Talib Kweli Album

(Instrumental)

Typed by: [email protected]

[Talib Kweli]
C'mon c'mon ya ya ya ya ya
Get 'em up, get 'em up what
Get 'em up, get 'em up what
Get 'em up, get 'em up what
Yo, yo, yo
What's with the melodrama?
Fella's wanna hover in my cypher like a helicopter
Like it's a special honor
The stealth bomba, gem droppa
Make the ghetto holla, Inter-Conta-Nental
Takin you high like sky divers
When we spark with live wires
Original, cavemen quest for my fire
Express my desire to drop this new shit
These record executives keep tellin me y'all stupid
Now if they right, Shut The Fuck Up!
Revolutionaries throw your guns up
Whether you a bourgeois broad who actin stuck up
Or some ignorant thug motherfucker shootin the club up
We gonna make y'all feel this, break y'all spirit
If y'all fake that realness, word we bringin it
Ringin it in from the new millenuim to way after that
I call these cats Reynolds cuz they plastic wrap

[Chorus]
Kill all the yappin lets make it happen
You cats ain't real, you just a re-enactment
Better yet, dramatization
Soon as the director say action you start fakin
I start breakin
The whole joint start shakin
This ain't the time or place for you to prove something
Cut the stargazin' yo, move somethin'!

[woman's voice and Talib Kweli]
Move Somethin' (move somthin)
Move Somethin' (move somthin)
Move Somethin' (move somthin)
Move Somethin' (move somthin)

[Talib Kweli]
(Word.. alright bring it back to the top)
To be continued...
Lets see what's next up on the menu run up in you
Lyrics that be fuckin with you
In the mental, pick any mental - instru, funda, detri
Extra Extra large like the borough of brooklyn the residential
Exi-stential-ist specialist
Like Sly Stone wit my poem and fly song
Ride along with cats who live great and die strong, word
We gonna rock till nothin else matters
Y'all catch bodies, we catch excellent cadavers
Your next of kin an' shatter stories splattered in the tabloids
Erase your trace like your cotton mouth and we pepperment altoids
Step in the high reppin the spot called flatbush
Whether rappers or actors you still feel the gat bust
The abstract then becomes the reality
Alcoholics like to call it the moment of clarity

[Chorus]
Kill all the yappin lets make it happen
You cats ain't real, you just a re-enactment
Better yet, dramatization
Soon as the director say action you start fakin
I start breakin
The whole joint start shakin
This ain't the time or place for you to prove something
Cut the stargazin' yo, move somethin'!

[woman's voice and Talib Kweli]
Move Somethin' (move somthin)
Move Somethin' (move somthin)
Move Somethin' (move somthin)
Move Somethin' (move somthin)

What's next?
These chicken neck MCs get me vexed
My rhymes be blowin' up chat rooms all over the internet
And causin' collisions on the highway of information
And then I head back to my prior engagement
In the nation of Brooklyn
Land of Trinis, Haitians, Jamaicans and Bejans
It's amazin' how lickin' shots is the proper representation
Soon they gonna need wack MC reservations
Cause I endanger the motherfuckers, they needin' preservation
Carry 'em home on the top of a truck like a trophy
Niggas still sleepin' like I'm Jay Z in the video for Hawaiian Sophie
It's cool I stay low key, keep a low pro
Come out crushin' shit just for fun like Co Flow
Yo yo yo yo yo yo yo here we go
Ridin' on the sound waves out your stereo
In the procession to your burial
Callin' Hi Tek little Leon the professional
I got the special flow listenin' to estero
Puffin' vegetables and now I'm red to go
The illest rhyme animal like Chuck
Burn leech niggas like salt when i lay in the cut
Think you about to blow when you continue to suck
The shit I've been through
Make me run up in your venue like What!
I snatch the mic and ask the crowd what are y'all waitin' for?
They say nothin' but that fat shit
I got you, say no more i laid the law and all them
Crab rappers played the floor I called them out
A couple of them steeped up and I ate 'em raw
Some more wack niggas tried to spray the door but had no aim
Later for them corn balls
On the way out smacked them in they face with a methaphor
For better or for worse you better call the nurse
Before I send a cleaner and he get to your hospital room first

(Chorus)
What you wanna do? I'm runnin' through your front line
Your whole plan is catcha tan in my sunshine
One time 'cause it's some kinda wonderful
Don't stand there lookin' stupid, what you wanna do?
(repeat)

I'll take your style and embarras it with
Words beautifully written like Arabic
Got niggas on the run 'cause the fire like chariot
Introduce pen skills to ill deliveries and married it
Put it in your face like big gats and carried it like Harriet
Various crews tried to bury us
But we shut 'em down like Sagiterious with
That wack shit money you can't be serious
You niggas is hilarious actresses
Runnin around the club pissy like ghetto matresses
That's why I smack these kids back to reality
And how it be in actuality
With ready to battle MCs who skip the fuckin' formailties
We spark it in any club or meat market
Sweet artists don't come on the block they become street targets
If you want it I got it, come get it I'm with it
Your career will be shorter than a midget
And the world will know who did it
I smack up these ho ass MCs like a gorilla pimp
You comin' out the box like a gimp, money you still a wimp
My shit blow out filaments and light fixtures
With the right mixture of words used as colors
To paint the right picture
Graphic masterpieces your whole shit is smashed to pieces
Make you look at your man who rhyme and be like, "you not nasty like he is"
Believe this when you see this, and don't fuck with
Me either, 'cuz you'll be down where my feet is
Curled up in the fetus
Cryin' from the kicks, watch when I flip
People gonna be buyin' my shit like fiends dyin' for a hit, so...

(Chorus)
What you wanna do? I'm runnin' through your front line
Your whole plan is catcha tan in my sunshine
One time 'cause it's some kinda wonderful
Don't stand there lookin' stupid, what you wanna do?

f/ Vinia Mojica

Let me, let me practice.. hehehe, ehehe
Talib.. T'Kwi, Kweli - I can't say it!
That's wack..

