Black On Both Sides

La da da......

People climbed into the night like space suits
People stepped into the night like moon boots
Marching like moon troops
In their zoot colored zoot suits

People climbed into the night like cool wells
Shiny bottles in their hands
Drinking their new selves
They say it's their true selves

People climbed up in the night like green trees
They were hanging from the night like green leaves
Buzzing like queen bees

People climbed into the night like space suits
People stomped inside the night
Stomping and stomping and stomping and stomping and stomping

Where are they going?
What's the rush?
Everybody's embraced but so out of touch
Hey

Night-time is when the things get heavy
You feel alone and you want somebody
Loneliness whispers desperate measures
And you're frantic all by yourself

Night-time is when the things get heavy
You feel alone and you want somebody
Loneliness whispers desperate measures
Baby don't make no fast moves
Baby don't make no fast moves
Baby don't make no fast moves
Baby don't make no fast moves--- tonight

La da da....

People stomped inside the night
Let me climb into the night...
Let me climb...
[vamp to fade]

[mos def]
They say the goodness in life belongs to those who believe
So, i believe...yes!

[chorus] 2x
I start to think, and then i sink
Into the paper, like i was ink
When i'm writing i'm trapped in between the line
I escape when i finish the rhyme (aiyyo)

My pops said he was in love when he made me
Thought about it for a second, wasn't hard to see
I could hear he was sincere, was a game of promotion
The entire affair's probably charged wit emotion
But love call your heart, i guess you got to persue
12-11-73 my life is testament
Praise the beneficent, element that rest
Devoid in the form that make love manifest
I spent my early years in roosevelt project
It was a bright valley wit some dark prospects
In '83, venny c was the host wit the most
I listened to the rap attack and held the radio close
I listened to the rap attack and held the radio close
This is far before the days of high glamour and pose
Aiyyo power from the street light made the place dark
I know a few understand what i'm talkin about
It was love for the thing that made me wanna stay out
It was love for the thing that made me stay in the house
Spendin time, writin rhymes
Tryin to find words that describe the vibe
That's inside the space
When you close yo' eyes and screw yo' face
Is this the pain of too much tenderness
To make me nod my head in reverence
Should i visit this place and remember it?
To build landmarks here as evidence
Night time, spirit shook my temperment
To write rhymes that portray this sentiment
We live the now for the promise of the infinite
We live the now for the promise of the inifinite
And we believe in the promise (love, love *repeated*)
Yes yes y'all and we don't stop because

Chorus

I got love, l-o-v-e and i be
Love, l-o-v-e to mc
Get love, l-o-v-e and i be
Love, l-o-v-e i mc
Get love, l-o-v-e and i be
Love, l-o-v-e to mc
Get love, l-o-v-e and i be
The m-o-s-d-e-f-initely

Check it out y'all, feel me out y'all
Feel me out y'all, hear my out y'all
Check me, out y'all
Feel me out y'all, check it out y'all
Now hear out (bounce) y'all
Check me out y'all, feel me out y'all
Check me out y'all, feel me out y'all
Feel me out y'all (hear me bounce y'all)
Check me out y'all, check it out y'all

My folks said they was in love when they had me
I take they love they made me wit to make rhymes and beats
(can you feel?) the raw deal, it's all wheel-driven
Contemplate the essence of beats, rhymes and living
Speech in line wit the rhythm, designed wit the rhythm
Ears and eyes keepin good time wit the rhythm
I shine wit the rhythm, the black star gallactica
Big number fleetin, we ancient like the abbacca's
After us, i see most proceed to be trees
Sproutin leaves, given breeze to the we who believe
I mc, which means i must cultivate the earth
Back straight backs, hard beats and hard work
I be the funky drummer to soften the hard earth
(amin) pray allah keep my soul and heart clean
(amin) pray the same thing again for all my team
This go out to fort greene and on out to queens
Uptown to boogie down, yo just look around
And shook up the world!, like ali in 6-3 (right)
I'm reachin the height that you said cannot be
I'm bringin the light but you said we can't see
Saw the new day commin, and it look just like me
Some burst through the clouds, my photo id
I bring light to your day and raise yo' degree
The universal magnetic, you must respect it
From end to beginning, ? true and livin
Every changing, it was a state of magnificent
Building it now for the promise of the infinite
Building it now for the promise of the inifinite because

