Talib Kweli

[fox69]

"Rare Portraits"

"Rare Portraits"


Gravitas, light it up
Lighten it up, brighten it up, yea
You want the grown step your bars up
You brag about the scrilla them killas lighten your cars up
Welcome to the complete history of the one known as Talib Kweli

Such a blessing, I'm making the bread leven
Descendant of Terra Firma
I'm from the era of legend
The blind to my eyesight
Too scared of the world ending
My men of spiritual essence be walking right into heaven
Ascending without the stairs, expressing without the fears
We diamonds but our minds are corrupted just like De Beers
Unravelling minds, travelling through time like [?]
Standing with the flow like the man in the gondolier
In the park of Washington Square, locks in my hair
Louder than the bull horns we was locking 'em there
Cops would prepare to lock us up
They was scared like tales from the dark side
Summer of the Central Park five

1989 was the number, the year that I started rhyming
From Brooklyn to Staten Island them Decepticons was wildin'
Music soothing but the imagery violent as bomb threats
Therapy for the prison industrial complex
Provided the context for the [?] with the tec nine
At Brooklyn Tech I spit it the best so they had to respect mine
I did it to death on my grind on a quest to get signed
Sorta like the tribe would always suggest we check the rhyme
An internal with Puff Daddy, confronted the [?]
Rolling with Hi Tek in the MPV through the streets of the Natti
Before graduating to Caddies was carrying crates
Shoutout to Flex all day doing records with John Forte
We was standing outside the tower devouring prey
Powerful display of bullet points that we shower and spray the block with
Back in them solid days these rappers was appetizers
I played it like I was David, I was tackling that Goliath
Attacking the open mics to the victory was decisive
This life it was so enticing, my surgery so precise
I would chop it like thin slices at parties we politic
At the country club, lighting up dutches with Pac and Big
At the crib of supernatural battling back and forth
Back before Jean was in the unsigned hype in the back of The Source
Rest in peace to [?] sons
[?] was liking to call you son
Cause you mine I call you son cause you shine
What's up [?], this is OG Brooklyn shit
Not for impostors, pour out a shot of vodka for them
Big L, Big Poppa, Big Pun, 2Pac
The jungle is too savage, rap true master producing the new classic
This shit is too classic it's blow to [?] to spinal tap
I started with the Rawkus Recording we work the vinyl backwards
From DEF JUX to Loaded Lux
I'm the underground king like I'm rolling with Bun and [?]
The flow is nuts it's solid I got the golden touch
Plus my iron sheek and I got the game and the cobra clutch
This the highest calibre do the algebra
From Yasiin Bey to Jean Grey to Pharoahe Monch
Black Thought to Common
Almost 20 years after the release of Soundbombing
And it still sound common
I'm out and on tour with the greatest, A Tribe Called Quest
And the De La's, opened for Jay Z and Nas, who else could say this?
In Vegas with Tech 9 getting faded before the gig
Only later to hit the RIO and hop on the stage with Prince
True story, I always knew the importance of great shows
Since 1992 I seen Ice Cube play [?]
Way cold, continue to pave the road for the Kendricks and J Coles
Continue to stake gold
From making the way for Kanye to meetings with Mr. Harry Belafonte
All started on park benches with Dante
Predicting the future, so observant I'm clairvoyant
The frame can't contain it, I'm painting a rare portrait

 

[fox69]

"Ready Set Go"
(feat. Melanie Fiona)

"Ready Set Go"
(feat. Melanie Fiona)



[Verse 1:]
I switch lanes, it's still blurry, I switch frames,
Climbing these lames with Bill Murray and quick change
Control your mission keep up with my opposition,
Brag it about the rob but feeling your soul is missing.
Race it till your death to your holly celebration
God bless a lady if only accelerate you
Cause we're speeding when we drive on this highway of information
The devil try to deny it, it's the highest of elevation.
They keep it on sea level so I'm staying on my A game,
They both would like to see when I express like the A train.
My air like tick to the right, use it to maintain
We be in like to see a light cause we got the same brain.
We in the same change, work in the same fields,
Now we're independent, you can keep your fucking lame deal.
Total package, the flow is mastered, I low it past the procrastinators
Well fast, is bound to going backwords.

[Hook:]
Life's so short, we can't afford to lose
When the guns go off and the flag drops.
I'll never stop,
I'm a race to the finish line of the road
To get in the boat.
Ready, set, go,
Ready, set, go,
Ready, set, go,
Ready, set, go.

