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Black on Both Sides
by Mos Def
ALBUM RANKINGS:
Ratings and rankings are based on all available critic reviews and awards.
Overall Rating:
3.5064
Avg. Critic Score:
3.7333
Black on Both Sides Lyrics
Lyrics
Disc
Track
Title
- [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,
- (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!
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- You say one for the trebble, two for the time
- Come on y'all let's rock this!
- You say one for the trebble, two for the time
- Come on!
- Speech is my hammer, bang the world into shape
- Now let it fall... (Hungh!!)
- My restlessness is my nemesis
- It's hard to really chill and sit still
- Committed to page, I write rhymes
- Sometimes won't finish for days
- Scrutinize my literature, from the large to the miniature
- I mathematically add-minister
- Subtract the wack
- Selector, wheel it back, I'm feeling that
- (Ha ha ha) From the core to the perimeter black,
- You know the motto
- Stay fluid even in staccato
- (Mos Def) Full blooded, full throttle
- Breathe deep inside the trunk hollow
- There's the hum, young man where you from
- Brooklyn number one
- Native son, speaking in the native tongue
- I got my eyes on tomorrow (there it is)
- While you still try to follow where it is
- I'm on the Ave where it lives and dies
- Violently, silently
- Shine so vibrantly that eyes squint to catch a glimpse
- Embrace the bass with my dark ink fingertips
- Used to speak the king's English
- But caught a rash on my lips
- So now my chat just like dis
- Long range from the base-line (switch)
- Move like an apparition
- Float to the ground with ammuntion (chi-chi-chi-POW)
- Move from the gate, voice cued on your tape
- Putting food on your plate
- Many crews can relate
- Who choosing your fate (yo)
- We went from picking cotton
- To chain gang line chopping
- To Be-Bopping
- To Hip-Hopping
- Blues people got the blue chip stock option
- Invisible man, got the whole world watching
- (where ya at) I'm high, low, east, west,
- All over your map
- I'm getting big props, with this thing called hip hop
- Where you can either get paid or get shot
- When your product in stock
- The fair-weather friends flock
- When your chart position drop
- Then the phone calls....
- Chill for a minute
- Let's see whoelse tops
- Snatch your shelf spot
- Don't gas yourself ock
- The industry just a better built cell block
- A long way from the shell tops
- And the bells that L rocked (rock, rock, rock, rock...)
- [scratching]
- Hip Hop is prosecution evidence
- The out of court settlement
- Ad space for liquor
- Sick without benefits (hungh!)
- Luxury tenements choking the skyline
- It's low life getting tree-top high
- Here there's a back water remedy
- Bitter intent to memory
- A class E felony
- Facing the death penalty (hungh!)
- Stimulant and sedative, original repetitive
- Violently competitive, a school unacredited
- The break beats you get broken with
- on time and inappropriate
- Hip Hop went from selling crack to smoking it
- Medicine for loneliness
- Remind me of Thelonius and Dizzy
- Propers to B-Boys getting busy
- The war-time snap shot
- The working man's jack-pot
- A two dollar snack box
- Sold beneath the crack spot
- Olympic spnosor of the black glock
- Gold medalist in the back shot
- From the sovereign state of the have-nots
- Where farmers have trouble with cash crops (woooo)
- It's all city like phase two
- Hip Hop will simply amaze you
- Craze you, pay you
- Do whatever you say do
- But black, it can't save you
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- 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
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- I know, I can't afford to stop
- for a moment.. that it's too soon.. to forget
- I know, I can't afford to stop
- for a moment.. that it's too soon.. to forget
- [Mos Def - speaking over sung vocals]
- Man.. for real
- I was in love with this girl, y'know
- I was.. to' up dog! I'm tellin you man
- She was wild man.. f'real
- It's just too.. let me tell you about her
- [Mos Def]
- Yo, in she came with the same type game
- The type of girl givin out the fake cell phone and name
- Big fame, she like cats with big thangs
- Jewels chip, money clip, phone flip, the six range
- I seen her on the ave, spotted her more than once
- Ass so fat that you could see it from the front
- She spot me like paparazzi; shot me a glance
- in that catwoman stance with the fat booty pants, Hot damn!