Chorus

I got love, l-o-v-e and i be
Love, l-o-v-e to mc
Get love, l-o-v-e and i be
Love, l-o-v-e to mc
Get love, l-o-v-e and i be
Love, l-o-v-e to mc
Get love, l-o-v-e and i be
The m-o-s-d-e-f-initely

*part one*

[mos def]
Hey hey, ha ha say what say what
Ha ha bust it yo
Sometimes i feel like i don't have a partner
Sometimes i feel like my only friend
Is the city i live in, is beautiful brooklyn
Long as i live here believe i'm on fire hey
Cuz it's the b-the-r-the-o-the-o-k
L-y-n is the place where i stay
The b-the-r-the-o-the-o-k
Best in the world and all usa
It's the b-to-the-r-the-o-the-o-k
L-y-n is the place where i stay
The b-to-the-r-the-o-the-o-k
Place where i rest is on my born day
Bust it, sometimes i sit back and just reflect
Watch the world go by and my thought connect
I think about the time past and the time to come
Reminesce on bed-stuy when i was pride and young
I used to try and come, to the neighborhood function
Throw on my izod, say a little something
When i was just a youngin, before the days of thuggin
How me and charlie chims (aiyyo what?) i'm only buggin
Fast forward, nine-now i gotta team my seed
I must proceed at god's speed to perform my deed
Livin the now space and time, round the nine to five
For as long as i'm alive, paw i got to strive
I ain't sittin roadside, that ain't harder to plan
I'm out here for my fam doin all that i can
I love my city, sweet and gritty in land to outskirts
Nickname bucktown cuz we grown to outburst
Philosophy redefine us, touch mines i touch back
Walk the streets like a sweet and get beat like drum tracks
Catch no shakes over jakes (boomp-boomp!) we bust back
Bring the marty to your face wit no place to run back
I'm from the slums that created the bass that thump back
This ain't a game clown, play ya james brown and jump back
What you want, jack? young cats stash they jums at
Draw they guns back, momma screams where she sons at
Tryin to hunt that, recurring dream of high stakes
The fourth largest, first artist, brooklyn is the place
Settled by the judge many years ago
Three billion strong and here we go

*part two*

[mos def]
Good morninnnnnnnnngg vietnam!!!
Ha (back up back up back up back up back up)*repeated in background*
Yo sometimes i sit back, reflect on the place that i live at
Unlike any place i ever been at
The home of big gats, deep dish hammer rim caps
Have a mishap, push ya wig back
Where you go to get the fresh trim at
Four on the jake got the timb rack
Blue collars metro carding it
Thugs mobbin it, form partnership
Increase armorment, street pharmacist
Deep consequence, when you seek sleek ornaments
You get caught, rode the white horse and can't get off
Big dogs that trick off just get sent off
They shoebox stash is all they seeds gotta live off
It's real yo but still yo, it's love here
And it's felt by anybody that come here
Out of towners take the train, plane and bus here
Must be something that they really want here
One year as a resident, deeper sentiment
Shoutout "go brooklyn!", they representin it
Sittin on they front stoop sippin guinesses
Usin native dialect in they sentences
>from the treeline blocks to the tenaments
To the mom & pop local shop menaces
Travel all around the world in great distances
And ain't a place that i know that bear resemblance
That's why we it the planet
Not a borough or a prov, it's our style that's uncalm
>from ?sun? to the ? to the lafayette gardens
White ?coff guawinas? in they army jacket linings
Yo this goes out to my cats in coney isle
Friday night out in front the himalaya goin wild
This goes out to crown heights and smurv village
The nighties, and all my ?yarda trenny? brown's village
Parkside tennants caught, thirties, forties, and the fifties
The cats out in starite city gettin busy
To the hook, to the east, to the stuy
Bushwick and kanarcy, farraget, fullgreen, and marcy
My flatbush posse, generals of armies
When it's time to form, just call me
And let this song be, playin loud in long b
If you love bucktown strongly!
Raise it up!