[Verse 2:]
They hate when I get it straight and they chase us,
Have the little boys coming fast to the speed race
Pulling cables with my team best believe I'm a see paper
With extraordinary gena, trust me to lead lay you.
Highway of life faster than a car,
Rick it in the trunks of the rappers that got balls.
Never rat out cause we lived through the battles, we got scars,
Mister international have it the black star.
It's the sound that you're missing I'm here with your air glisten
Play it loud at your wind when you're gear shifting.
Gifted like the island of the misfit toys, ladies apply like the lipstick.
Boys take over when the shit drop,
Boys wanna holla at birds like Alfred Hitchcock.
Men wanna talk to the women, we ain't screaming,
Just whisper and then we're leaving.

[Hook:]
Life's so short, we can't afford to lose
When the guns go off and the flag drops.
I'll never stop,
I'm a race to the finish line of the road
To get in the boat.
Ready, set, go,
Ready, set, go,
Ready, set, go,
Ready, set, go.

[Bridge:]
When it's gone to the wire
I gotta win to the fire
You can't stop it. No, you can't stop it.
Because I'm destined to win,
Like a full champion,
And we know it's happening
At the time, get ready, set, go.

[Verse 3:]
On your mark, get set, when I thought the jet,
Look how far I get, I'm not only an artist they say.
One is the lonely as the number they regard
Second best don't exist, it's a little oxymoronic.
What a thought, listen to haters and never buy to hitting high
Watermarks, cause the market's flooded with garbage.
You are now embraced by the light with fiber optic,
Shine it bright love, get a ten or wind tropic.
Listen out count just nonsense,
I can say the conscious is asleep, I prefer the call of the wake.
It's so ironic, it's beautiful when you finally get awake at your funeral
We don't get it away.
Rappers nowadays are confusing you,
I know you're tired of the usual like Trey Songz and Drake
That's why I'm leaping the faith, keeping the pace
Although it's all about the winning, it's never about the wait.

[Hook:]
Life's so short, we can't afford to lose
When the guns go off and the flag drops.
I'll never stop,
I'm a race to the finish line of the road
To get in the boat.
Ready, set, go,
Ready, set, go,
Ready, set, go,
Ready, set, go.

 

[fox69]

"Right About Now"
(feat. Dave Chapelle)

"Right About Now"
(feat. Dave Chapelle)



[Intro]
Yeah, this that new Kweli
I'ma give it to you before the bootleggers get hold of
it
You know what I'm sayin'?
I figure I put it out first, make some money wit' it
Why not, right?
Okay, 1-2

[Verse]
Yo I'm Brooklyn like the '90s
Brownsville and Bushel keep it grimey
When I'm from flatbush that's where you'll find me
In Brooklyn, Tek wit' Justin and Sadat
And Free and Sid from ???
Always catch me wit' Juju and Rubiks, we was truant kids
Dollar band nooseses
Jump bell, run, and never look back
Mr. Man kept the hammer in his bookbag
Rubiks introduced me to Black and Forte
DJ Enuff on Avenue K I go back a long way
Wit' Super Nat in Washington Square freestylin' everyday
Peformin' at Lyricists' Lounge who ate off Jean Grae
Fuckin' wit' Mood is how I met Hi-Tek
Black Star came in effect when Elijah gave my tape to Mos Def
Reflection Eternal was next on deck
My crew the best and we proved it
We knew our music was the Vanguard of a movement
Every Rawkus release was bangin', they on the come up
They was like fuck the radio 'til Pharoahe said "Get the fuck up"
Flex listened, jabbin' at Bryant
The next position was right about now we need the
radio hit written
While I hit the road
On tour to support the records since the day it was sold
Corey had me followin' the example of De La Soul
Common and The Roots to me these the sickest niggaz
Get my figures wit' the Okayplayers and the Spitkickers
Rawkus got a deal with MCA, this the gray area
The letters stand for Music Cemetery of America
They tried to fool you by switchin' the name to Geffen
Now they Interscope's bitch and every artist who had a chance left 'em
Ain't no big surprise, wasn't no love there
Jimmy Iovine never signed me, I just kinda ended up there
But fuck that, literally it was my way or the highway
Hit the road with the Beastie Boys and toured Europe with Kanye
Gotta thank 'em for the love on the album
I knew out on "Electric Circus"
He'd get it by any means necessary like Malcolm
I dropped a single, shot a video, took control of my situation
Got a label poppin', it's a celebration (bitches)
Yo boy Free I had to get out
I put you on, that's where I'm at right about now

