You say one for the treble,
two for the time
Come on, y'all, let's rock this
You say one for the treble,
two for the time
Come on
Speech is my hammer,
bang the world into shape
Now let it fall (huh)
My restlessness is my nemesis It's hard to really
chill and sit still
Com mitted to page, I write a rhyme
Sometimes won't finish for days
Scrutinize my literature,
from the large to the miniature
I mathematically administer
Subtract the wack
Selector, wheel it back,
I'm feeling that
(Ha ha ha) from the core to
the perimeter black
You know the motto
"Stay fluid even in staccato"
(Mos Def) full blooded, full throttle
Breathe deep inside the drum hollow
There's the hum,
young man where you from?
Brooklyn number one
Native son,
speaking in the native tongue
I got my eyes on tomorrow
(there it is)
While you still tryna find where it is
I'm on the Ave where it lives and dies
Violently but silently
Shine so vibrantly that
eyes squint to catch a glimpse
Embrace the bass with
my dark ink fingertips
Used to speak the king's English
But caught a rash on my lips
So now my chat just like dis
Long range from the base-line (swish)
Move like an apparition
Low to the ground with ammunition
(chi-chi-chi-baow)
Move from the gate,
voice cued on your tape
Putting food on your plate
Many crews can relate
Who choosing your fate? Yo
We went from picking cotton
To chain gang line chopping
To B-Bopping
To Hip-Hopping
Blues Blues people got the
blue chip stock option
Invisible man,
got the whole world watching
(Where ya at?) I'm high, low, East,
West, all over your map
I'm getting big props,
with this thing called Hip Hop
Where you can either get paid
or get shot
When your product in stock
The fair-weather friends
friends flock
When your chart position drop
Then the phone calls
Chill for a minute
Let's see who else tops
Snatch your shelf spot
Don't gas yourself akh'
The industry just a better built cell block
A long way from the shell tops
And the bells that L rocked
Rock (rock), rock (rock), rock (rock),
rock (rock)
Rock, rock (ha), rock, rock
out of court settlement,
ad space for liquor
Sick without benefits (huh)
Luxury tenements choking
the skyline
It's low life getting
tree-top high (top high)
It is a back water remedy
Bitter intent to memory,
a class E felony
Facing the death penalty (huh)
Stimulant and sedative,
original repetitive
Violently competitive,
a school unaccredited (there it is)
The break beats you get broken with
On time and inappropriate
Hip Hop went from selling
crack to smoking it
Medicine for loneliness
Remind me of Thelonius and Dizzy
Boppers to B-Boys getting
busy
The war-time snap snap shot
The working man's jack-pot
A A two dollar snack box
Sold beneath the crack spot
Olympic sponsor of the black
Glock
Gold medalist in the back shot
From the sovereign state
of the have-nots
Where Where farmers have trouble
with cash crops (huh)
It's all city like Phase 2
Hip Hop will simply amaze you
Praise you, pay you
Do whatever you say do
But, black, it can't save you
Mos Def 