*part three*

[mos def]
Brooklyn my habitat, the place where it happen at
Live sway and the sharp balance of the battle axe
Irons is brandished at, thugs draw they hammer back
It's where you find the news tool crew cameras at
It's where my fam is at, summertime jame is at
They play big and get you open like a sandal back
Hotter than candle wax, hustlin you can't relax
The crack babies tryin to find where they mama's at
It's off the handle black, wit big police scandals that
Turn into actions screenplays sold to miramax
The type of place where they check your appearance at
And cats who know where all the high low gear is at
The stompin grounds, where you find a pound, smoke is that
Be blazin charm that have your wave cap floatin back
The doorstep where the disposessed posted at
Dope fiends out at franklin ave sellin zovarax
You big ballin better keep your money folded back
Cuz once the young guns notice that it's over, black
Brooklyn keep on takin it, worldwide we known for that
Flossy cats get it snatched like the local tax
The place i sharpen up my baritone vocals at
Where one of the greatest mc's was a local cat

[mos def]
Booka-booka-booka-booka-booka-booka
Ha hah
You know the deal
It's just me yo
Beats by su-primo for all of my peoples, negroes and latinos
And even the gringos

Yo, check it one for charlie hustle, two for steady rock
Three for the fourth comin live, future shock
It's five dimensions, six senses
Seven firmaments of heaven to hell, 8 million stories to tell
Nine planets faithfully keep in orbit
With the probable tenth, the universe expands length
The body of my text posess extra strength
Power-liftin powerless up, out of this, towerin inferno
My ink so hot it burn through the journal
I'm blacker than midnight on broadway and myrtle
Hip-hop past all your tall social hurdles
Like the nationwide projects, prison-industry complex
Working class poor better keep your alarm set
Streets too loud to ever hear freedom sing
Say evacuate your sleep, it's dangerous to dream
But you chain cats get they cha-pow, who dead now
Killin fields need blood to graze the cash cow
It's a number game, but shit don't add up somehow
Like i got, sixteen to thirty-two bars to rock it
But only 15% of profits, ever see my pockets like
Sixty-nine billion in the last twenty years
Spent on national defense but folks still live in fear like
Nearly half of america's largest cities is one-quarter black
That's why they gave ricky ross all the crack
Sixteen ounces to a pound, twenty more to a ki
A five minute sentence hearing and you no longer free
40% of americans own a cell phone
So they can hear, everything that you say when you ain't home
I guess, michael jackson was right, "you are not alone"
Rock your hardhat black cause you in the terrordome
Full of hard niggaz, large niggaz, dice tumblers
Young teens and prison greens facin life numbers
Crack mothers, crack babies and aids patients
Young bloods can't spell but they could rock you in playstation
This new math is whippin motherfuckers ass
You wanna know how to rhyme you better learn how to add
It's mathematics

Chorus: scratched by dj premier (repeat 2x)

"the mighty mos def.."
"it's simple mathematics" -> fat joe
"check it out!"
"i revolve around science.."
"what are we talking about here?"

.. "do your math" -> erykah badu (2x) ..
.. "one.. t-t-two.. three, four" -> james brown ..
.. "what are we talking about here?" ..