- What's your name love, where you came from?
- Neck and wrist blazed up, very little make-up
- The swims at the Reebok gym tone your frame up
- Is sugar and spice the only thing that you made of?
- I tried to play it low key but couldn't keep it down
- Asked her to dance she was like "Yo, I'm leavin now"
- An hour later, sounds from Jamaica
- She sippin Crys straight up, shakin, windin her waist up
- Scene two: my fam throwin the jam
- Fahreed is on the stand big things is in the plan
- The brother Big Mu makes space for me to move in
- Hey, this my man Mos, baby let me introduce; I turn around
- Say word! You was the same pretty bird who I had priorly observed
- tryin to play me for the herb (Yeah, that's her)
- Shocked as hell she couldn't get it together
- I just played it long and pretended I never met her
- I heard so much good about you it's nice to finally meet."
- We moved to the booth reserved for crew especially
- And honey love ended up sittin directly next to me
- I'm type polite but now I'm lookin at her skeptically
- Cause baby girl got all the right weaponry
- Designer fabric, shoes, and accessories
- Chinky eyes, sweet voice is (fucking) with me mentally
- We conversated, made a laugh, yeah you know me bro
- Even though I know the steelo, she wild sweet yo
- I'm bout to merc, I say peace to the family
- She hop up like "How you gonna leave before you dance with me?"
- [hook 2X - sung]
- I know I can't afford this life
- For a moment
- That its too soon
- To forget
- [Mos continues speaking through sung hook]
- She blew my whole head with that dude, I was like "What?"
- I played it low though, I was like
- It's mad, the shit is so sick, I'm tell you
- Yo, honey was so blazin, she was just..
- Yo, she was like Jayne Kennedy, word bond
- To my mother man, she was that ill man
- She take me to the dance floor and she start whisperin to me
- [Mos Def]
- Yo, let me apologize for the other night
- I know it wasn't right, but baby you know what its like
- Some brothers don't be comin right
- I understand, I'm feelin you
- Beside, 'can I have a dance?' ain't really that original
- We laughed about it, traced her arms across my shoulder blades
- They playing lovers' rock, I got the folded fingers on her waist
- He end my butt up like the Arizona summer song
- Finished then she whisper 'honey, let's exchange numbers'
- Scene three: weeks of datin late night conversation
- In the crib heart racin, tryin to be cool and patient
- She touched on my eyelids, the room fell silent
- She walked away smilin singing Gregory Issacs
- Like 'if I don't, if I don't, if I don't'
- Showin me that tan line and that tattoo
- Playin Sade, "Sweetest Taboo"
- Burnin candles, all my other plans got canceled
- Man I smashed it like an Idaho potato
- She call my at my J.O., 'come now', I can't say no
- Ginseng tree trunks, rockin the p-funk
- Cocking her knees up, champion lover not ease up
- Three months, she call 'I feel I'm runnin a fever'
- Six months, I'm tellin her I desperately need her
- Nine months, flu-like symptoms when shorty not around
- I need more than to knock it down I'm really tryin to lock it down
- Midnight we hook up and go at it
- Burn a stogger, let her know, sweetheart I got to have it
- She tellin me commitment is somethin she can't manage
- Wake up the next morning, she gone like it was magic
- Ahh damnit! This all Harrison Ford frantic
- My 911 wasn't answered by my fly Taurus enchantress
- Next week, who hit me up, I saw Sharice at the kitty club
- With some banging ass Asian playin lay it down and lick me up
- What!?