[Talib Kweli] (Vinia Mojica)
Yeah, you pronounce my name (Kweli), any questions?
I bring many blessings with my man Hi-Tek and he from the Natti (Natti)
We make the sky crack, feel the fly track, 
get your hands up like a hijack
Fist in the air for (Kweli), keep 'em there like
Natural mystic or smoke when they spliffs lit
It's a revolutionary (party), they ask me what I'm writing for
I'm writing to show you what we fightin for
Say Taleeb or Talib (Kweli), if it's hard try spelling in phonetically
If not then just let it be like Nina Simone, 
you probably (ably) don't listen B
Even when we suffer loses I account the victory
Sometimes it's far and between I'm sad to say
it got my brain crowded like sunset on a Saturday
I know my son wept 'cause his dad's away
Stop crying be strong is what I had to say
to my little man named Amani (mani)

Chorus: repeat 2X
Start the party, my crew hot feel these two shots
Like the blast from a double barrel shottie (shottie)
It's got to be, your man Hi-Tek and Kweli
Who make you rock your body (body)

[Hi-Tek]
I remember when it all started
Back in the day when me and moms first parted
Hi-Tek from the beginning I stayed advanced
A young chameleon -- adapt to any circumstance
Peep game nigga, never been a lazy nigga
Stayed on my hustle, concentrate to get the paper bigger
Stay focused while other cats stay hopeless
While niggas stay high I stay lower,
Stacking my chips to get a foreclosure, this shit ain't over
Going for the gusto, keep getting that provo,
It's Hi-Tek (and Kweli) on the track like Flow Jo,
bet you ain't even know I had flow though,

Chorus 

[repeat 3x]
Keep on dancing, ya gotta keep on dancing
{Overlapping} oh oh ohhhhhh, yeah yeahhhhhhh

Keep on dancing, ya gotta keep on dancing..

[Mos] Sometimes, you gotta be direct with the people, y'know like..
[T.K] Give it to 'em (c'mon)
[Mos] Yo!
[T.K] Give it to 'em
[Mos] GET, UP, NOW!

[Talib Kweli]
Yo, we keep it type raw, and know exactly what we fight for
when the nightfall come, we in the right war
Cats who spill blood for a cause, not just because
Defy the authority and follow God's law
Revolutionary entrepeneurs; who make the fans
clap they hands and stompin the floor not start the applause
(Ahhh ssssh! Yeah!) Thank you very much, without further adieu
Let me introduce the rest of my crew, Mos Def!

[Mos Def]
Yo, I am the world renowned, verb adjective adverb
pronoun preposition suffix prefix
Original or remix, sunburst and eclipse
Me and Kwe' combine like strands on a double-helix
My speech seasoned, with dialect of my region
Booga-nam Brooklyn Bed-Stuy Eastern
Where youth and policemen, they nah reach agreement
Pressure in the mornin, pressure in the evenin

{*scratching* "Mos Def" .. "Kwe'-Kweli" ..
"Hi Tek on the beat!" .. "brothers and sisters"}

Chorus One: BlackStar (Mos Def + Talib Kweli)

You, need, to, get, up, right, now
and, move, with, this, yes, this, means, you
You, you

[Talib Kweli]
Yeahh, alright yeah, alright yeah, alright yeah
Alright yeah, alright yeah, alright yeah, yeah-ehhhh

Uh, uh, uh, uh, yo, yo, yo
Things changed since we came out, been some shit in New York
Niggaz stopped gettin jig in New York, bloods and crips in New York
The Y-2-K celebration wasn't big in New York
Babylon live in New York, should I keep a crib in New York
or just V.I., to handle my B.I.
When with my A-Alikes we see with three eyes

[Mos Def]
Yo Kweli I agree I, was thinkin the same thing myself
Smog in the city ain't no good for your health
Things changed in New York, type strange in New York
Forty-Deuce don't look the same in New York
Just politics, tricks and big games in New York
Switched trains a writer can't get fame in New York
Internet and Wall Street got paid in New York
Poor folks and workin class got slayed in New York
Even still, everyday they make weight in New York
Flashlights lookin for a brighter day in New York
In New York they say it's - red hot
Will the temperature ease up? Black I guess not
It's multi-lane traffic, no sign for rest stops
No corner breaks, put on your gloves and just box
No dance school to teach you to wop and bus stop
Better get up in the booth, hop up and just rock
If you think it's like that, it's not so just stop
All mankind time runnin down on one watch, just watch

Chorus Two: BlackStar (Mos Def + Talib Kweli)

If, you, are, just, coming, in, I, will
say it, once, more, so, you, can, hear, cause
You, need, to, get, up, right, now
and, move, with, this, yes, this, means, you
You, you

[Talib Kweli]
Yo, Mos Def and Talib Kweli bring disaster to the industry
We best-sellin authors writin great chapters in history
These cats undercover like gay rappers dealin with mystery
My platinum grey matter spray batter that's specifically
designed to make rappers break faster than eggshells in the mornin
Inhaled the divine in that's laid dormant
Water from the well STAY pourin
I answer back when I hear fate callin
Freedom fighter ready to attack at the crack of a new day dawnin
Way more than necessary skills for the application
My flow is Great like the Lakes and it rocks like Applachains
My facts more than make up for what you lack in imagination
You more confused than Tiger Woods when he made up Cabalaysian
I'm sayin!

[Mos Def]
Break bounds like the jet Concorde
Win awards before I leave for my (?) world tour
When they scream encore, that's when they want more
Flow steadily, whether I'm on or off shore
High potent, zone coastin, no jokin
Safecracker sniff gon' keep the joint open
Peep the focus, high resolution, high reception
My "Train of Thought" connectin with my bredren from Reflection like

Chorus Three: BlackStar (Mos Def + Talib Kweli)

You, need, to, get, up, right, now
and, move, with, this, yes, this, means, you, again!
You, need, to, get, up, right, now
and, move, with, this, yes, this, means, you, we goin
[M] New York [T] Philly
[M] Chicago [T] Detroit
[M] Miami [T] D.C.
[M] L.A. [T] The world
[M] London [T] Amsterdam
[M] Paris [T] Japan
[M+T] Any place that a human being might stand, we goin..