[mos def]
Yo, it's one universal law but two sides to every story
Three strikes and you be in for life, manditory
Four mc's murdered in the last four years
I ain't tryin to be the fifth one, the millenium is here
Yo it's 6 million ways to die, from the seven deadly thrills
Eight-year-olds gettin found with 9 mill's
It's 10 p.m., where your seeds at? what's the deal
He on the hill puffin krill to keep they belly filled
Light in the ass with heavy steel, sights on the pretty shit in life
Young soldiers tryin to earn they next stripe
When the average minimum wage is $5.15
You best believe you gotta find a new grind to get cream
The white unemployment rate, is nearly more than triple for black
So frontliners got they gun in your back
Bubblin crack, jewel theft and robbery to combat poverty
And end up in the global jail economy
Stiffer stipulations attached to each sentence
Budget cutbacks but increased police presence
And even if you get out of prison still livin
Join the other five million under state supervision
This is business, no faces just lines and statistics
From your phone, your zip code, to s-s-i digits
The system break man child and women into figures
Two columns for who is, and who ain't niggaz
Numbers is hardly real and they never have feelings
But you push too hard, even numbers got limits
Why did one straw break the camel's back? here's the secret:
The million other straws underneath it - it's all mathematics

Chorus

{closing scratch} "mathematics.."

I don't wanna write this down, [world... premiere]
I wanna tell you how i feel right now [world... premiere]
I don't wanna take no time to write this down, [world... premiere]
I wanna tell you how i feel right now, hey [world... premiere]

Tomorrow may never come
For you or me
Life is not promised
Tomorrow may never show up
For you and me
This life is not promised

I ain't no perfect man
I'm trying to do, the best that i can,
With what it is i have
I ain't no perfect man
I'm trying to do, the best that i can,
With what it is i have

Put my heart and soul into this song [yes yes]
I hope you feel me
>from where i am, to wherever you are
I mean that sincerely
Tomorrow may never come
For and me
Life is not promised
Tomorrow may never appear
You better hold this very moment very close to you [right now]
Very close to you [right now]
So close to you, so- close to you [your moment in history is right now!]
Don't be affraid, to let it shine

My umi said shine your light on the world
Shine your light for the world to see
My abi said shine your light on the world
Shine your light for the world to see
[i want black people to be free, to be free, to be free]
My abi said shine your light on the world
[want black people to be free, to be free, to be free]
Shine your light for the world to see
[want black people to be free, to be free, to be free]
My umi said shine your light on the world
[want black people to be free, to be free, to be free]
Shine your light for the world to see
[want black people to be free, to be free...]

Sometimes i get discouraged
I look around and, things are so weak
People are so weak
Sometimes,
Sometimes i feel like crying
Sometimes my heart gets heavy
Sometimes i just want to leave and fly away [fly fly fly, like a dove]
Sometimes i don't know what to do with myself [ow!]
Passion takes over me
I feel like a man
Going insane
Losing my brain
Trying to maintain
Doing my thang
Hey hey hey hey hey
Put my heart and soul into this y'all
I hope you feel me
Where i am, to wherever you are [ha ha ha ha]
Sometimes i don't want to be bothered
Sometimes i just want a quiet life, with
Me and my babies, me and my lady
Sometimes i don't want to get into no war
[black people to be free, to be free...]
Sometimes i don't wanna be a soldier
Sometimes i just wanna be a man, but

Umi said shine your light on the world
Shine your light for the world to see
My abi said shine your light on the world
Shine your light for the world to see
[i want black people to be free, to be free, to be free]
My dreamers(?) said shine your light on the world
[want black people to be free, to be free, to be free]
Shine your light for the world to see
[want black people]
My elders said shine your light on the world [hey hey]
Shine your light for the world to see

I want black people to be free, to be free, to be free
All my people to be free, to be free, to be free
Oh black people to be free, to be free, to be free
Oh black people to be free, to be free, to be free

That's all that matters to me (x7)

Black people unite and let's all get down
Gotta have what,
Gotta have that love
Peace and understanding
One god, one light
One man, one voice, one mic
Black people unite come on and do it right
Black people unite come on and do it right
Black people unite come on and get down
Gotta have what,
Love, peace and understanding
One god, one voice, one life
One man, gon' shine my light
Black people unite, now hop up and do it right
Black people unite, now come on and do it right
Yeah baby that's what i like
Yeah baby that's what i like
Yeah baby that's what i like...
[black people, my people....]