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- Relax, pump the brakes
- You're speeding money
- You'll smash your whole shit up (slow down)
- Lights be changing fast on these streets money, slow down
- (slow down) Sleeping on the wrong cats
- Clear like a megaphone
- Pretty nigga heart skipped the metronome
- Rocked the Trump Tower to the terrordome
- Poor house to pleasure domes
- Soprano, alto, tenor to baritone
- MOS DEF one of the illest that you ever known
- Rock steady baby, you a stepping stone
- Smash your foundation into pebbles
- My words leave your nerves unsettled
- You take it to the next level down
- Looking like a circus clown
- Cats like you can't even get a pound
- Worldwide from the river to lakeside
- My stage show stay live, make the sound man stage dive
- I cut fat cats to eight lives with my eight ball lines
- I'm home 'fore I'm done with all nine
- Got you shook like a fault line
- Come all shine and get tarnished
- Brooklyn got your pay roll garnished
- They form a huddle
- Whisper like they want trouble
- I melt the ice grills into rainwater puddles
- Make the proud-hearted leave on the humble
- Black steel in the hour
- Assemble my skill form my power
- My poems crush bones into powder
- You mumble like a coward
- I'm Mos Def, you need to speak louder
- SUPER HEREOS!
- Get your power, your masks and capes snatched
- Brooklyn take what you can't take back
- I know a lot of cats hate that
- All I can say black
- There's a city full of walls you can post complaints at
- All the doubters and believers adjust your receivers
- The three six oh-riginal sketch lyrics so visual
- They rent my rhyme books at your nearest home video
- Tell them cats they need to sit back and observe where they at
- Brook-nahm Vietnam
- The heat is on
- Put your joint on cruise
- Try to rush you scuff your brake shoes, just cool and relax
- Take a breath, take ten paces back
- Stay on time Omegas
- Brooklyn patrol like interstaters
- Take their license and their registration papers
- My joint's so passionate
- Make you peal out and mash your shit
- Get wild cold crash your whip
- Front chassis wrecked, but ock you can't be too upset
- Tow truck got my tape in the deck
- I'm permanent like tattoos and birth marks
- Third degree burn marks
- Driving on tracks like Dale Earnheart
- Stay on the low like the earth spot
- Put a big loss on your earn chart
- Nice since the nurse signed my birth chart
- Seldom seen but often heard, while your jams is barely heard
- Just my name is a daily word
- From avenues to streets, terraces and park places
- Stair wells, jail cells, penthouse to basements
- Arrangement basic, but still fans chase it
- Y2K can't delete the true ancient
- Apache war drum on the ranges
- Skill level dangerous
- Arrow head that killed all the cavemen
- They cry John-Blazing, but step on the pavement
- And get violated like a plaintiff
- I ain't shit to play with
- I give a Goddamn what your name is
- Delete it and make it so it never get repeated
- Believe it
- Tell the feds, tell your girl, tell your mother
- Conference call you wack crew and tell each other
- That they just ain't holding me
- I'm Mos Def, your hopefully
- Mush off or you get bust off like a ovary
- Tell them cats they need to ease back and observe where they at
- Brook-nahm Vietnam
- The heat is on
- Put your joint on cruise
- In a rush you scuff your brake shoes, just cool and relax
- Take a breath, take ten paces back
- Brook-nahm Vietnam
- The heat is on, no off-ramp or detour
- Make these gassed up jokers observe the speed law
- Make these gassed up clowns observe the speed law
- Make these gassed up clowns observe the speed law
- Cause they speedin, speedin, speedin, speedin, speedin,
- speedin, speedin, speedin, speedin, speedin,
- speedin, speedin, speedin, speedin, speedin
- Relax
- Slow down, you better chill money
- Lights be changing fast on these streets dude
- Smash your whole shit up
- You better cool out money
- It ain't like that out here
- Look at these cats man, it's funny man
- He probably just got that car
- About to fuck your whole shit up
- Speed laws out here money
- Knight riding cats
- In control like interstaters, state-ahs, state-ahs,
- state-ahs, state-ahs, state-ahs, state-ahs, state-ahs,
- state-ahs, state-ahs, state-ahs, state-ahs, state-ahs,
- Stay the.. FUCK off the road, money!!