[Hook]
And if you're sayin' it's my time, you right about now
This what's goin' through my mind right about now
Hey yo, hey yo, it's time to write about now
And if you lookin' you can find it right about now
I put you on, that's where I'm at right about now
This what's goin' through my mind right about now
Yo, hey yo, it's time to write about now
And if you lookin' you can find it right about now

[Outro: Dave Chappelle {DJ cutting}]
That's right bitches, Talib Kweli
One of the baddest motherfuckers you've ever seen
That's right bitches, Talib Kweli
You're now rockin' with the best! I said it
The best! The best!
That's right bitches
You're now rockin' with the best! The best!
Talib Kweli
Where's-Where's my snares? Talib Kweli
Where's-Where's my snares?

 

[fox69]

"Rock On"

"Rock On"


[Intro: Talib]
C'mon let's go! Yeah
It's beautiful, c'mon, keep marchin
Everybody say HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY (HEY, HEY!)

[Chorus: Talib Kweli]
Now if you got toast, you keep your shots low
You hug the block close, we rock on and on
Now if you got dough, your shit is not low
You duck the five-oh, we rock on and on (ladies!)
Now if you real fly, fuck with a real guy
Give them your real eye, we rock on and on
You keep yo' heels high, keep it real tight
Who gettin real high? We rock on and on

[Talib Kweli]
Yeah, I flow beautiful like a Zab Judah blow
(Traffic) like Benecio, (Suspect) is (Usual)
Cut checks like cuticles, bust tecs at funerals
My sound freak you out like rough sex in the studio
I blow the back out the track when I black out
Got the spot maxed out, people in the front pass out
Security carry that ass out
Get in the zone when I'm stoned like I live in a glass house
Last bout I was in started to get real serious
Homeboy got dropped and spazzed out like mysterious
The boy in the hood with the furious style
We in the age of Aquarius now, yo
I show pain in the manner of Coltrane's "Alabama"
Niggaz wanna blaze a hammer
"Real girls get down on the flo'" like David Banner when I handle my shit
I go banana clips you walkin where the animals live

[Chorus]

[Talib Kweli]
Now everybody say (HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY!)

Yo, the way I spit is ghetto
Like when niggaz pray over beef like Khalil and get the metal 'til the shit is settled
I pull strings like Geppetto did Pinocchio
Y'all niggaz sing to po-po like, K-Ci and JoJo or Sisqo and Nokio
LeLe and Coco y'all, Sisters With Voices
Y'all, lyrics are pointless
My lyrics annoint like, oils and ointments
I had a big death but I missed my appointment
Y'all walkin through the valley while I run through it
Every party we come through makin the "Gun Music"
Practice the (Art of War), don't make me Sun Tzu it
I put them knots in yo' head 'til you can't undo it
You can't unscrew it, ladies wanna take it off
All they want is piece of mind so I break 'em off
I grab the game by the balls until I made it cough
And made these bitch ass niggaz take they make-up off

[Chorus]

[Outro: Talib]
Everybody say (HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY!)
Yeah, get it right, Talib Kweli

 

[fox69]

"Rocket Ships"
(feat. Busta Rhymes)

"Rocket Ships"
(feat. Busta Rhymes)



[Verse 1: Talib]
Movin' at the speed of a solution
Bleeding in the streets as you're breathing the pollution
They're saying that we need a revolution
But their passion is reduced to all-caps on a computer
Hey! Every sixteen I make a sick scene
Blood splattered all on you shirt like a...
Y'all niggas trippin' like mescaline and mixed greens
My flow cleaner than the Sistine, pristine
You goin' green like Al Gore with 'em
I make algorithms that got Malcolm in 'em
God's favorite, I'm sick as a doctor's patient
We live in a cold world, my job is to rock nations
My occupation? Elation, a celebration of rebels
Raise the levels and the decibels flagrant
It's too amazing how we be blazing, son
Our flowers is the loudest, they crowd around us
But cower in the shadows of the towers, boy

