
And rollin' down to brooklyn late night is problematic..."
His eyes was bloody red, he hung on every word they said
They told the kid "back down, that playa shit is dead."
Deep in his heart, he knew he was gone
But he grabbed his 45 and decide to blaze on
Wit' shades on founded had him astounded an'
Before long, the young man got surrounded
Those grabbed the guns, so goes the glory
And that is the way i got ta end this story
He was out chasin' cream and the american dream
Tryin' to pretend the ends justify the means
This ain't funny so don't you dare laugh
It's just what comes to pass when you sell your ass
Life is more than what your hands can grasp
Good night!

(kids talking)
Knock 'em out the box mos, knock 'em out mos
Knock 'em out the box mos, knock 'em out mos (3x)

Knock 'em out...

A-nother...mos def...black star movement...
Presentation... cruuumbs!

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

We in the house like japanese in japan, or koreans in korea
Head to philly and free mumia with the kujichagulia true
Singin is swingin and writin is fightin, but what
They writin got us clashin like titans it's not excitin
No question, bein a black man is demandin
The fire's in my eyes and the flames need fannin (3x)

With that what? (knowledge of self) determination
*repeat 4x*

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

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

With that what? (knowledge of self) determination
*repeat 6x*
- - - - these two parts overlap - - - -
Things i say and do, may not come quite through
My words may not convey just what i'm feelin
*repeat 2x*

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

From that what? (knowledge of self) determination
*repeat 4x*

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

..

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

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

[mos def]
Lawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwd, lawd have mercy
All nice and peace and true, follow me now, we say
Say hi-tek yes you're ruling hip-hop
Say j. rawls yes you're ruling hip-hop
Redefinition say you're ruling hip-hop
Say black star come to rock it non...

Yo, from the first to the last of it, delivery is passionate
The whole and not the half of it, vocab and not the math of it
Projectile that them blasted with, accurate assassin shit
Me and kweli close like, bethlehem and nazareth
After this you be pressing rewind on top your master disk
Shining like an asterisk for all those that be gatherin
Connectin like a roundhouse from the townhouse to the tenaments
Cause all my brooklyn residents, ? heavy regiments
Don't believe, here the evidence, where brooklyn whaaaaaaaoohhhh
See that? bound to take it all kid, believe that
From where they sellin tree at, to where the police be at
Talib kweli e-kweli-ty yo tell them where we be at

[talib kweli]
Brooklyn new york city where they paint murals of biggie
In cash we trust cause it's ghetto fabulous, life look pretty
What a pity -- blunts is still fifty cents, it's intense
Tree scents is dominant can't be covered with incense
My presence felt my name is kweli from the eternal reflection
People thinkin mc is short hand for mis conception
Let me meditate, set it straight, came to the conclusion
That most of these cats is featherweight, let me demonstrate
Walkin the streets is like battlin, be careful with your body
You must know karate or think your soul is bulletproof like sade
Stop actin like a bitch already, be a visionary
And maybe you can see your name in the column of obituary
Third rate teacher readin and talkin about,
"i knew he'd amount to nothin"
Neighbors like, "he was the quiet type,
Who'd have thought they was frontin?"
Talkin +loud+ like you in rca, get carted away
With body parts and treys, what a way to start your day
Yo it's like

Chorus: mos def and talib kweli

One two three
Mos def and talib kweli
We came to rock it on to the tip-top
Best alliance in hip-hop, wyahhhhh
I said one two three
It's kind of dangerous to be a emcee
They shot tupac and biggie
Too much violence in hip-hop, wyahhhhh

[mos def]
I said manhattan keep on makin it (bo!), brooklyn keep on takin it (bo!)
So relax we're takin it back, redhook where we're livin at
Plenty cats be strugglin not hustlin and bubblin
It ain't about production and -- what else we discussin?
When the cock crows, my crop grows, enable me to rock flows
Strivin for perfection ever since i was a snot-nosed
Colossal, true original b-boy apostle
Standin on the rooftop with the, zulu gestapo

[talib kweli]
You think you the shit
Somebody in the wings'll force you to quit
It could be your crew or click
Or some random kid you smoked buddha with
Consider me the entity within the industry without a history
Of spittin the epitome, of stupidity -- livin my life
Expressin my liberty, it gotta be done properly
My name is in the middle of e-kweli-ty
People follow me and other cats they hear him flow
And assume i'm the real one with lyrics like i'm cyrano

[mos def]
Still sippin wishin well water, imported, from pluto
Three hundred and sixty milliliters for all our believers
In miles or kilometers, most cats, cannot proceed us
In the jungle with the leaders we the lions you the +cheaters+
A cypher, will complete us if we come through your receivers
You can play us and repeat us and then take us home and read us
(line for line) good jesus, mos def and kweli just
Make a pussy freeze up, thinkin we will ease up

Chorus

"what'd you do last night?"
"we did umm, two whole cars
It was me, dez, and main three right?
And on the first car in small letters it said
'all you see is..' and then you know
Big, big, you know some block silver letters
That said '..crime in the city' right?"
"it just took up the whole car?"
"yeah yeah, it was a whole car and shit..."

[spanish speaking woman] escuchela.. la ciudad respirando
(translation of spanish: listen to it.. the city breathing)

* woman repeats 3x *

[spanish speaking woman] escuchela..