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- [Mos Def]
- Back up, back up, back up, back up
- Back up back up back up back up EASE off
- This goes out to all area crew (yes yes)
- To my BK crew (ooh-OOOOOOOH-WHEEE) to my QB crew
- My LI crew, my Shaolin crew
- My Dirty South crew
- (What cha'll niggaz about the Dirty South?)
- Atlanta, North Cakalak'
- For all my fam, all area crew (AOWWWWWWWWW)
- Yeah mon!!
- Yes, the first cut should be the deepest
- to penetrate beyond the muscle wall's inner regions
- First you was icin me, connect with the starin at the speakers
- Heard the rhyme, head high, what ya starin at ya sneakers
- You shy now, got a lot of things on your mind now
- You don't feel fly now, you huntin the exit sign down
- Fuck what you heard, cause I snatch the grapevine down (yea yeah)
- Don't understand how I ran the line down, rewind now
- [Busta Rhymes]
- YO!! We be the most magnetic, so athletic
- Leave your peeps on the side so they can watch you and your mans get it
- Take the arch rivalry stance up on the podium
- And give the flavor to niggaz but keep it low on sodium
- Posess shit that got you wonderin how we holdin em
- Things that'll lay you out like a piece of linoleum
- Bring who-ever you want, we bout to bug son and bounce
- down to Henry Hudson, after I bust one!
- [BR]Yo Mos Def!
- [MD]Alright okay
- [BR]How you feel?
- [MD]Feelin great
- [BR]Whatcha want?
- [MD]I wan' do it to death, whassup wit you?
- [BR]You know my steez
- [MD]True indeed
- [BR]Say it loud
- [MD]Black and proud
- Ain't no time to hesitate at the gate
- Do it now!
- Bus-a-Bus
- [BR]What-a-gwan?
- [MD]How you feel?
- [BR]Feelin GREAT!
- [MD]Whatchu want?
- [BR]I wanna do it to death, whattup wit you?
- [MD]You know my steez
- [BR]True indeed
- [MD]Say it loud
- [BR]Black and proud
- [MD]Ain't no time to hesitate at the gate
- Do it now!
- [Mos Def]
- Hay dios mio, me and Bustarimo ??
- The hottest negroes en Los Estados Unidos
- Hotter than Reno when discovered by Bugsy Siegal
- I'm black like Don Cheadle shoutin power to the people
- My rhymes dipping like the lifeline on the e-boat
- The raw sugar cane, NutraSweet, never Equal
- If you in a Benzito or your mother's Buick Regal
- I get up like Chino shoutin power to the people!!
- [Busta Rhymes]
- Yo, me and the Mighty Mos shine like a light post
- Live nigga shit be straight FUCKIN UP THE WHITE FOLKS
- That's why they with it now, because niggaz like me and you
- we did it now, brought it to that level so they GET IT NOW
- We graduated saturated the game now
- Infatuated with the fame now let me explain how
- we doin this, at any time or any place ready willin and able
- let's get the dough secure the FOOD ON THE TABLE
- [BR]Ay Mos Def
- [MD]Oh my God..
- [BR]How you feel?
- [MD]I'm feelin great
- [BR]Whatcha want?
- [MD]Wanna do it to death, whassup wit you?
- [BR]You know my steez
- [MD]True indeed
- [BR]Say it loud
- [MD]Black and proud
- Ain't no time to hesitate at the gate
- Do it now!
- Bus-a-Bus
- [BR]Rhymes Galore!
- [MD]What the deal?
- [BR]Feelin GREAT!
- [MD]Whatchu want?
- [BR]Wanna do it to death, WHATTUP wit you?!
- [MD]You know my steez
- [BR]True indeed
- [MD]Say it loud
- [BR]Black and proud
- [MD]Ain't no time to hesitate at the gate
- Do it now!
- [Mos Def]
- From East West North and South I got joints for all of those
- Heavy aquatic water flows keep them on they toes
- Tell them thugs that wanna be CEO's to be derobed
- 'Fore I wear your little dumb ass out like Easter clothes!