[Hook:]
Take a tour with it, bake the raw
Where the beat's so savage
That it's knuckles gon' scrape on the floor
Make a call, all the rocket ships taking off
Jah/Wu/gun music playin' when we facing off

[Verse 2: Busta]
Yo, I plaster the nation, causing evacuation
My manifestation got 'em patient from how I keeps it amazing
See, I'm the reason niggas need some training
While I'm inflicting the pain and making it suitable for any occasion
I'm very engaging soon as I awaken
Quickly back you up and bag your bitch
She's reminding me of Sanaa Lathan
Rely on the hating while I'm smiling and waiting
That's when I embrace 'em
If you try to front, you'll be highly mistaken
The mightiest making of a classic, alrighty, I'll face it
My psyche is ancient and I'm hiring, so try me, I'm patient
Sorry, I'm lying, face it, I'm back for the taking
I'm urgently giving niggas the courtesy of smashing their face in
(Damn, can you cut his mic off?!)
See how we got 'em buggin'
'Cause they can't believe what we have in the making
Shit so historic, got me goin' for it while I bang the nation
And do niggas greasier than a slab of bacon...

[Hook]

[Verse 3: Talib]
These rap niggas is bitches, nothing but suckers to me
Sacrifice myself for the music and let them suffer through me
Your weak product is nothing to me
I only feel effects when I fuck with Louis
Yep, I get buck in the studio like I'm Evil Dee
Pulling strings like the Muppet movie
Shining my light like Mos calling his mother Umi
Who's the hottest regardless of who's flaming?
We ain't talkin' 'bout the best until you mention my name
Who're you kidding? The truest spitting
I'll break you like a mirror so it's clearer
That we don't believe in superstition
These new additions need supervision
Thinking that they can spit it in the booth like me
What are you stupid? Listen
I've been official, it's been official, I'm too consistent
I make a claim 'cause I'm too official for euphemisms
Staying in the cut like a new incision
I'll put you on your ass like True Religion
So give it up for the truest living

[Hook]

 

[fox69]

"Roll Off Me"

"Roll Off Me"


[Intro:]
Yeah, back in effect, let's go
Ahem, aiyyo, e'rybody goes through feelin like
the walls is closin in on you and you just stress the hell out (yeah they do)
And you feel like you gon' explode, youknow'msayin? (uh-huh)
This right here is for, all y'all to know that
I know what y'all goin through man (yeah, yeah)
I feel it myself (yeah, yeah I do)
I could relate, yeah turn this one up

Sometimes life make you wanna attack and go off G
You wanna step back and I let it roll off me
Brooklyn, New York B, ain't nothin soft G
Yeah I get stressed but I let it roll off me
Flirtin with the fame but I let it roll off me
They love it when I'm losin but I let it roll off me
Dirt on my name but I let it roll off me
Always keep it movin and I let it roll off me

Do it for my niggaz with letters, let's set it off B
Cops don't protect us, protestors just get ignored B
Played out like musical theater with best support
The investors and bankers havin sex in expensive orgies
I'm rappin on the corners like Abbey, Abdul and Common
Born when they was robbin the grave at Tutankhamun
Way before Bush the USA been bombin
Cause whether ratchets or needles know the shootin ain't stoppin
Niggaz lootin, we ain't coppin a thing
And if I'm locked in the bing, a nigga not gonna sing
I got a lot of things on my mind, dollar signs, life on the line
What I write's so right for the time
The revelation like sight for the blind like when God cypher divine
hand you lessons; or when you in the church havin confession
Or when you kneelin on the pew, catchin the Holy Ghost
Or the cult, so fanatic they think suicide's the only hope (no)
They used to ask you "Who ya master?" Now they ask you "Who your pastor?"
It's your allegiance that they truly after
They used to ask you "Who ya master?" Now they ask you "Who your pastor?"
It's your allegiance that they truly after

That make you wanna go off B
But I step back and I let it roll off me
Brooklyn, New York B, ain't nothin soft G
Yeah I get stressed but I let it roll off me

Talk the talk but to walk the walk is costly
Niggaz got on they +Game+ face like Black Wall Street
Every single move I make is ballsy
Cause the shit it used to be a, silent movie now it's a talky
The Feds cheesin like Milwaukee when shit is Brew-in
When these niggaz stage a coup for the president I'm a shoo-in
But, ain't no political aspirations I'm persuin
I hate to ruin your dream but music is what I'm doin
I've touched more people in a verse than you do in 20 speeches
Whether state's blue like the water or redder than white people on sunny beaches
Sometimes I don't be understandin it
They looked at me and said that's why you the perfect candidate
Standin at the pulpit with a full clip
What I say real talk, turn around and walk away with your bullshit
I'm like breed, yo I ain't to be fucked with
Only write the realest, can't lie to the public

