Let's go Bismillah Welcome to the Black Star Joy and Pain, coin of the realm, both sides Racks Such powerful current could make tears touch the eyes Facts Grace and every morning God opened up mine aligned, Hamdulillah We all on notice that any next moment could be the last time you stand on this side Slow down son you're killing em but only the phony because the real don't die On god All good for all hoods and palaces Poised throughout triumphs or challenges Top rank duppy conqueror skank, And the balance don't break for any large or small bank balances The parable of the talented, each generation the wonders and the wealth of all nations is really chump change once you take into consideration The living revelation that no soul could escape from So go on let a sucka say something Cuz even when they saying something they ain't saying much I refrain from retorts and just pray for em Stay away from em roll thru or rise rays on em Bang! Shine like gamma Bey on em Shalillah live from Bedford Stuyvesant the livest one the king said "uh" And even when we die we will not stay dead and I said what I said so there it is The light is not afraid of the dark at all That part Black Star I wanna thank you for helping me reach the understanding That time is relative and the truth is everlasting I wanna thank you for helping me reach the understanding That time is relative cuz the truth is everlasting thats on god Black star embassy setting it on fire Getting paid independent like cinema noveau Logging these travels in my journal like Robinson Crusoe Nom de plume no Daniel Defoe encyclopedia brittanica flow, The gravity to pull a planet straight insanity that Buss open your canteloupe flow We the lions where the antelope roam Brooklyn botanical gardens had stick up artists with they hands in they coat Give up to goods or they hand on your throats that’s all she wrote But now we woke right I’m making it plain I talk to em Dissecting all the doors of perception I walk thru them They think I’m arguing I’m not talking to Em I talk thru em Way too many garbage humans they raw sewage Ashes to ashes and dust to dust We gon bash us some fascists and fuck them up This the Parable of the talented powerful is the caliber Birthday is a holiday mark it down on your calendars YouTube they feeding us thru a catheter Bout to holla at yasiin and move to Africa Spectacular bars assassinate your character brooklyn got the best rappers per capita No lies detected You pull it out you better fire the weapon measure influence by the lives affected, writing records getting high for breakfast crash by lunch but I’ll survive the wreckage By dinner time I was aligned cuz I received the message Heeded the lesson cuz I needed a blessing Gave up the glory, the liars and thieves made up a story I Stood up for the people I ain’t wait til they came for me Solidarity and that’s on god I wanna thank you for helping me reach the understanding That time is relative and the truth is everlasting I wanna thank you for helping me reach the understanding That time is relative cuz the truth is everlasting

[Intro: Yasiin Bey] Haha Bey Bey Bey Yasiin, Yasiin, Yasiin [Verse 1: Yasiin Bey] Sharper than a straight razor shave Cooler than the steel, I put the blade to a point It's worldwide currency, they wishing well coins It's high fidelity, bang, they speaker leak noise And not at Chuck D level, y'all at petite level Have gun do travel spread love beat devils Walk soft and carry the cro magnum Science club will smash them to soft brainy fragments? Breathe fire, spit smoke, blow away ashes Smarten up, dumbass, this ain't bum class Atmosphere above that, you can't touch that Rеal, forever real, thеy could hate it or love that It's bigger than hip-hop, hypes, and wicked government Brooklyn award-winning, and not-give-a-f*ckingest? You in it for the most sucker-ish, dummiest No getting love in this, some real riders up in this beyotch Dudes more bitch than bitch Reeboks They arms can't box the Bey seven three ahks? These dudes dope and this detox Turkey wing clean up your act, you wack like crack, ha I been a lot and I will never be that I got the right and exact and a trap for the rats The liars and the saps, the posers and the hacks Land mine, mainline, your spine goes snap, Bey Vanglorious, phantasmagoria Crack-panned all y'all? each and every all of you Whoever you can call, then you better start calling 'em Then call the coroner, white drapes for all of you's Greatest ain't greater than, strongest ain't strong enough Biggest ain't bigger than a real small portion of The legendary trillatary top rank officer Get lost, big boss, this boss is bossier Chip on your shoulder, I'ma knock it right off you Bey, torpedo, blast smash the ego Sniper on the range, sniper bang 'nuff, reload RPG to get free power people, brrap One clip and they evil, done with Talking like they want trouble and really want **** They probably wanna trick like a skier on the strip Get money in your midst snuff a b*tch? (Hey) kill a pimp Loudmouth rhetoricals and ain't said * You can talk 'til you die and you ain't said this Unless you repeating the phrase of y'all beesiest? Seventeen verse of the twenty-fifth Ezekiel Lethal, let us pray 'fore they soldier these suckers [Verse 2: Talib Kweli] Aight, we back motherfucker Yeah, January, February, marching with the people 'April, may I have a Black Star sequel?' said the black caucus June, July, to black August September to October you find me where Black Thought is November when we come for that office The black POTUS The black lotus flower fall in December, go ask the weatherman Colder than the winter wind, day after December 10 We celebrating Yasiin birthday Brooklyn, New York City, that's the scene of my birthplace I'm so on top of this bopping thru metropolitan frolicking with the populous topplin' all the charlatans My songs acknowledge the heroes that need honoring I promise we demolishing all Confederate monuments I'm noticing how these Nazis become Congressmen It's softer than some Moccasins and way faker than collagen It doesn't matter if they scholars who got doctorates Or hiding behind fake names like Tommy Robinson, I'm bombing 'em Plus the sleeve is monogram if I die I'll come back and perform as a hologram Can't tell if it's a boy or a girl, get a sonogram My name is floating up and down the ave like dollar vans Fam, my syrup is maple leaf Eatin' falafel in Morocco Im packin' the straight hashish In the pipe as I pass it I'm stabbing these fake emcees So sharp I'm making 'em bleed, god half of them make believe I come from a place of peace but they only respect the violence You get arrested for domestic silence Rappers is vampires, we the Lycans Even the Vikings no match against attacks from the conquering lions Bring it together like a hyphen, cuz liars testing my patience Never stopping cuz my parents ain't never had a vacation Relocating, looking at places along the ocean Smoking trees under trees as shady as rap promoters, calamities slash catastrophe, add an apostrophe, your whole philosophy is mediocrity Atrocities committed in the name of owning property, monopolies That's my hypotheses [Outro] Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin Amin