- [Busta Rhymes]
- Yo, yo-yo yo-yo
- It's like a freak show, soon as my heat blow
- Sometime I speak slow so people understand my street flow
- And while we keep it hot, we got the most shine up in
- this WHOLE SHIT, me and Mos spit and blow the show quick
- [Mos Def]
- WATCH OWT! Your pussy sound get bucked Souf
- Mos 'n Bussa Rhymes too bad man-a-shutout
- WATCH OWT! Give a damn whut fancy car ya hop owt
- Shut down your game like da NBA lockout
- [Busta Rhymes]
- Ya betta WATCH OWT! I'm bout to black on niggaz
- like I'm blowin on a sax, blowin my gats on niggaz
- Blowin my raps on niggaz - now let me mash out
- We fatter than the biggest ass chicks pokin they ass out!
- [BR]Hey Mos Def
- [MD]Magnetism
- [BR]How you feel?
- [MD]Feelin great!
- [BR]Whatcha want?
- [MD]I wan' do it to death, whassup wit you?
- [BR]You know my steez
- [MD]True indeed
- [BR]Say it loud
- [MD]Black and proud
- Ain't no time to hesitate at the gate
- Do it now!
- Bus-a-Bus
- [BR]Woo-HAH!
- [MD]How you feel?!
- [BR]Feelin GREAT!
- [MD]Whatchu want?
- [BR]I wanna do it to death, WHATTUP wit you?!
- [MD]You know my steez!
- [BR]True indeed
- [MD]Say it LOUD!
- [BR]Black and proud!
- [MD]Ain't no time to hesitate at the gate
- Do it now!
- [Mos Def]
- What what, we got to do it, do it
- We got to do it, do it, make me do it, do it
- What.. wha-what-what, we got to do it, do it
- Make me do it, do it
- Do it do it do it now!
- What what, we got to do it, do it
- Do we do it, do it, do it, ah do it now!
- What what, we got to do it, do it
- Got to do it, do it
- Do it now! AOWWWWWWWWWWWW!
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- Some cats really like to, you know...
- Profile and front.
- And then the jooks go down, all at once they like...
- Don't get me
- Don't get me
- Don't g-g-g-g-g-get me[repeat 3x]
- You're out on the block hustling at the spot...
- GOT, this is how you get Got...
- At the gamblin' spot and your hand is mad hot...
- GOT, this is how you get Got...
- Out in Brooklyn late night flashing all of your rocks...
- GOT, this is how you get Got...
- Some girl from pink house said "I like you a lot"...
- GOT, this is how you get Got...
- This one goes to all them Big Will cats
- With ice on they limbs and big rims on they Ac
- You goin' around town with your system bump
- And your windows cracked low to profile and front
- Now I like to have nice things just like you
- But I'm from Brooklyn, certain shit you just don't do
- Like, high postin' when you far from home
- Or like, high postin' when you all alone
- Now, this would seem to be clear common sense
- But, cats be livin' off, sheer confidence
- Like "Fuck that, picture them tellin' me run that"
- But acting invincible, just ain't sensible
- It's nineteen ninety-now, and there's certain individuals
- Swear they rollin' hard and get robbed on principle
- 5 star general, flashin' on your revenue
- You takin' a ride on the Downstate medical, Like (whooooooo)
- Colorful sparks, yellow and blue
- A full on attack and it's happening to you
- Wit' nothing you can do but bust back and cop a plea
- But five of them and one of you, that equals Got to me...
- Don't get me
- Don't get me
- Don't g-g-g-g-g-get me[repeat 3x]
- Come on ya'll now, let's be real
- Some jokers got a rough time keepin' it concealed
- I wonder what it mean, it's probably self-esteem
- They fiendin to be seen, get hemmed like Gaberdeens
- Cats think it can't happen until the gats start clappin
- They comin' down the wire spittin fire like a dragon
- Cause while the goods glisten, certain eyes take position
- To observe your trick, and then catch that ass slippin'
- Like, come on now ock, what you expect?