The sharp wick cut quick, killin 'em softly
They try to take me there but you could never force me
Brooklyn, New York B, ain't nothin soft G
Yeah I get stressed but I let it roll off me
Flirtin with the fame but I let it roll off me
They love it when I'm losin but I let it roll off me
Dirt on my name but I let it roll off me
Always keep it movin and I let it roll off me

[ad libs to the end]

 

[fox69]

"Rush"

"Rush"


[Talib Kweli: repeat 16X]
Feel the rush

[Talib over the repeated line]
Yeah, I do this shit for real (you get Chuck D'd, "Shut the Fuck down")
Ain't no games being played (remember that, remember that)
It might be the career (yo)
It might be on the stage (yo)
It might be in the street (yo)
But the people come to me (why?)

[Talib Kweli]
They come to me for the lyrical, spiritual, raw shit I spit at you
Original, and I see collective, not individual
Visual, in the mic I'm un-fuck-wit-able
Invincible, offical nigga who they come to
For the hardcore, art of war, rhymes that I got in store
Triple W in curo son or die or
For education and culture, heads is waitin' for Mos to
Do the album with Kweli, we do it like we suppose to
Nobody come close to my crew, we wild nice
You ain't tight, your rhymes is like what a child writes
When he can't spell, you chase crumbs and get ate like Han-sel
Can't hold your mic, like your liquor, your style like an Amstel
Smack a nigga til my motherfuckin hands swell
You ain't fly and you prolly got can-cell
Y'all niggas shaky like handheld, amuteur camera work
In walking this planet of earth
I'm the illest emcee and a man of my word
When I came out, niggaz didn't understand it at first
I'm known to roll up my sleeves and put my hands in the dirt
We at war and I got a battle plan that can work
With the proper execution so I'm killin' 'em right
You get hit like a deer standin' still in the light
I'm spillin' it like, I ain't never had a meal in my life
Feed my family with my pen, it's so real what I write

[Bridge]
We fight, fuck, get buckwild
Kill, chill, make love, have child
Freestyle, b-boy, hit the block
Build, destroy, get it hot

Yo, I make the place go apeshit (c'mon)
Ain't no other way to say it, ain't nuttin to play with
I'm Langston Hughes, "Dreams Deferred" seen and heard in the flesh
Cause so many people believe the word even when it seems absurd
With keen observation I peep the game
And got blood on his hands, I can see the stains
My street slang spray like shots when heat bang out
Niggas keep my name in they mouth, I put they flame out
Where I'm from, action is first and talk is second
I'm sharp like the blade in the logo of Rawkus Records
New York's infected, niggaz beefin' on the mix-tape
Got Nickelback niggaz thinkin' they can fuck with big weight
Hell no, give it up, it's enough
We about to live it up, with ten of us
We ride and you live with us
Pick it up, party people, you about to get in touch
Give it up, everybody, you about to get a rush
You can find Kweli in the cut, wth a Cohiba lit up bout to split a Dutch
Get it up, everybody, you about to get in touch
Give it up, everybody, you about to get a rush (whooo!)

[Xzibit]
Yeah, yeah
Quality material
Yo, check this out
Yeah, you heard it
Kweli
You don't know how to say it by now, fuck you
Broadcastin' live, from Brooklyn, New York City
Yeah, turn this shit up
It's Quality music
You know how we use it
Feel the rush

[Talib Kweli: repeat to end]
Feel the rush

 

[fox69]

"Say Something"
(feat. Jean Grae)

"Say Something"
(feat. Jean Grae)



[opening the same as the break from Lords of the Underground's "Funky Child"]

[Talib Kweli]
The year is 1975 (yeah, hahaha!)
Brooklyn, New York City (stand up)
A child destined for greatness is born (we goin in)
Let's go!

Get your hands in the air (get 'em up~!)
Put your hands in the air (put 'em up~!)
Get your hands in the air (get 'em up~!)
Put your hands in the air (put 'em up~!)