TALIB Chasity all locked up Feelings linger but the finger all rocked up I drop a jewel like your niece name Breaking up all the bed frames til the police came This the Black star liner like Marcus the cargo Is All the star dust that we spark up They say the target is the vegan chics w the tofu It’s hard tho this the shit the gangstas smoke to You taking up all the space that’s left in my heart Now I'm Waking up to a world you breaking apart You trust the papers they say I’m known for breaking the hearts Has god forsaken us or cuz it’s worth it he’s making it hard When we make love You speak in colors you canvas I’m paintbrush You get submissive but aggressive when you say something Poking like a needle under skin when you take blood These other chics man they faker than a lace front The eyes is the window to the soul but it’s caked up Sad face clowning but the cover it with make up They keep hating cuz the good fortune favor us You hear this beat it’s like this mufucka made for us YASIIN Perfect match duet One said I'm too noble for simple love Said the other have you ever been noble enough But never mind clever fool I love you still Just to feel your tender touch trying to crush my will See it's the moments like these you remember to breathe Forget the scenery and remember to flee Forget the magic remember the sleeve Soft cloaks and dangerous charms And the truth too wide for the blinds to hide Finding solace in the thought that the light is not afraid of the dark that part The kids light a spark that's art Don't be confused you won't put me to the screws Bey do what Bey do Beneath the sun and moon Even what's fresh is nothing new feeling great How are you Sweet heart sweet heart sweet hard sweet odd sweat heart

Cocaine cracked devil honkytonk Trailer park trash can trap house Off top all black everything Tmt fuck white supremacy Mental illness Bring the noise break the gentle stillness The trap door an insidious cat call Your equivalency is false no need for the back and forth The belief you superior to the darker races Just means you inferior and live in darker places Gods amazing we artists this ain’t a product placement huh Love is a spiritual technology I give it up to god when they clap for me I love to give credit where the credit due It’s beautiful as the struggle faced by the destitute We celebrate diversity with carnivals and festivals Too big to fail, I grab the bull by the horns and wag the dog by the tail The OG’s is in jail and the millennials for sale Am I dreaming or do our demons have tentacles and scales huh 5 White supremacy automatically gone against us huh Your third eye is the point of entry huh Automatic like a reply From a hipster Automatic as the pointer sisters Huh Try to conquer us with the pestilence huh That’s as common as black excellence huh They rewarded for mediocrity huh I ain’t begging for my equality no Automatic causing static This a trust exercise Like falling backwards Gotta trust we your guys and we gonna catch ya I see the lust in your eyes for the rapture yup Kweli - pass that pass that pass that pass that Yasiin - Automatic, automatic, automatic, Automatic, automatic automatic automatic Huh automatic as an automatic ha or automatic as a meditation ha Automatic as a Trail of Tears ha alright this way triumph feel huh (?) The road so dark be the light ha Said the light onto the dark road ha The light is not afraid that part ha Gang gang variation theme team ha The local dream time always ha The address on spectrum road aha From the rivers of the true and real ha (it's a trap I'm sure of it) Sin sober sensation ah ha (?) Sweating on a hot template ha Tiny cell panaroma huh Silencer of the clarion call huh Wave forms and bird songs ah ha Recognition is invitation ha (?) Grace a gift you shouldn't earn ha (?) Thanks again report to work huh Not for free freedom huh How you mean, ask yourself huh Look to everything that you desire Look at the condition that it's put you in ha Do the honest math, pass the figures ha Pass the fixers friendly neighbor ha (?) Freshest labor, Mary's native huh (?) Local time all ages Forever is a current event (the future) Life on this side is quick quick (Im talking about now now) Trade trick, sorcerer, insecure, synonym Frankenstein trying to get it strange ha (?) Ain't the source matter strange enough? Ha I heard Dilla say turn it up! Ha I heard him twice when he said it first And that's automatic automatic automatic Automatic Automatic Everything is not for sale, everybody pays the price Yasiin and Talib - Cocaine cracker devil honkytonk Trailer park trash can trap house Off top all black everything TMT f**k white supremacy TMT TMT TMT TMT TMT TMT TMT TMT TMT TMT what's white supremacy