- Got a month's paycheck danglin' off your neck
- And while you Cristal sippin', they rubbin' up they mittens
- With heat in mint condition to start the getti-gettin'
- They clique starts creepin' like Sandinistin guerrillas
- You screamin' playa haters, these niggas is playa killers
- Mr. Fash-ion, that style never last long
- The harder you flash, the harder you get flashed on
- There's hunger in the street that is hard to defeat
- Many steal for sport, but more steal to eat
- Cat's heavy at the weigh-in, and he's playin' for keeps
- Don't sleep, they'll roll up in your passengers seat
- There is universal law, whether rich or poor
- Some say life's a game, to more, life is war
- So put them egos to the side and get off them head-trips
- 'Fore some cats pull out them heaters and make you head-less...
- Don't get me
- Don't get me
- Don't g-g-g-g-g-get me[repeat 3x]
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- 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....)
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- [Mos Def]
- There's nothing more refreshing (that cool refreshing drink)
- Than a cool, crisp, clean glass of water
- On a warm summer's day (That cool refreshing drink)
- Try it with your friends
- New World Water make the tide rise high
- Come inland and make your house go "Bye" (My house!)
- Fools done upset the Old Man River
- Made him carry slave ships and fed him dead nigga
- Now his belly full and he about to flood somethin
- So I'ma throw a rope that ain't tied to nothin
- Tell your crew use the H2 in wise amounts since
- it's the New World Water; and every drop counts
- You can laugh and take it as a joke if you wanna
- But it don't rain for four weeks some summers
- And it's about to get real wild in the half
- You be buying Evian just to take a fuckin bath
- Heads is acting wild, sippin poor, puffin dank
- Competin with the next man for higher playin rank
- See I ain't got time try to be Big Hank,
- Fuck a bank; I need a twenty-year water tank
- Cause while these knuckleheads is out here sweatin they goods
- The sun is sitting in the treetops burnin the woods
- And as the flames from the blaze get higher and higher
- They say, "Don't drink the water! We need it for the fire!"
- New York is drinkin it (New World Water)
- Now all of California is drinkin it (New World Water)
- Way up north and down south is drinkin it (New World Water)
- Used to have minerals and zinc in it (New World Water)
- Now they say it got lead and stink in it (New World Water)
- Fluorocarbons and monoxide
- Push the water table lopside
- Used to be free now it cost you a fee
- Cause oil tankers spill they load as they roam cross the sea
- Man, you gotta cook with it, bathe and clean with it (That's right)
- When it's hot, summertime you fiend for it (Let em know)
- You gotta put it in the iron you steamin with (That's right)
- It's what they dress wounds and treat diseases with (Shout it out)
- The rich and poor, black and white got need for it (That's right)
- And everybody in the world can agree with this (Let em know)
- Consumption promotes health and easiness (That's right)
- Go too long without it on this earth and you leavin it (Shout it out)
- Americans wastin it on some leisure shit (Say word?)
- And other nations be desperately seekin it (Let em know)
- Bacteria washing up on they beaches (Say word?)
- Don't drink the water, son they can't wash they feet with it (Let em know)
- Young babies in perpetual neediness (Say word?)
- Epidemics hopppin up off the petri dish (Let em know)
- Control centers try to play it all secretive (Say word?)
- To avoid public panic and freakiness (Let em know)
- There are places where TB is common as TV
- Cause foreign-based companies go and get greedy
- The type of cats who pollute the whole shore line
- Have it purified, sell it for a dollar twenty-five
- Now the world is drinkin it
- Your moms, wife, and baby girl is drinkin it
- Up north and down south is drinkin it
- You should just have to go to your sink for it
- The cash registers is goin "cha-chink!" for it
- Fluorocarbons and monoxide
- Got the fish lookin cockeyed
- Used to be free now it cost you a fee
- Cause it's all about gettin that cash (Money)
- Said it's all about gettin that cash (Money)[x9]
- Johny cash (Money)
- Roseland cash (Money)
- Give me cash (Money)
- Cold cash (Money)
- [Repeat to fade]
- Cash rules everything around me,
- Move!