Yo, when the bass thump, the place jump
Like it's way crunk, yeah,
Fake punks get they face lumped
Sent to the most high, by the most fit
You gotta do, fuck that almost shit
The fam is close knit
You diggin', know the clock don't stop tickin'
Glocks still spittin', the whole block politickin'
Lik epresidents with they minds dead on arrival
Leaving no evidence of a struggle for survival
Songs relevant to the times like the psalms read in the Bible
Stepping to this leaves thoughts in your head 'it's suicidal'
It's the T to the A-L-I-B the deep rooter
Rolling with my Wannabattle cats with Chief Buddha
And see through the overspecialized
Underpressurized
No lie texturized
Emcees who got the masses mesmerized
With empty rhetoric
They better quit
NIggas so hollow that they echo like sentiments

Nowadays rap artists coming halfhearted
Commercial like pop, or underground like black markets
Where were you when hiphop died?
Is it too early to mourn? Is it too late to ride? (6x)

Kwa is chillin', Tone is chillin'
What more can I say, we stay building
And make killings
Take children through the wilderness, by the hand
It's a great feeling, show 'em how to be a man
Exactly, pack trees in my khakis
My sound fat like a knee
While you thin like a Mackey
C'mon, shine so bright when I walk by
You got ta squint like the motherfucking sun in your eye
What! Say something
You stay fronting
It ain't nothing, let off like I'm big game hunting
Me and Tek stay way blunted
Wave running on beaches with white sand
With a slight tan
Smack the mic stand with my right hand
When I'm excited
Leave you so far in the dust that you forced to bite it
On fire like property lost to riots
Yo, ain't no stopping us when we all united

Chorus

[talking]
Yo, you know what we got to do, man, we need to get a whole CD.
Get a collection of all the music and everything we've ever done.

[woman singing]
Bringing back sweet memories (3x)

Life, living in Flatbush and going to house parties
Red lights, bumping, life is what you make it, then sorry
In my lifetime, ain't done too many things 
better than watching your first son put his sentences together
Yo, it kinda make me think of way back when
I was the portrait of the artist as a young man
All them teenage dreams of rapping
Writing rhymes on napkins
Was really visualization
Making this shit actually happen
It's like something come through me
That truly just consume me
Speaking through the voices of the spirits speaking to me
I think back in the day, I absorbed everything like a sponge
Took a plunge into my past to share with my son

Bringing back sweet memories (3x)

Like thoughts out the back of my mind
Going back in some time
Like when you used to cut and had to go to the back of the line
Look back and you find
Tracks that make you relax and recline
Now cats rap about packing a nine
When they lacking divine
Inspiration
Running out of topics of conversation
Well I drop it in the pocket because rocking's my occupation
I do it remarkably, spark up a leaf
And possibly you could follow me
Tap into your chi
Utilize your memory
To help you see clearly, then get back to me
Actually, nothing's new under the sun
So when life be stressing me
My remedy is 'bringing back sweet memories'
Like the faces that are woven in the fabric of my consciousness
>From cities where making 21's a big accomplishment
Like when my people understood their prominence
And my past life visions of the continent
Like the first time I saw KRS live, rockin' it
I heard Resurrection by Common Sense
Dominant in my psyche
I chose my direction like Spike Lee
To speak my life through mics, and I never take it lightly
It might be something you did to bring you down when you were high
But that karma's a bitch, you steady asking God why
Like when my parents first split up
Yo, I was illin'
Seems like some years they was together for the sake of the children
And I love them for that
I don't know if they saw that
So I'ma say it, and convey it when the world play it (3x)

Bringing back sweet memories (3x)

Like black is beautiful, names from the seventies
Let me tap into your energy
Fields of dreams become my property
When I reach my destiny like a prophecy
Especially when I 'm 'bringing back sweet memories'
I got deep into my mind, see I got a treasury
That float through my head like a sweet melody
What you telling me
Reflection is a collection of memories
Definitely this is how hiphop was meant to be
Eventually, I knew I'd run into Hi-Technology
It was only a matter of time like centuries
Check the recipe or technique to how it sound so sweet
I freak with word power, my man speak with beats
If I could make it in New York, I figured anywhere I'd make it
Came to Cincinnati linked with Mood, and we did Sacred
Hi-Tek beats became my favorite
Hussle on the Side was the cut
We started to put songs together like 'What!'
Travelled the world, came back to the crib
And hit the motherland
Yeah, this year we put in work and got some other plans
In fact, that's where I'll take the fam 
when the Reflection joint is done
By the time you hear this, I'll be basking in African sun
Like Wow!
We made it
We here

(talking)
If you can talk you can sing
If you can walk you can dance
That's an old proverb from Zimbabwe
You know what I mean
If you can talk you can sing
If you can walk you can dance
Yeah, and the trumpet is blown
Yeah, alright, C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon
Alright, Wooh!

(talking)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, uh, one more time
Yo, anybody can tell you how it is
What we putting down right here is how it is and how it could be
Reflection Eternal for real
And with that-

These cats is no match
Plus they lack a certain knack for rapping
Chasing but they never catch the wagon
Like rerunning what's hap'ning
Since back when
They had potty issues and snotty tissues, we been rockin'
Think you poppin' next year nobody will miss you
My thoughts is too advanced for the artists on these labels
They come sweeter than sabal and softer than mashed potatoes
I tried to told you the rhymes run over emcees like Land Rovers
Took 'em back in time like Sam Kofa, Sam Kofa

We stand over the Atlantic, looking broad like a man's shoulders
The fire is trapped in a belly, ready to pop like canned soda
We outlasting, from middle passage
Touched down in New York
Cincinnatay! Big Ohio status what you thought
Money it's classic these bastards try to treat us like cattle
So life has been a constant battle, battle
Rising above the crabs in the barrel
Way too used to living in death's shadow
We stay on point like the best arrow, arrow
We hit the target accurate
Star shit, back it up
When we hit town, y'all niggas pack it up
That's how we get down, straight smash it up
Like a whip, hydroplaning
Hydro on the brain and maintaining
Game changing into subtle shit, we remain blatant
Yo, got to tell you to your face
You get replaced in this game, by Kweli
Place the face with the name
These cats drink champagne and toast to death and pain
Like slaves on a ship talking about who got the flyest chain

(talking)
Yo, we the reflection of our ancestors
We'd like to thank you for the building blocks you left us
Cause your spirit possessed us
Yo, you blessed us
Thank you very much (7x)

Yo, we the reflection of our ancestors
We'd like to thank you for the building blocks you left us
Cause your spirit possessed us
Yo, you blessed us
Thank you very much 
God bless you (7x)

f/ Rah Digga, Xzibit

[Rah Digga]
Yeh, check it out now (uhh uhh uhh)
Rah Digga y'all, Dirty Harriet (uhh!)
Kweli, Xzibit, new millenium! (C'mon, check it)

[all] One, two, three, four
[Rah] Grimy bitch stomp the bogey outside your front door (yeah)
Puffin on Goodie, eatin tuna and rye
Blow the spot with some old school shit from junior high (HEYYY!)
[all] One, two, three, four
[Rah] Jersey's finest in the house, punchlines and metaphors
Make your foul ice grill, thug grimy on the real
Puttin heads to bed like Hennessey and NyQuil