[mos def]
Make me wanna holla.. aowwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
"ah.. ah-ah, ah-ah.. ah-ah, ah-lert the squad.."
Rock and roll
"ah.. ah-ah, ah-ah.. ah-ah, ah-lert the squad.."
Hehehe, rock and roll
"ah.. ah-ah, ah-ah.. ah-ah, ah-lert the squad.."
Whoahhhhh-oh, oooh-weee-oooh
"ah.. ah-ah, ah-ah.. ah-ah, ah-lert the squad.."
Whoahhhhh-oh

(huh) my grandmomma was raised on a reservation
(huh) my great-grandmomma was, from a plantation
They sang - songs for inspiration
They sang - songs for relaxation
They sang - songs, to take their minds up off that
Fucked up situation
I am... yes i am... the descendant (yes yes)
Of those folks whose, backs got broke
Who, fell down inside the gunsmoke
(black people!) chains on they ankles and feet
I am descendants, of the builders of your street
(black people!) tenders to your cotton money
I am.. hip-hop
"it's heavy metal for the black people"
I am.. rock and roll (rock and roll.. rock'n'roll)
Been here forever!
They just ain't let you know.. (ha!)

I said, elvis presley ain't got no soul (huh)
Chuck berry is rock and roll (damn right)
You may dig on the rolling stones
But they ain't come up with that style on they own (uh-uh)
Elvis presley ain't got no soullll (hell naw)
Little richard is rock and roll (damn right)
You may dig on the rolling stones
But they ain't come up with that shit on they own (nah-ah)

Guess that's just the way shit goes
You steal my clothes and try to say they yo's (yes they do)
Cause it's a show filled with pimps and hoes
Tryin to take everything that you made or control (there they go)
Elvis presley ain't got no soullll
Bo diddley is rock and roll (damn right)
You may dig on the rolling stones
But they ain't the first place the credit belongs

Say whoahhhh-oh (don't take it) oooh-weee-ohhh
(black music) whoahhhh-oh (don't take it) oooh-weee-ohhh
(black music) whoahhhh-oh (jimi hendrix say) oooh-weee-ohhh
(black music) whoahhhh-oh (albert king and) oooh-weee-ohhh
(and motown)

(huh) i ain't tryin to diss
But i don't be tryin to fuck with limp bizkit
"the fuck is on your mind?"
When i get down in my zone
I be rockin bad brains and fishbone
I ain't tryin to slow your groove
But that ain't the way i'm tryin to move
I don't turn on korn to get it on;
I be playin jimi hendrix 'til the dawn
That's my word is bond
Sittin up on my front lawn
Got the volume turned to ten
Playin albert king the best again (black)
When the mornin in the cooker
Got to turn on some john lee hooker
When i want some rock and roll
Go to otis redding to get some soul

Say, james brown got plenty of soul
James brown like to rock and roll
He can do all the shit fo' sho'
That elvis presley could never know (black people)
Said, kenny g ain't got no soullll
John coltrane is rock and roll (uh-huh)
You may dig on the rolling stones
But they could never ever rock like nina simone

Say whoahhhh-oh (don't take it) oooh-wee-ohh
(black music) whoahhhh-oh (don't take it) oooh-weee-ohhh
(black music) whoahhhh-oh (don't take it) oooh-weee-ohhh
(black music) whoah-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

"ah-lert the squad.."