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- [Mos Def]
- Make me wanna HOLLA.. aowwWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
- Rock and roll
- Hehehe, rock and roll
- Whoahhhhh-oh, oooh-weee-oooh
- 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
- 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
- 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
- [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!!
- Hi ma..
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- [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..
- 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..
- 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..
- 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...
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- La La La[humming...]
- 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
- Shiney 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 in the place was 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 your 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 La La[humming...]
- People stomped inside the night
- Let me climb into the night...
- Let me climb...
- [vamp to fade]
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- [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
- [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!
- [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 hot 'lo 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
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- [Chorus]
- We all got to have, a place where we come from
- This place that we come from is called home
- We set out on our travels, we do the best we can
- We travel this big earth as we roam
- We all got to have, a place where we come from
- This place that we come from is called home
- And even though we may love, this place on the map
- Said it ain't where ya from, it's where ya at
- [verse one]
- I come up in the street around some real wild brothers
- With more than one name and more than one baby mother
- More than one chase, been on more than one run
- Got more than one enemy and more than one gun
- [Speaks foreign language]
- While these cats that's less privileged is just more raw
- Less space cause the projects laced with more flaws
- Less sleep cause the nights ain't peace, it's more war
- The can is raw like thirsty, rainy season thunder claps
- On the block with your old pop pleading number act
- To the spot with the red top fiends is huddled at
- To the crib where the little kids spend their summers trapped
- With the jungle cats, lions and tigers, leopards and cheetahs
- For gazelle you get chased like a zebra, they blaze cheeba-cheeba
- And dominate the weaker on the street
- Hungry bellies only love what they eat and it's hard to compete
- When they smile with your heart in they teeth
- And the odds is stacked high beyond and beneath
- Son i been plenty places in my life and time
- And regardless where home is, son home is mine
- [chorus]
- Some people live out in-New York City
- Some people live out in-Atlanta
- Some people got to live-Chicago
- Some people do live-Miami
- All my people at-California
- And other people got to live-London
- And everybody got to live in the whole big world
- Together just you and me
- [verse two]
- When i think of home, my remembrance of my beginning
- Laundromat helping ma dukes fold the bed linen
- Chillin in front my building with my brother and them
- Spending nights in Bushwick with my cousins and them
- Wise town and Beat Street, federal relief
- Slowly melting in the morning grits we used to eat
- Sticking to your teeth and teeth is hard to keep
- With every flavor Now & Later only a dime apiece
- Old timers on the bench playing cards and thangs
- Telling tales about they used to be involved in things
- Start to drinking, talking loud, cussing up and showing out
- On the phone, call the cops, pick'em up, move'em out
- And it's all too common to start wildin
- I'm a pirate on an island seeking treasure known as silence
- And it's hard to find
- Block parties in dark lobbies
- Funeral homes packed but only dark bodies
- I can't sleep hardly, stirred up like Bob Marley
- Marley Marl played the symphony, remember we recall
- Son i been to many places in my space and time
- and whatever my home is, son home is mine.
- [chorus]
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- Say ho, everybody say ho
- By the way yo
- I said shake your soul like way back in the day-yo
- By the way yo, everybody say ho
- Everybody say hooooo- hooo
- Everybody say ho
- And check it out now
- Who is the cat eatin out on the town
- And make the whole dining room turn they head round
- Mr Nigga, Nigga Nigga
- He got the speakers in the trunk with the bass on crunk
- Who be ridin up in the highrise elevator
- Other tenants who be prayin they ain't the new neighbor
- Mr Nigga, Nigga Nigga
- They try to play him like a chump cause he got what they want
- He under thirty years old but already he's a pro
- Designer trousers slung low ccause his pockets stay swoll'
- Could afford to get up and be anywhere he go
- V.I.P. at the club, backstage at the show
- (Yes y'all) the best crib, the best clothes
- Hottest whips on the road neck and wrists on froze (say word)
- Checks with O's o-o-o-o-ohs
- Straight all across the globe watch got three time-zones
- Keep the digital phone up to his dome
- Two assistants, two bank accounts, two homes
- One problem; even with the O's on his check
- The po-po stop him and show no respect
- That motivate the jake (woo-woo) to give chase
- Say they want you successful, but that ain't the case
- You livin large, your skin is dark they flash a light in your face
- Now, who is cat dining out on the town
- Maitre'd wanna take a whole year to sit him down
- Mr Nigga, Nigga Nigga
- He got the speakers in the trunk with the bass on crunk
- Now, who is the cat at Armani buyin wears
- With the tourists who be askin him, do you work here?