[Rah Digga]
Convertible style, still had the heat knockin
Bumpin shit from way back with my man beatboxin
Shootin the breeze - see I'm nice with these
You'll be suckin it down like fast food high-C's
Type of rap bitch that love underground classics
Gettin more green than that nigga St. Patrick
Makin wack rappers go and merc the set {*dial-up sounds*}
Better off behind a desk tryin to surf the net
cause I be adamant, kill 'em when my joints get added in
Worse than boric acid in your project cabinet
Dirty Harriet, increase the fanbases
Leavin non-writin cats stuck on the plantations
Mini-skirts with tights, eatin lunch with whites
Leave the party over here like they Israelites
Got Cali Brooks critics, Ta' Kwe'(??) Xzibit
Gonna rock shit down like he can't get no visits

[all] One, two, three, four
[T.K] Rock the whole world like the Rolling Stone tour (AH-AHHH!)
Raw your wack set is faker than a bomb threat
by a nervous terrorist who's so scared that his palms wet
[all] One, two, three, four
[T.K] The stuff legends are made of, urban folklore
Like Jim Morrison we break on through
Before I care about your take on me, we take on you

[Talib Kweli]
Yo, yo, yo
We bring it straight to your face from the start, yo
Rage Against the Machine, break it apart
Might be over your head, but it's straight from the heart
I show my love in the light while y'all hate in the dark
Straight to apocalypse is where I'm takin the art
Givin niggaz battle scars, ALWAYS makin my mark
You fakin the part of gangster, til niggaz break in your spot
You straight bitch whether I say it or not
Shit is hot, spittin flames on the track
Put our town's names on the map
from now until we fadin to black
Where we at? Thug rebels love metal clubs ghetto
when the slugs let go like Frankie Beverly
Forever we stack notes like the treasury, flow heavenly
Get you high on speech laced with obscenity
Niggaz be gassed like Cipher Sounds, and need rescue remedy
then fall the fuck off like limbs affected with leprosy

[all] One, two, three, four
[x2z] Why the fuck can't MC's MC no more?
Hardcore til somebody put me under the ground
With a dick in your ear, still couldn't fuck with my sound
[all] One, two, three, four
[x2z] Takin me straight to the weed spot, then to the liquor sto'
"Gimme Some Mo'" like Busta Bus', who do you trust?
Swingin through, your favorite neighborhood lush

[Xzibit]
I'm i-rate, usin your body for live bait
Xzibit rockin them heavy gems you can't take
Dilate, cock back the weight, spread hate
Heavy metal we settle and set shit straight
Hit gates in my younger days, from the policeman
Me and my clan used to dance thicker than quicksand
Supply and demand the hand is quicker than the eye
Find some chickens to fry, while you find it hard to stick to your lie
I see through the tricks, destroy the facade
Your little lungs is too weak to hotbox with God
Rah Digga, First Lady of the Flipmode Squad
Gotta be hard like a young nigga walkin the yard
For the first time, we ain't the niggaz you let shine
Expect mines to blow lines like coke everytime
I'm an Alkaholik nigga so I finish the fifth
You at the front door bitchin because you ain't on the list

It's like
[All] One, two, three, four..

Yeah (ohhhhhhh) hehehe (aight y'all, aight y'all..)
Yeah (here we go)

"The name of the game is.."

[Talib Kweli]
Persistance, dedication
Consistant, motivation, resistance to stagnation
of information, distribute it free to the entire population
No hesitation, makin it public
No privitazation from corporations
Today in order to be sane you gotta go crazy so remain
on top of the game, and master your universe like you was He-Man
See me and Hi Tek knock you out de frame
while I'm stimulatin de brain
in de "Train of Thought" that's the name
of the Reflection Eternal LP man!
Ain't nuttin new except organic produce that means that's free range
You might see me on MTV, BET, or still up on the D-train
It's just everybody else be seemin strange in they approach
I see these guys and read they eyes
Need to disguise and so I cloak
into a cloud of smoke, I brown a roach
to keep myself from soundin loc'
Destroy they hopes of hatin
Don't move aboard before they rock the boat
Yo it's not the dope, 
these snakes will come in peace to slit your throat
Give you compliments, with a promise yet
to get me heated and provoke me
to be rockin shit, shove apocalypse
down your esophagus so swallow that
Guess what you could be coppin that
N'kiru Books for fifteen dollars flat
Cats who spit knowledge on tracks
and get bumped out the back of Impalas and Cadillacs
All my live Cincinatti Bearcats holla back
Tomorrow they gonna wanna borrow raps like 
"C'mon black, I'll pay you back"
I ain't no lyrical ATM even though I'm nice and I'm a mack
Better believe that, leave that crack alone
And you see that there microphone
ain't no place to work your self-esteem issues
Do that shit when you alone!
Nigga you is grown, why is you still suckin on that pacifier
Quickly call that ass a liar, exposin you's my last desire
Olympic skills so pass the fire
I roll with niggaz that match attire
Black aware, that's filled with gas
but rollin on, flat ass tires
Yeahehehe, yo hehehe, yo, yo.. yo yo
Yo I got a special guest
Lil' Baby Tone Tone, tell 'em what's up
{?? indecipherable ??} Yo, true
Yo we bout to be, tell 'em peace out Tone
{Peace out} Yeah word word Baby Tone, what?
{Yeah what?}

f/ Kool G. Rap

[Talib Kweli]
These niggaz ain't thugs, the real thugs is the government
Don't matter if you independent, democrat or republican
Niggaz politickin the street, get into beef
Start blastin, now a new cat is executive chief
With a, passion for heat you get, blast in yo' seat
Die before you crash in yo' Jeep, never passin in your sleep
like an old man, you ain't a fool you got a whole plan
to conquer territories like Europeans who stole land
The future of your whole fam' hang in the balance
You the king, and your block is the palace
Y'all niggaz is the parliament, untouchable, spot unrushable
Keep your weight wet, call in collect to save a buck or two
Get mad, who the fuck are you? What you gonna do?
Exactly what I thought - NOTHIN, in the sport of frontin
you the undisputed champion, I'm in a class you can't be in
My words is flesh like Jesus, the aquarian

{*scratched* "Let's stop right here (??)"}
{"So you think that I'm a fool.."}
{"Ayy man.. (??)"}

Chorus: T. Kweli and Kool G. Rap

[T] It's just a chapter of the night, in the ghetto afterlife
Where you just seen or heard about or gonna have to fight
[K] Where they sacrifice the life and niggaz see flashes of light
When you trapped up in the heights but clappers aimin at the wife