[mos def]
The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis
Shinin, like who on top of this?
People was tusslin, arguin and bustlin
Gangstaz of gotham hardcore hustlin
I'm wrestlin with words and ideas
My ears is picky, seekin what will transmit
The scribes can apply to transcript, yo
This ain't no time where the usual is suitable
Tonight alive, let's describe the inscrutable
The indisputable, we new york the narcotic
Strength in metal and fiber optics
Where mercenaries is paid to trade hot stock tips
For profits, thirsty criminals take pockets
Hard knuckles on the second hands of workin class watches
Skyscrapers is collosus, the cost of living
Is preposterous, stay alive, you play or die, no options
No batman and robin, can't tell between
The cops and the robbers, they both partners, they all heartless
With no conscience, back streets stay darkened
Where unbeliever hearts stay hardened
My eagle talons stay sharpened, like city lights stay throbbin
You either make a way or stay sobbin, the shiny apple
Is bruised but sweet and if you choose to eat
You could lose your teeth, many crews retreat
Nightly news repeat, who got shot down and locked down
Spotlight to savages, nasdaq averages
My narrative, rose to explain this existance
Amidst the harbor lights which remain in the distance

So much on my mind that i can't recline
Blastin holes in the night til she bled sunshine
Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
Heard the bass ride out like an ancient mating call
I can't take it y'all, i can feel the city breathin
Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening
Sigh before we die like the last train leaving

[talib kweli]
Breathin in deep city breaths, sittin on shitty steps
We stoop to new lows, hell froze the night the city slept
The beast crept through concrete jungles
Communicatin with one another
And ghetto birds where waters fall
From the hydrants to the gutters
The beast walk the beats, but the beats we be makin
You on the wrong side of the track, lookin visibly shaken
Taken them plungers, plungin to death that's painted by the numbers
With crime unapplied pressure, cats is playin god
But havin children by a lesser baby mother but fuck it
We played against each other like puppets, swearin you got pull
When the only pull you got is the wool over your eyes
Gettin knowledge in jail like a blessing in disguise
Look in the skies for god, what you see besides the smog
Is broken dreams flying away on the wings of the obscene
Thoughts that people put in the air
Places where you could get murdered over a glare
But everything is fair
It's a paradox we call reality
So keepin it real will make you casualty of abnormal normality
Killers born naturally like, mickey and mallory
Not knowing the ways'll get you capped like an nba salary
Some cats be emceeing to illustrate what we be seeing
Hard to be a spiritual being when shit is shakin what you believe in
For trees to grow in brooklyn, seeds need to be planted
I'm asking if y'all feel me and the crowd left me stranded
My blood pressure boiled and rose, cause new york niggaz
Actin spoiled at shows, to the winners the spoils go
I take the l, transfer to the 2, head to the gates
New york life type trife the roman empire state

[mos def and crew]
So much on my mind i just can't recline
Blastin holes in the night til she bled sunshine
Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
Yo don't the bass ride out like an ancient mating call
I can't take it y'all, i can feel the city breathin
Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening
Sigh before we die like the last train leaving

[spanish speaking woman] escuchela.. respirando ??

[common]
Yo...on the amen, corner i stood lookin at my former hood
Felt the spirit in the wind, knew my friend was gone for good
Threw dirt on the casket, the hurt, i couldn't mask it
Mixin down emotions, struggle i hadn't mastered
I coreograph seven steps to heaven
And hell, waiting to exhale and make the bread leavened
Veteran of a cold war it's chica-i-go for
What i know or, what's known
So some days i take the bus home, just to touch home
From the crib i spend months gone
Sat by the window with a clutched dome listenin to shorties cuss long
Young girls with weak minds, but they butt strong
Tried to call, or at least beep the lord, but didn't have a touch-tone
It's a dog-eat-dog world, you gotta mush on
Some of this land i must own
Outta the city, they want us gone
Tearin down the 'jects creatin plush homes
My circumstance is between cabrini and love jones
Surrounded by hate, yet i love home
Ask my god how he thought travellin the world sound
Found it hard to imagine he hadn't been past downtown
It's deep, i heard the city breathe in its sleep
Of reality i touch, but for me it's hard to keep
Deep, i heard my man breathe in his sleep
Of reality i touch, but for me it's hard to keep

[mos def and crew]
So much on my mind i just can't recline
Blastin holes in the night til she bled sunshine
Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine
Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline
Yo how the bass ride out like an ancient mating call
I can't take it y'all, i can feel the city breathing
Chest heavin, against the flesh of the evening
Kiss the ide's goodbye, i'm on the last train leaving

[talib kweli]
Yo dee (what?)
Come on (yeah..)
What? what? come on
(yeah)

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

[m.d.] not strong
[t.k.] only aggressive
[m.d.] not free
[t.k.] we only licensed
[m.d.] not compassioniate, only polite
[t.k.] now who the nicest?
[m.d.] not good but well behaved
[t.k.] chasin after death
So we can call ourselves brave?
[m.d.] still livin like mental slaves
[both] hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
[both] hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice

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

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

[talib kweli]
They ain't lookin around

[m.d.] not strong
[t.k.] only aggressive
[m.d.] not free
[t.k.] we only licensed
[m.d.] not compassioniate, only polite
[t.k.] now who the nicest?
[m.d.] not good but well behaved
[t.k.] chasin after death
So we can call ourselves brave?
[m.d.] still livin like mental slaves
[both] hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
[both] hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
[both] hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
[both] hidin like thieves in the night from life
Illusions of oasis makin you look twice

[mos def (singing)]
Stop hidin, stop hidin, stop hidin yo' face
Stop hidin, stop hidin, cause ain't no hidin place
* repeat 2x*

(ad libs to fade)