{*music picks up pace and gets louder*}

Who am iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, huh!
Get your punk ass up!
Elvis presley ain't got no soul
Jimi hendrix is rock and roll
You may dig on the rolling stones
But everything they did they stole
Elvis presley ain't got no soul
Bo diddley is rock and roll
You may dig on the rolling stones
But we send they punk ass home
Who am iiiiiiiiiiiiii (rock and roll)
Who am iiiiiiiiiiiiii (rock and roll)
Who am iiiiiiiiiiiiii (rock and roll)
Who am iiiiiiiiiiiiii (rock and roll)
Who am iiiiiiiiiiiiii (rock and roll)
Who am iiiiiiiiiiiiii (rock and roll)
Who am iiiiiiiiiiiiii (rock and roll)
Who am iiiiiiiiiiiiii (rock and roll)
Who am iiiiiiiiiiiiii (rock and roll)
Who am iiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!
Say, rock and roll!
Who am i? rock and roll!
Who am i? rock and roll!
Who am i? rock and roll!
Who am i? rock and roll!
Who am i? rock and roll!
Who am i? rock and roll!
Get your punk ass up!!!!!!!
Company, move!!!
For harlem, fort greene, compton
East st. louis, detroit (bo bo)
Chicago (bo bo) bed-stuy (bo bo)
Flatbush (bo bo) brownsville (bo bo)
East new york (bo bo) newark new jersey (bo bo)
Illadelphia cincinatti atlanta the dirty south
All towns get your punk ass up!!
"rock and roll for the black people"
Hi ma..

"well that was just wonderful"

(* - means "in the name of god, the most merciful, the most compassionate")

[mos def]
Bismillah ir rahman ir raheem *

If you can hear me ladies and gentlemen
Then i'm very happy that you came here..

Ooh-ooooooooooohhhh, ooh-ooooooooooooooohh-wheeeee!!!
That was for brooklyn..
Ha ha, we get it everytime
You got me on? ohh
Shout out to all of my crew, east-west, north-south
All the continent, europe, all abroad international
Bring it in, bring it in, bring it in, bring it in
It's a lot of things goin on y'all
21st century is comin
20th century almost done
A lot of things have changed
A lot of things have not, mainly us
We gon' get it together right? i believe that
Listen.. people be askin me all the time,
"yo mos, what's gettin ready to happen with hip-hop?"
(where do you think hip-hop is goin?)
I tell em, "you know what's gonna happen with hip-hop?
Whatever's happening with us"
If we smoked out, hip-hop is gonna be smoked out
If we doin alright, hip-hop is gonna be doin alright
People talk about hip-hop like it's some giant livin in the hillside
Comin down to visit the townspeople
We +are+ hip-hop
Me, you, everybody, we are hip-hop
So hip-hop is goin where we goin
So the next time you ask yourself where hip-hop is goin
Ask yourself.. where am i goin? how am i doin?
Til you get a clear idea
So.. if hip-hop is about the people
And the.. hip-hop won't get better until the people get better
Then how do people get better? (hmmmm...)
Well, from my understanding people get better
When they start to understand that, they are valuable
And they not valuable because they got a whole lot of money
Or cause somebody, think they sexy
But they valuable caause they been created by god
And god, makes you valuable
And whether or not you, recognize that value is one thing
You got a lot of socities and governments
Tryin to be god, wishin that they were god
They wanna create satellites and cameras everywhere
And make you think they got the all-seein eye
Eh.. i guess the last poets wasn't, too far off
When they said that certain people got a god complex
I believe it's true
I don't get phased out by none of that, none of that
Helicopters, the tv screens, the newscasters, the..
Satellite dishes.. they just, wishin
They can't really never do that
When they tell me to fear they law
When they tell me to try to
Have some fear in my heart behind the things that they do
This is what i think in my mind
And this is what i say to them
And this is what i'm sayin, to you check it

All over the world hearts pound with the rhythm
Fear not of men because men must die
Mind over matter and soul before flesh
Angels for the pain keep a record in time
Which is passin and runnin like a caravan freighter
The world is overrun with the wealthy and the wicked
But god is sufficient in disposin of affairs
Gunmen and stockholders try to merit my fear
But god is sufficient over plans they prepared
Mos def in the flesh, where you at, right here
On this place called earth, holdin down my square
Bout to do it for y'all, and y'all at the fair
So just bounce, come on bounce
B-b-bounce b-bounce b-bounce-bounce
And just..
.. just step two three
Just step two three and
Step two..
Two three and..
One two three and four
One two three and four
Once again
All over the world hearts pound with the rhythm
Fear not of men because men must die
Mind over matter and soul before flesh
Angels for the pain keep a record in time
Which is passin and runnin like a caravan freighter
The world is overrun with the wealthy and the wicked
But god is sufficient in disposin of affairs
Gunmen and stockholders try to merit your fear
But god is sufficient over plans they prepared
Mos def in the flesh, where you at, right here
On this place called earth, holdin down my square
Bout to represent in your whole atmosphere
Bout to represent in your whole atmosphere
To your atmosphere, to your atmosphere
Oh-ooooooohhhhhhhhhh!
That was for you - and brooklyn too!