Talib Verse Shots fired You say your block is like the wire I am not inspired Real G try to stop the violence they not aspiring to live in Food desserts lacking proper diets I start a riot every time I voice the unheard Rhyming in the rough til the diamond got unearthed Old earths like that boy got some nerve White liberals feigning concern We Born in killer hospitals with doctors who would abuse us Carried box cutters there were other popular uses At the hardware store a buck fifty went a long way Fat caps for the krylon paint Wait you feeling froggy then leap like amphibians Evolutionary this apeshit you simian Revolutionary and flyer than cloud city and Superman to man wearing capes like calrissian Toxic see how they marketing carcinogens Got them African dancing like aunt Vivian Jamaicans to Haitians Puerto Rican’s Dominicans Trini’s and the Bajans cuz Brooklyn’s like the Caribbean The Birds chirp I get it straight from the source now Gentrification the neighbors is getting tossed out My crew all city your name just get crossed out

They're afraid his children will be like him, and if he's giving the white world hell, what will his children do? This wasn't no play thing. The motive is that the seed of a man chosen by God must not be wasted. Runaway, that’s the plan live above the grave None is safe, I see the pain on a mothers face A ton of grace is what she showed as they took away her first born, she didn’t break she didn’t look away Because of race, they said her life wasn’t valuable But that was fake they said her womb create capital But that was rape, they say because she black that it’s impossible To be racist but they assume that racism is logical we know better we know meadows no rose petals Hiding in the shadows like Wesley Snipes in Mo Betta They play oppression olympics looking for gold medals we don’t settle You know a long time ago being crazy meant something, nowadays everybody's crazy On... Keep On, Float On, No Fear Of Time Float On... Float Ladies and gentlemen, know what I'm saying? A message from the ancient future, a fresh fossil A piece of the buried gospel that the earth refused to swallow A seed grown to a tall tree, long sleeves Bright fruit leaning off the leaves, warm breeze Live from the summit of the incline And this is been everything beside a short ride Marks of greatness, battle scars and bruises Sceneries of clarity, classes of confusion Live from the summit of the incline And this has been everything besides a short climb We done survived and thrived in what others have died in Bed Stuy do or die, so do as what I did Get it on git'r done, another one another one Banging Madlibber drum, you could feel the difference Where they get their rhythm from the tipping point T-O-P Black Star reconvene the boulevard or Van Green (?) The Kings County keep creating kings, who make amazing and creative things So give thanks for the elegant raw the elemental is sharp God gave us the design and we assembled the Ark and just float Nowadays everybody's crazy On, Keep On, Float, On... no fear of time Float On... Float, it was water then, but it's fire next, that's a promise not a threat Everybody had to think about what was possible for a Black artist, you know, within the international, the mainstream scene, and uh, I mean that opening was there because of hiphop I wanna thank you for helping me reach the understanding Doors cracked open a little bit, the people downtown we're looking for some new energy and they were already feeling it from just the presence of kids from Brooklyn I wanna thank you for helping me reach the understanding, yea Being downtown, being in the East Village, the had the same kind of impact that the jazz cats had I wanna thank you for helping me reach the understanding And they were coming with a new culture, a culture that was new, that was dynamic, that was sophisticated I wanna thank you for helping me reach the understanding, yea The albums were theory books, they're guide books too I wanna thank you for helping me reach the understanding When they were fourteen, fifteen, they grabbed onto this thing, so they learned all that material I wanna thank you for helping me reach the understanding, yea You know, I mean one of them things we know about MCs is man they just have phenomenal memories