[Talib Kweli]
Yeah, dudes gettin money is still thuggin
Chicks gettin money is still ghetto
Still livin the whole thuggish stilleto
Your team let the metal burst before you take an L
you raised in hell, let the dust settle first
Then you ask the question, snatchin the life of the innocent
Shit happens huh, a man's respected by his actions
It's the karma of the street, you try to meet the karma
while the karma sleep, yo it's deep, but the karma can't be beat
You don't know your enemy, so you fightin with yourself
Relate to rap niggaz cause they writin what you felt
You got top shelf connects you gettin seasoned like a veteran
We suck the venom out the snake bite, without the medicine
We benefit from niggaz in tenements, dyin for benjamins
So bad that they know they own coffin measurements
Ghetto eloquence, in the moment of truth, don't be hesistant
or fall victim to the element, word is bond

"So while y'all keep on fakin the funk,
we gonna keep on walkin through the darkness carryin our torches"
-> DJ Premier
{*scratched* "I'ma give-give-give it to-to you straight"
"Straight up and down!" -> DJ Premier

Chorus: T. Kweli and Kool G. Rap

[T] Just another chapter of the night, in the ghetto afterlife
Where you just seen or heard about or gonna have to fight
[K] Where they sacrifice the life and niggaz see flashes of light
When you trapped up in the heights but clappers aimin at the wife

[Kool G. Rap]
Niggaz get caught up in the struggle
End up in court in trouble, sportin a bubble
Ford azure bubble, importer smuggle, forcin a rumble
Hit the blocks with a portion to double
Flip and get tossed in the huddle
Police with one piece short of the puzzle
It's a hustle, peep the street life, they movin muscle
and the G's'll make your knees buckle
Tussle with heat until your feet stand in a pee puddle
Cheese double but all the speedy niggaz bleed puddles
Make the headlines; some try to escape the fed time
Phone taps on direct lines - tec-9's with the red shine
Jake climbin through the bedroom blinds
Tryin to bring you to your deadline, it's slippery when wet signs
Red time, wipe the sweat around your neck time
One shot spill out your red wine, rock shots to deafen your prime
Pieces of hot lead left in your mind
One slug to the left of your spine
Forever late to rest on the shrine

[Vinia Mojica]
I'm on my way..

Whether sunny or rain - I'm on my way..
Destiny is pre-ordained - I'm on my way..
Whether ecstasy or pain - I'm on my way..
I'm black and free from your chains - I'm on my way..

Whether sunny or rain - I'm on my way..
Destiny is pre-ordained - I'm on my way..
Whether ecstasy or pain - I'm on my way..
I'm black and free from your chains - I'm on my way..

{*harmonizing fades out*}

[Talib Kweli] 
Yo, we're going to have the word love 
In many different languages 
Translated all through the track. 
So, whenever you hear the word love 
Know that, it's going to be in a different language 
The language of love cannot be translated, yo 

Love is blind, you just see bright light 
You up in the club feelin' the night life, lookin' for the right type 
Blood rushing to your heart making it beat 
When she swept you off your feet and made it complete 
You know the plan you had to conquer the world 
Thinking you Scarface, looking for that perfect girl 
And now you found her 
Started with romantic, then got to frantic 
Then things thats normally small become gigantic 
Now y'all sinking like the Titanic here come the panic 
When Im with you like a habit without you I cant stand it 
It's tragic when you wonder when you lost that magic 
Without understanding that you never had it try to grab it 
In the bed can't get a nut off, communication cut off 
Getting mad cause you turned or wondering where she shut off 
Constantly comparing you to someone in my past 
We don't smile anymore, and we argue over cash 
Advance to that physical shit 
See what happens if you keep talkin 
See what happens if you lay a finger on me motherf... 
Yo, see what I'm sayin' 
It's like one big mind game that everybody playin' and 
Niggas say bitches is trife, bitches say niggas is 
We just don't understand our fundamental differences 
I'm still learning though, actually 
I just do what come naturally, naturally, naturally 

Chorus: 
(Indistinct) 

[Talib Kweli] 
Women thrive on emotions, men refuse to acknowledge 
So when we arguin' nobody win 
Words get in the way time and again 
Sticks and stones break your bones words break your heart 
Whether you in touch with that part or not say "word" 
Words are weapons for the revolutionary 
Used for evil make the situation very scary 
Word up, but love is brave 
It flies in the face of fear 
Yo, wherever you want to go love'll take you there 
Let's go, you know a flower that grow in the ghetto 
Know more about survival than the one from fresh meadows 
It got love for the sun, that's where I'm coming from 
Spit and it's smashing cause the love rockin' over drums 
Word, I put my love into my music 
If you with me then you love how I do it 
If my heart you're livin' in your ocean I'm swimmin' in 
Never drowning got me floatin' watching you in slow motion 
Love potion overdosin' approachin' 
The explosion of my senses everyday without your heart 
Is like a sentence in jail 
Trust I'll always be mentally free 
You got the key to let it out I'll show you how it could be 
Love,(you need that) it aint nothin' but a word 
A chicken aint nothin' but a bird 
Yo, yo, yo 

Chorus: 
(Indistinct) 

[Talib Kweli] 
Some of you love that material bug 
Love enter my life like a miracle and 
It reciprocal that's why I'm feeling you love 
We exibit our natural behavior 
Like making love under the moon in Jamaica 
Get you so hot you call the name of the creata 
The morning we hop back into action again 
Up on a wall love how the sun liking your skin 
Remember when we explored the beach 
Swam in the ocean and saw beneith 
How the colors of the coral reef looked like the illest floral peice 
That's what your beauty remind me of 
It's hard to find a love like ours, taking it high above 
Them other duns try to spit game but, I dont sweat it though 
Know in my heart that we connected so I let it go 
Now if they call you out your name and that's a different thing 
Anything but Queen I'll go to war like a King 
Your friends sweat you cause you aint got a band 
But they dont understand 
Some things is meant to stay between a woman and man 
And they hate Griffey too so they try to get into it 
Both you and me see through it so the way we flow is fluid 
We speak the love language, they speak from pain and anguish 
Some don't love theyselves so they perception is tainted 
Out the joint like "shit he paying for you and missing the point 
When you rubbed me into your skin just like an ointment..." 
Is more than pillow talk, it can't be translated 
But how to speak it, and become emancipated 
It's a language 

Universal love... 

