Talib Kweli
"Respiration"

"What'd you do last night?"
"We did umm, two whole
cars
It was me, Dez, and Main
Three right?
And on the first car in small
letters it said
'All you see is..' and then
you know
big, big, you know some
block silver letters
that said '..crime in the
city' right?"
"It just took up the whole car?"
"Yeah yeah, it was a whole
car and shit..."

[spanish speaking woman]
Escuchela.. la ciudad respirando
(translation of spanish: Listen to it..
the city breathing)
(3x)

[spanish speaking woman]
Escuchela..

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

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

[Talib Kweli]
Breathin in deep city breaths, sittin on
shitty steps
we stoop to new lows, hell froze the
night the city slept
The beast crept through concrete
jungles
communicatin with one another
And ghetto birds where waters fall
from the hydrants to the gutters
The beast walk the beats, but the
beats we be makin
You on the wrong side of the track,
lookin visibly shaken
Taken them plungers, plungin to
death that's painted by the numbers
with Krylon applied pressure, cats is
playin God
but havin children by a lesser baby
mother but fuck it
we played against each other like
puppets, swearin you got pull
when the only pull you got is the wool
over your eyes
Gettin knowledge in jail like a blessing
in disguise
Look in the skies for God, what you
see besides the smog
is broken dreams flying away on the
wings of the obscene
Thoughts that people put in the air
Places where you could get murdered
over a glare
But everything is fair
It's a paradox we call reality
So keepin it real will make you
casualty of abnormal normality
Killers Born Naturally like, Mickey and
Mallory
Not knowing the ways'll get you
capped like an NBA salary
Some cats be emceeing to illustrate
what we be seeing
Hard to be a spiritual being when shit
is shakin what you believe in
For trees to grow in Brooklyn, seeds
need to be planted
I'm asking if y'all feel me AND THE
CROWD LEFT ME STRANDED
My blood pressure boiled and rose,
cause New York niggaz
actin spoiled at shows, to the winners
the spoils go
I take the L, transfer to the 2, head to
the gates
New York life type trife the Roman
Empire state

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

[spanish speaking woman]
Escuchela.. respirando ??

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

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