Definition

(Album: Black Star - 1998)

Hello everybody, recording live from somewhere

Lord, Lord have mercy
All nice an' peace an' true, follow me now, we say
Say, "Hi-Tek, yes, you're ruling hip hop"
Say, "J. Rawls, yes, you're ruling hip hop"
Redefinition, say, "You're ruling hip hop"
Say, "Black Star, come to rock it"

Yo, from the first to the last of it, delivery is passionate
The whole an' not the half of it, vocals an' not the math of it
Projectile that them blasted with, accurate assassin shit
Me an' Kweli close like Bethlehem an' Nazareth

After this you be pressing rewind on top your master disk
Shining like an asterisk, for all those that be gathering
Connecting like a round house, from the townhouse to the tenements
'Cause all my Brooklyn residents, [Incomprehensible] heavy regiments

Don't believe, here the evidence, where Brooklyn, see that?
Bound to take it all kid, believe that
From where they selling tree at, to where the police be at
Talib Kweli, E.Kwelity, yo' tell them where we be at

Brooklyn, New York City where they paint murals of Biggie
In cash, we trust 'cause it's ghetto fabulous, life look pretty
What a pity, blunts is still fifty cents, it's intense
Tree scents is dominant, can't be covered with incense

My presence felt, my name is Kweli from the Eternal Reflection
People thinking MC is short hand for 'Mis Conception'
Let me meditate, set it straight, came to the conclusion
That most of these cats is featherweight, let me demonstrate

Walking the streets is like battling, be careful with your body
You must know Karate or think your soul is 'Bulletproof' like Sade
Stop acting like a bitch already, be a visionary
An' maybe you can see your name in the column of obituary

Third rate teacher reading an' talkin about, "I knew he'd amount to nothin'"
Neighbors like, "He was the quiet type
Who'd have thought they was frontin'?"
Talking loud like you in R.C.A, get carted away
With body parts an' trays, what a way to start your day, yo, it's like

One, two, three
Mos Def an' Talib Kweli
We came to rock it on to the tip top
Best alliance in hip hop, why oh

I said one, two, three
It's kinda dangerous to be a emcee
They shot Tupac an' Biggie
Too much violence in hip hop, why oh

I said Manhattan keep on making it, Brooklyn keep on taking it
So relax we're taking it back, Redhook, where we're living at
Plenty cats be struggling not hustling an' bubbling
It ain't about production an' what else we discussin'?

When the cock crows, my crop grows, enable me to rock flows
Striving for perfection ever since I was a snot nosed
Colossal, true original B. Boy apostle
Standing on the rooftop with the Zulu Gestapo

You think you the shit, somebody in the wings'll force you to quit
It could be your crew or click
Or some random kid you smoked Buddha with
Consider me the entity within the industry
Without a history of spitting the epitome, of stupidity

Living my life, expressing my liberty, it gotta be done properly
My name is in the middle of E.Kwelity
People follow me an' other cats, they hear him flow
An' assume I'm the real one with lyrics like I'm Cyrano

Still sipping, wishing well, water imported from Pluto
Three hundred an' sixty milliliters for all our believers
In miles or kilometers, most cats, cannot proceed us
In the jungle with the leaders, we the lions, you the cheetahs

A Cypher will complete us, if we come through your receivers
You can play us an' repeat us an' then take us home an' read us
Line for line, good Jesus, Mos Def an' Kweli
Just make a pussy freeze up, thinking of it ease up

One, two, three
Mos Def an' Talib Kweli
We came to rock it on to the tip top
Best alliance in hip hop, why oh

I said one, two, three
It's kinda dangerous to be a emcee
They shot Tupac an' Biggie
Hold your head when the beat drop, why oh