[mos def]
Hey, hey, heyyy man
I strike the empire back..
I strike the empire back..
Fuck the empire!!
High flyin like the millenium falcon, piloted by han solo
I never roll for dolo, frontin on me's a no-no
Understand? doin this for my family
Ha ha, check it out y'all

Yo i'm tryin to make a dollar out of what makes sense
Add it up, told my daddy i'd be a rich man
You never know when your fate gon' switch hand
Get today's solid ground out of yesterday's quicksand
I was a young boy -- who dreamt about being a big man
On small looseleaf sheets i sketched a big plan
Gotta handle business properly, boost up my economy
Store it up and get my mom some waterfront property
Yesterday was not for me but nowaday it's time for me
The streets is watchin me, i watch back, that's the policy
Movin along my oddesey like blood through the artery
Navigate the treacherous and make it seem effortless
Let those who make the exodus seekin the north beacon
From beatin and hog-eatin, from punishment all season
From hands cracked and bleedin -- cotton thorns in your palms
It's for y'all that i sketch these songs, and it goes..
Yea though i walk through the valley of the shadow
I fear no man, because faith is the aarow
My vocal chord travel worldwide to block narrow
We can blow with the ammo or go mano-a-mano
Kweli is you wit me? (whattup whattup?) let's make it happen
I *burn* through your argument with action
My eyes stay fastened to tomorrow lookin for a brighter day
When y'all wanna leave y'all? right away

Shout it out from east-west (from south to northern)
From cakalak' (to california)
From the coldest (to the warmest)
To the borders ('cross the waters) understand..
".. and know that i love you.."
We got love in the place
Shout out to all the queens (all the seeds)
To all the teams (that's gettin cream)
From outlaw (to emcee's)
Make it happen (do your thing) understand..
".. and know that i love you.."
Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen

[talib kweli]
Guess who? the illest mc in the atmosphere, yeah the soul controller
Who roam the frontier like a buffalo soldier
I follow the code of honor like a real man gonna
Never disrespect no women cause i love my momma
These cats be givin us praise but it ain't that accurate
I give it up to god, all that, love and attachment, get
Scary well-prepared with the shears when it get hairy
Like how these niggaz is lookin like some fairies
And singin like canaries to the beast
And anybody who will listen to em clearly
Y'all don't hear me though, even when i'm comin through in stereo
You make a mockery of what i represent properly
Yo why you startin me? i take that shit straight to the artery
Intellectual property i got the title and the deed
I pay for rent, with the tears and sweat, and what i bleed
Mc's imitate the way we walk, the way we talk
You cats spit lyrical pork with no spiritual thought
Plus your flow a little bit off, you come across soft
Back in the days, niggaz like that on stage got tossed off
Need to get crossed off the guestlist
It's like you gotta be disrespected and thrown out the exit
To get the message
Sometimes your sunshine get snatched like a necklace
When you get too drunk on power and your drive get reckless
Check it, mc's in my face after i slug you then i hug you
If i gotta dead you know it's only cause i love you

[mos def]
Shout it out from east-west (from south to northern)
From the richest (to the poorest)
To the elders (in the coffins)
Livin native (dyin for it) understand..
".. and know that i love you.."
Yea, yea, we got love in the place
Shout out from up top (to the middle)
To black bottom (sky high)
Whether you colder than december
Or hotter, than july
It don't stop 'til we complete this
(".. and know that i love you..") keep this fly
It's so much to life when you just
Stay black (10x)
My people, my people, my people people p-people (8x)
My pe-ople, oh-oh-oh-oh-ohh, oh-ohh...