Chorus: 
(Indistinct) 

Love love love love, love, love (Repeated)

(Instrumental)

(Kweli)

We do not (under no circumstances)
live for Hip-Hop (Hip-Hop)
It lives for us
we don't live for Hip-Hop (Hip-Hop), it
lives for us (repeat 3x)

It's the eternalist, y'all burn to this,
blaze da dro'
Soul rebels trap up, we got a long
way to go
Before this here blow like a volcano
we get eternal, this is what you
waitin' for,
you try to front and play the role
When you more like a pimp who pay
the ho
With my name up in your mouth like
fellatio
I lace the flow on purpose even up
the ratio
Of Hip-Hop to that shit they drop on
the radio
Underground classics is what they
used to say before
Now we break the surface quiet like
an alligator nose
They hate it, cuz they know if they
don't get it, then they may be slow
We still gonna blow like the horn
played by Horatio
The stakes is three feet high and
risin' like De La Soul
So I got Wonder Why, my man Dave
and Maseo
We all got babies so we embrace the
taste of dough
But y'all already know so I ain't gotta
say no mo'

(Chorus, Maseo)

De La is whatcha need, Reflection is
whatcha need
We got the masters of the
ceremonies,
blessin' emcees lip professin' emcees
From LI to Brooklyn to Cinncinnati, Hi-
Tek and Kweli got this on lock D
Let me hear you scream out loud if
you're somebody
Party to party, body to body,
when we come into the jam we do it
wildstyle

(Posdnous)
Yo! I'm homegrown for the bain, once
I rock the mic plain
It's the extravaganza we glad you
came,
made only for them heads, it's infra-
red Aim
For such a world figure, we got
figures to gain
(don't sleep on a nigga)
I ain't Icabod Crane get that ass
cooked hard cuz we raw like Kane
Been known to mic spit, infinite per
frame
While these girls throw me plenty like
jenny to jane
Ain't some old school G poppin'
memory lane, been on it future robotic
Since the day I came
If you don't know Plug Wonder Why
is my name
Most recognized leo with my size in
mane,
matter a fact track is simple and Plain,
Cuz the complexities I freeze is too
deep to detain,
Reflect, Kwa-Tone Tek eternally in
the game (and De La) oh fo' sho'
We be shinin' the same

(Chorus)

(Dave)
Y'all think these challengers is here to
make a man fold
Shoot I've been holdin' these joints
since I was yea old
Came to confirm the fact that I've
been on the payroll
Stay cold til one day make it hot and
fade old
Continue til I'm dyin, rottin' out gray
and old
I told them fool before they pass they
have to pay toll
While I've been sittin' at the table
eatin' steak whole, side of greens
Baby yams you know it stay soul, pre-
natal,
But they want to come spit your way
so,
so was I supposed to go and say no,
Right emcees some walking straight,
some take the gay stroll
I get my man to clamp they asses like
they staples
I'm from LI we take it far as out as
naples
And scrape hoes who'll be willing to
take clothes off (off)
See once you bet it all against
reflects eternal,
you lose every rapper on a dept
Y'all need to pay ya dues

(Chorus)

Yeah
Now here we go
Here we go (come on come on)
Now here we go
Here we go (come on come on)
Yeah

Stay strong this ain't for the plain hearted
My name's honored cause my style is insane retarded
Remain hottest from St. Marks to St. Thomas
Take game farther than the Putt-Putt planes chartered
The same artist who smoke rain forest will bang hardest
My brain smartest break a nigga like a lame promise
All city like train bombers
Check out the pictures we painted (yeah)
More colorful than Kelis naked
Your skills is least debated and your album least awaited
Even Big Tiger wouldn't let you in the basement
Face it y'all niggas face down with your legs kicking
They call your momma Roy Jones cause she raise chicken
Your down for the count like Rah Digga I'm straight spitting
Make pidgins say, "uh uh no they didn't"
Yes we did so god bless the kid yo
I got my own so I never stress his no

Chorus (repeat 1x)
In this journey you're the journal I'm the journalist
Am I eternal or an eternalist?
As soon as we showed up I sensed nervousness
As soon as we rolled up y'all burn to this

Here we go 
Come on
Yeah yeah (yeahhh)
Yeah yeah (yeah yeah come on)
Yeah yeah
Come on come on 

Yo we send this bullet straight towards your brain
We taking over like mores in Spain there's more to gain
Runaways get aboard the train (come on)
You can't ignore the pain (no)
When it come down like the pouring rain
Caught the train of thought and claim to cross the broad terrain
The cold weather break your spirit like a water main
I looked in your eyes and I saw the shame
Y'all don't know that a greatnest came before the chain
Till you can't imagine a future where this all could change
If one of us ain't free then we all to blame
So we attack each other fighting project wars and thang
It's all the same across the board we off again
You wanna sieve through that shit then you can call my name
Kweli I chopped it up like raw cocaine 
I drop jams in top ten I'm not for the fame
You wanna test and I bet you get wrecked like lost planes
Yo

Chorus (repeat 2x)

And there it is (yeah)
Yeah yeah (yeah yeah)
Come on 
Yeah yeah (yeah yeah)
Yeahh
Yeah yeah (yeah yeah)
Yo yo yo 
Say whaaat? Say what, say what, say what

I rock for the purest and I rock for the players
I rock for the fellas and I rock for the ladies (come on)
I rock for the elders and I rock for the babies (yeah)
I rhyme to the sirens that cry in the night (yeah)
Live on the mic even though I've been dying to write (yeah)
Since the day of flying a kite and ridding my bike (come on)
Open my eyes and keep the prize within my line of sight (yeah)
Cats dropped out of school to keep fiends high on the pipe (word)
Seem like that's the get away of trying to fight
The system thats based on trying to stop you from shinning your light
Dying in spite of getting rich
That's why I rhyme like a battle emcee
Battling the tragedies and fallacies
That be killing niggas quicker than infant mortality
They acting like whats going on now is distant reality
Behaving so casually that they become a casualty
Plus they don't wanna battle me anyway
They try to walk away but they stubble like Macy Gray
Cats hit the tunnel to rumble and say, "Hey DJ!"
Make me wonder why they call Sunday the lazy day

Chorus (repeat 2x)

Check me out

yeah yeah
yeah yeah
yeah yeah (fades)

Featuring Big Nel

(Big Nel) 
Let 'em know how we do it down in the C.O. 
we 'bout to get the thang started 
Know what I'm sayin'? The year 2000 