- Mr Nigga, Nigga Nigga
- Nigga Nigga
- Yo, the Abstract with the Mighty Mos Def
- White folks got it muffled across beneath they breathe
- But they'll say it out loud again
- When they get with they close associates and friends
- You know, sneak it in with they friends at the job
- Happy hour at the bar while this song is in they car
- And even if they've never said it, lips stay sealed
- They actions reveal how their hearts really feel
- Like, late night I'm on a first class flight
- The only brother in sight the flight attendent catch fright
- I sit down in my seat, 2C
- She approach officially talkin about, "Excuse me"
- Her lips curl up into a tight space
- Cause she don't believe that I'm in the right place
- Showed her my boarding pass, and then she sort of gasped
- All embarrassed put an extra lime on my water glass
- An hour later here she comes by walkin past
- (Wowwww.. Mr. Nigga I love you, I have all your albums!..)
- They stay on nigga patrol on american roads
- And when you travel abroad they got world nigga law
- Some folks get on a plane go as they please
- But I go over seas and I get over-SEIZED
- London Heathrow, me and my people
- They think that illegal's a synonym for negro
- Far away places, customs agents flagrant
- They think the dark face is smuggle weight in they cases
- Bags inspected, now we arrested
- Attention directed to contents of our intestines
- Urinalyis followed by X-rays
- Interrogated and detained til damn near the next day
- No evidence, no appology and no regard
- Even for the big american rap star
- For us especially, us most especially
- A Mr Nigga VIP jail cell just for me
- Just got some shoe-polish, painted my face"
- They say they want you successful, but then they make it stressful
- You start keepin pace, they start changin up the tempo
- Now, who is cat riding out on the town
- State trooper wanna stop him in his ride, pat him down
- Mr Nigga, Nigga Nigga
- He got the speakers in the trunk with the bass on crunk
- Now, who is the cat with the hundred dollar bill
- They gotta send it to the back to make sure the shit is real
- Mr Nigga, Nigga Nigga
- Nigga Nigga.. Nigga
- You can laugh and criticize Michael Jackson if you wanna
- Woody Allen, molested and married his step-daughter
- Same press kickin dirt on Michael's name
- Show Woody and Soon-Yi at the playoff game, holdin hands
- Sit back and just bug, think about that
- Would he get that type of dap if his name was Woody Black?
- O.J. found innocent by a jury of his peers
- And they been fuckin with that nigga for last five years
- Is it fair, is it equal, is it just, is it right?
- Do you do the same shit when the defendent face is white?
- If white boys doin it, well, it's success
- When I start doin, well, it's suspect
- Don't hate me, my folks is poor, I just got money
- America's five centuries deep in cotton money
- You see a lot of brothers caked up, yo straight up
- It's new, y'all livin off of slave traders paper
- But I'm a live though, yo I'm a live though
- I'm puttin up the big swing for my kids yo
- Got my mom the fat water-front crib yo
- I'm a get her them pretty bay windows
- I'm a cop a nice home to provide in
- A safe environment for seeds to reside in
- A fresh whip for my whole family to ride in
- And if I'm still Mr Nigga, I won't find it suprisin
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
- [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
- Broken glass wall 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)]
- [Fat Joe]
- .. "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 ground 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]
- [Thanks to seanyob@yahoo.com for these lyrics]
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