[Chorus]
Talk shit now (now... now... now...) What? What?
Talk shit now (now... now... now...) What?
Talk shit now (now... now... now...) What?
Talk shit now (now... now... now...) What?
Talk shit now (now... now... now...)
Say something, say something (what was that?)
Say something (I dare you), say something

[Talib Kweli]
(The Lord Chief Rocka) I'm colder than meatlockers
My people keep throwin it up like cheap vodka
I smack internet MC's and beat bloggers
You can see my (Black Thought) like 'Riq Trotter
It's deep, go ahead and sleep, they know in the street
Kwe' gon flow on the beat proper composin complete operas
Longer than a cigar that's Godfather
Tappin two heart chakras I'm harder than gobstoppers
People comin for the throne not knowin the seat hotter
than fish grease, criminal names on police blotters
You convinced me, I hit targets like top shotters
Out in the mideast like Muslims takin Shahada
I'm sayin makin a profit a product of Reaganomics
Awake and I'm stayin conscious to radio playin garbage (yeh!)
Blacksmith Music, if you don't pay homage
I'ma show you how we break an artist
That's a threat, I'm not makin a promise
Speak to the people like Barack Obama
They worship like the black Madonna, c'mon
Niggaz talk shit, but they ain't got skills
I'm the type of nigga to put lead in your grill
Number two pencil is sharper to bruise mentals, and
beatin in my chest is the heart of a true gentleman
Still spit right in your face
Fuck a Top 8, back up, gimme (MySpace) you're not safe

[Lords of the Underground horn break again]
Hahahaha
Yeah, they say I'm back, but I ain't go nowhere though
Been here the whole time
Where you been? You back
Matter fact, apologize

[Chorus]

[Jean Grae]
Yeah, open your mouth, say somethin, I fuckin dare you
Chokin you out 'til you can't suck any air through
Fuck with your man too, thinkin I can't do what I plan to
Vet vandal, niggaz are brand new
Ain't knew I was bad news? Look at the tattoos
Get ran through like you was fingers through Sassoon
Horror chick in the bathroom, off the backstage room
Shit you couldn't imagine, nigga I'll harass you
I'll Ras Kass you, (Soul on Ice) and body cast dude
Past due, Jean and Kwe' the last two action heroes
Actually had the capacity, to be the ones in a class of zeroes
Hip-Hop's not dead, it was on vacation
We back, we bask in the confrontation
You can ask me, have any conversation
You talk shit, Blacksmith, Jean, I'm waitin nigga

[Chorus]

[Talib Kweli]
We not fallin for your trick cause your image is like a gimmick
Forget it every rhyme is bitten, you like a mimic
I'm talkin to the lord and I'm askin him for forgiveness
Just for kickin niggaz out the club like Michael Richards
Yeah I admit, I'm guilty, the way I spit is filthy
I keep it gritty so they get it they feel me, the flow
is known for touchin the soul of street hustlers
I speak in the language they know I keep customers
The writin therapeutic, it's due to the pain and sufferin
While these dudes get it confused and abuse the creative substance
I'm givin you a contact high, my name buzzin
And I came in the game with nothin, stop frontin nigga
Talk shit now!

[Outro - over LOTUG break again]
The year of the Blacksmith is not defined by any calendar
Just thought I'd remind all you challengers
Get the name right, Talib Kweli, BKMC, say it again

Get your hands in the air (get 'em up~!)
Put your hands in the air (put 'em up~!)
Get your hands in the air (get 'em up~!)
Put your hands in the air (put 'em up~!)

 

[fox69]

"Self Savior"
(feat. Chace Infinite)

"Self Savior"
(feat. Chace Infinite)



[Intro]
New Chace Infinite, Talib Kweli, yeah
Music courtesy of, Maurice 'Mo Betta' Brown
Mo Betta, makes it mo' better, yeah

[Chorus]
Preacher's playing foul in the system now listen now
It's more hate in the religious now ain't it foul
Gotta be a better way to figure out
how to be a self savior plus help my niggaz out
These pigs playin foul in the system now listen now
Every poor person is a nigga now
There's gotta be a better way to figure out
how to get this paper cause they lockin all my niggaz down