I'm 'bout to let these muthafuckas know, Big D representin' 
All the way from the C.O. 
Cinncinnati, Ohio - that's what it is 
Ay yo I'm givin' some shout-outs to my kids 
I'm just a real-ass nigga from the Natti I used to drive caddies 
And used to be a Pimp daddy 
And now I chill in the studio, roll wit' my niggas 
And we sippin' on Henny though 
Yeah, I like to smoke on the hydro 
Go to the club, might pick up a freaky ho 
Yeah, what's up my niggas? We doin' it like that 
While we in the bank countin' figures 
You know how we gettin' things started down here in the Natti 
You know, Come down here you kick it with me, Big D 
Y'know, ride out, get cloud out, smoked out, know what I'm sayin' 
Get things poppin' 
You know how we do it, got the forty fluid 
Know what I'm sayin', yeah, yeah

Featuring Piakhan & Supa Dav West

(Intro) 
Oh what's up everybody this is Rick James 
Talib Kweli, DJ Hi Tek, Reflection Eternal 

(Chorus) 
[Supa Dav West] 
We Make the Music That Change your life 
'Bout to touch you just right 
All night we gonna to shine the light 
'Bout to touch you just right 

[Piakhan] 
Piakhan floating on the mighty clouds of joy 
Building a future, yo, for my baby boy (uh huh) 
I moved form the hood yet the shit still in me 
And your opinion is nothing to me 
I have plenty like bein' out of prison 
With a roof over my dome 
And possessing the gift such as sparking the microphone 
Accumulate the provolone makin' it happen with Talib 
A Nattian cat we got em' snappin' Roberta Flackin' the track and 
Killin' em softly with out flossin' 
But yet the shine is glossy and 
the run the lyrical train through your brain shit 
Strategy pain, I'm on some Clubber Lane shit 
With the iron, ain't no use in you trying "I ain't lyin'" 
Through your ears mesmerize em' 
It's about time we started risin' 
Once again replace bullets with words, try to make it fun again 

(Chorus) w/ minor variations 

[Talib Kweli] 
if the put my life on the screen then its got to Be the IMAX 
I live large stroke your mind, till you reach climax 
Terrorist hijack on Hi Tek fly tracks front don't try that 
My niggas got my back, you gotta relax, ease back 
What's that all about with the feedback? 
All up in my mouth we don't need that, 
the asphault is the place to be at 
Where the people fire burn so bright you can see that believe that 
It ain't light music (no) 
We make the right music (true) 
Keep it tight music (yes) 
Affirmin' life music (come on) 

(Chorus) w/ minor variations 

[Talib Kweli] 
It's like girls got the bass all up in they hips 
My favorite part on the face is the shape of the lips 
Yeah I wanna touch you there (right there) 
Your mind is my concubine, when I deliver shivers up your spine 
Like the bread and wine, my brains embedded with rhymes 
That's ahead of they time, I rock the better design 
You cats ain't got the touch 
You all suck, like getting head from a dime 
I run up in em and, clutch em' if they tremblin' 
It's a rush like adrenaline, at a point break the joint shake 
When you play this (yeah), your crew is haters when they come 
Through with the newest/latest (like that) 
Reflection Eternal 
Shine light bright like the day till the sky turn purple 
And the moon arrive, reflection through the night 
That touch you just right 

(Bridge) 
[Talib Kweli] 
With the rhythm, the rhythm, God bless the rhythm 
It's the rhythm, rhythm; yes ya'll the rhythm 
Shorty on the dance floor giving me rhythm 
Hi Tek make ya'll nod ya'll neck to the rhythm 
And 

(Chorus) w/ minor variations (x2) 

[Talib Kweli] 
Uh yeah yeah yeah 
Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh (x2) 

Clap your hands everybody (x4)

"Good morning, Brook-nam"
Another stop... on the train
(wake up... wake up... wake up...)
We come to a stop that everybody
got to make...
Whether you local or express

[Talib Kweli]
What's the meanin of ghettofabulous
Not ridin the back of the bus
I'm a revolutionary antagonist
Some playas is mad at us for just doin
our music out of love
Some underground heads is hatin
cause we have fun at clubs
I'm probably on some government list
for my rhymin
You a fool if you don't think they
already tapped your line
Medicine is big business so my
remedies is herbal
It's music is for the people so we
Reflection Eternal
Listen, you hear the difference
between science and science fiction
We blow it out like if you leave on
every appliance in the kitchen
at once; still rolling kind bud in Cuban
blunts
On the corner watchin how kids
comin to Brooklyn for they fronts
Niggas run past what they need
chasing after what they want
Fuckin chumps, you walk down the
street and get jumped
Brooklyn cats like to bubble out of
town no lookin back
When you a ghetto chef you
mastered the art of cookin crack
Some get caught sleepin on the
Mother City so when they go
They come back as tales of niggas
we used to know
Never looked up to see the stars in all
they heavenly glory
Just straight ahead cause the
peripheral is buildings with mad stories
Not floors but dramas is played out,
shorties get laid out
like respect and fade out like TV sets
into the banks of our memories (let it
be) we'll never forget you
Lyin on your deathbed askin for God
to bless you

[Hook: Talib Kweli]
Good mourning, good afternoon,
good night
What have you done with your life?
Everybody time comes to be
embraced by the light
You only scared to die when you ain't
livin right, man
I'm puttin up a hellafied fight
{*Hi Tek scratch: "Stay awake to the
ways of the world"*}

[Talib Kweli]
I need you all to be clear on exactly
what I'm sayin
With your attention span I understand
that I ain't playin
You mistaken if you somehow think
it's just me you facin
Starin me down while your enemy is
standin adjacent
My heart is racin but I know just what
I stand for
We chasin death carelessly like
+Jessica+, I +Care Moore+
Who said, "Just because no one can
understand how you speak
don't necessarily mean that what you
be sayin is deep"
In case you die in your sleep you ask
the Lord for a blessin
Sometimes they sneak up so quiet
that the silence is deafenin
You'll never know who the assassin is
until it's your time to go
Your life is flashin, askin for
forgiveness but you move too slow
Now the people that you love bear
the pain that you once harbored
You was livin for yourself so you
could never be a martyr
Life is hard, death is harder; you
somebody baby father
Someone's lover, son of your mother,
somebody brother
Somebody nigga, now your spirit in
the air like a whisper
Hearin your name mentioned when
we pourin out some liquor
The days go by quicker and the
nights don't seem to differ
It's gettin cold, so I shivered and
asked my soul to be delivered

[Hook: Talib Kweli]
Good mourning, good afternoon,
good night
What have you done with your life?
Everybody time comes to be
embraced by the light
You only scared to die when you ain't
livin right, man
I'm puttin up a hellafied fight
{*Hi Tek scratch: "Stay awake to the
ways of the world"*}

[Talib Kweli]
Yo, the time come for everybody..
It ain't somethin you can really
prepare for

Yo, yo, Mad Duke, rock rock on and
Curtis Mayfield, rock rock on and
Grover Washington, rock rock on
and
My Aunt Hazel, rock rock on and
Big L, rock rock on and
Freaky Tah rock rock on and
Jerome Green, rock rock on and
Slang Ton, rock rock on and
We celebrate life.. {*echoes*}

(Instrumental)

[Talib Kweli] (Spoken) 
Yea, so we got this tune called "For Women" right 
Originally, it was by Nina Simone 
She said it was inspired by, you know 
Down south. In the south, they used to call her Mother Antie 
She said No Mrs. 
Just Antie 
She said if anybody ever called her Antie 
she'd burn the whole goddamn place down 
I'm over past that 
Coming into the new millenium, we can't forget our elders 

[Talib Kweli] 
I got off the 2 train in Brooklyn on my way to a session 
Said let me help this woman up the stairs before I get to steppin' 
We got in a conversation she said she a 107 
Just her presence was a blessing and her essence was a lesson 
She had her head wrapped 
And long dreads that peeked out the back 
Like antenna to help her get a sense of where she was at, imagine that 
Livin' a century, the strenght of her memories 
Felt like an angel had been sent to me 
She lived from nigger to colored to negro to black 
To afro then african-american and right back to nigger 
You figure she'd be bitter in the twilight 
But she alright, cuz she done sseen the circle of life yo 
Her skin was black like it was packed with melanin 
Back in the days of slaves she packin' like Harriet Tubman 
Her arms are long and she moves like song 
Feet with corns, hand with callouses 
But her heart is warm and her hair is wooly 
And it attract a lot of energy even negative 
She gotta dead that the head wrap is her remedy 
Her back is strong and she far from a vagabond 
This is the back of the masters' whip used to crack upon 
Strong enough to take all the pain, that's been 
Inflicted again and again and again and again and flipped 
It to the love for her children nothing else matters 
What do they call her? They call her aunt Sara. 

Woman singing in the background 

[Talib Kweli] (+ Background Vocals) 
I know a girl with a name as beautiful as the rain 
Her face is the same but she suffers an unusual pain 
Seems she only deals with losers who be usin' them games 
Chasin' the real brothers away like she confused in the brain 
She tried to get it where she fit in 
on that American Dream mission paid tuition 
For the receipt to find out her history was missing and started flippin 
Seeing the world through very different eyes 
People askin' her what she'll do when it comes time to chose sides 
Yo, her skin is yellow, it's like her face is blond word is bond 
And her hair is long and straight just like sleeping beauty 
See, she truly feels like she belong in 2 worlds 
And that she can't relate to other girls 
Her father was rich and white still livin' with his wife 
But he forced himself on her mother late one night 
They call it rape that's right and now she take flight 
Through life with hate and spite inside her mind 
That keep her up to the break of light a lot of times 
(I gotta find myself) (3X) 
She had to remind herself 
They called her Safronia the unwanted seed 
Blood still blue in her vein and still red when she bleeds 
(Don't, don't, don't hurt me again) (8X) 

[Talib Kweli] (+ Background Vocals) 
Teenage lovers sit on the stoops up in Harlem 
Holdin' hands under the Apollo marquis dreamin of stardom 
Since they was born the streets is watchin' and schemin' 
And now it got them generations facin' deseases 
That don't kill you they just got problems 
and complications that get you first 
Yo, it's getting worse, when children hide the fact that they pregnant 
Cuz they scared of giving birth 
How will I feed this baby? 
How will I survive, how will this baby shine? 
Daddy dead from crack in '85, mommy dead from AIDS in '89 
At 14 the baby hit the same streets they became her master 
The children of the enslaved, they grow a little faster 
They bodies become adult 
While they keepin' the thoughts of a child her arrival 
Into womanhood was heemed up by her survival 
Now she 25, barely grown out her own 
Doin' whatever it takes strippin', workin' out on the block 
Up on the phone, talkin' about 
(my skin is tan like the front of your hand) 
(And my hair...) 
(Well my hair's alright whatever way I want to fix it, 
it's alright it's fine) 
(But my hips, these sweet hips of mine invite you daddy) 
(And when I fix my lips my mouth is like wine) 
(Take a sip don't be shy, tonight I wanna be your lady) 
(I ain't too good for your Mercedes, but first you got to pay me) 
(You better quit with all the question, sugar who's little girl am I) 
(Why I'm yours if you got enough money to buy) 
(You better stop with the compliments we running out of time,) 
(You wanna talk whatever we could do that it's your dime) 
(From Harlem's from where I came, don't worry about my name,) 
(Up on one-two-five they call me sweet thang) 

Scratches + Woman singing in the background 

[Talib Kweli] (+ Background Vocals) 
A daughter come up in Georgia, ripe and ready to plant seeds, 
Left the plantation when she saw a sign even thought she can't read 
It came from God and when life get hard she always speak to him, 
She'd rather kill her babies than let the master get to 'em, 
She on the run up north to get across that Mason-Dixon 
In church she learned how to be patient and keep wishin', 
The promise of eternal life after death for those that God bless 
She swears the next baby she'll have will breathe a free breath 
and get milk from a free breast, 
And love beeing alive, 
otherwise they'll have to give up being themselves to survive, 
Being maids, cleaning ladies, maybe teachers or college graduates, nurses, housewives, prostitutes, and drug addicts 
Some will grow to be old women, some will die before they born, 
They'll be mothers, and lovers who inspire and make songs, 
(But me, my skin is brown and my manner is tough,) 
(Like the love I give my babies when the rainbow's enuff,) 
(I'll kill the first muthafucka that mess with me, I never bluff) 
(I ain't got time to lie, my life has been much too rough,) 
(Still running with barefeet, I ain't got nothin' but my soul,) 
(Freedom is the ultimate goal, 
life and death is small on the whole, in many ways) 
(I'm awfully bitter these days 
'cuz the only parents God gave me, they were slaves,) 
(And it crippled me, I got the destiny of a casualty,) 
(But I live through my babies and I change my reality) 
(Maybe one day I'll ride back to Georgia on a train,) 
(Folks 'round there call me Peaches, I guess that's my name.)