[Chace Infinite]
How do expect to live? Dealin with savages is damagin
Somebody gotta lose although you play to win
You know these niggaz hate, despite the color of your face
When I say nigga I'm just speakin on your mental state
Life ain't a game if it is I can't participate
Maybe I've changed but my mind is in a different state
Cause now it seems more like a plan
I'm strivin for perfection, so that's where I'll begin
Your tallies and peaks and valleys can't describe who I am
This music is therapeutic, I define who I am
Through the actions I portray as a man - in combination
with impressions I leave on people through things that I've said
I've had it up to here with the bullshit
So when I rap I sound like I'm in the pulpit
Yeah; they say that I be preachin too much
But I know that through the music's how you teach it to us
It's all real

[Chorus]

[Talib Kweli]
True indeed Chace; they tried to get rid of me (say word)
But they can't write me off, I'm not a charity
That's a parody right? You kiddin me
There really ain't no challenge, my authenticity
virtually guarantee me a flawless victory, you kiddin me?
I'm lethal, I'm from a people who was forced into captivity
Original man, there was often a facsimile
I give a little more than your metaphors and wack similes
Thousand yard stare, say a prayer for my enemy
I'm international, half of these rappers laughable
It's tragic how the other half so vaginal
They put the style over substance, they counsel bother me
My style married my substance and now they livin in harmony
But any substance can be abused
Especially when the style is so seductive the substance consider leaving you
You gotta get back to your essence
Use your gifts and share your presence
Don't count your dollars 'til you count your blessings

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Shock Body"

"Shock Body"


[Kweli]
Yeah, yeah
[Girl]
La, la, la [continuous]
[Kweli]
It's like what you gonna do when we come through when you
Yeah, shock body like
What you gonna do when we come through, Kweli
Uh, yeah, BK MC, like what you gonna do when we come through when you
Woo, yeah, come on

[Verse 1]
Watch how Talib Kweli Greene do it
What I bring to it
You hear the theme music
My rhymes' life support, dog breathe to it
Rhymes are bright, the sunshine beams through it
Stop haters in their tracks like high beams
Like the moment you was at the crime scene screaming "I ain't do it"
But, I seen through it, it's obscene how I spew it
Martin Luther King had a dream to it, people cling to it
I seen your momma lean to it in a green Buick
Wack niggas get passed over so much they seem Jewish
Better leave and do it now or seem foolish
This music I bleed to it, I raise my seeds to it
I MC with the truest in the game
I stay hungry like I'm the newest in the game
And stay hot like I'm bluish with the flame
You heard the truth when it came
And you knew it was the name that you couldn't pronounce
Now I'm all up in your mouth
My people all up in the house and we calling you out
Y'all niggas crying, what you bawling about
This shit is down like we chalking you out
Hey yo, that's what I'm talking about

[Chorus]
[Girl]
Look up in the sky recongnize it's sunshine (la, la's cont'd)
[Kweli]
Yeah, what you gonna do when we come through when you
[Girl]
How can you deny when it's right in your eyes
[Kweli]
Shock body, ro-ro-ro-ro-rock body
Like what you gonna do when we come through when you
[Girl]
Look up in the sky recognize it's sunshine
[Kweli]
Come on and, come on and
Kweli like what you gonna do when we come through when you
[Girl]
How can you deny when it's right in your eyes
[Kweli]
Yeah, come on

[Verse 2]
Check the writing skills forever coming tight with the quill
You sound like you liking the thrill
Or filling the pipe with the the krill
YOu must be smoking like the spliff we like to light when we build
Out of respect for the dead we let our Heinekens spill
Cats taking Vicatin pills to numb the pain that they feeling
Pertaining to stealing my rhymes finding their brains on the ceiling
I'm blowing their minds wide open when I'm flowing I'm fine
Hey yo my whole style banging like I'm throwing up signs
Niggas get cut like I saw someone I know in the line
I live life to the fullest cause I know I could die
Right now, I don't believe I know when to sto'
My face soldier's going to lie, when I'm going to buy
You gonna see a rainbow in the sky
And my momma's face glowing with pride
My first born held it down and through my baby's soul I survive
Put your hands in the air and let me know you're alive
I love this game y'all, I ain't even going to lie
I can see you all rocking cause you know when it's live, word

[Chorus]
[girl]
[repeat chorus]
[kweli]
[repeat chorus]
[Continue]

[Outro]
BK, BX, Q-borough, like what you gonna do when we come through
ATL, Chi-Town, Los Angeles, Bay Area
Everybody like what you gonna do when we come through yeah
My whole world rocking
Yo BK like what you gonna do when we come through, Kweli