[Talib Kweli]

Yo Dee (What?)

Come on (Yeah..)

What? What? Come on

(Yeah)



"Give me the fortune, keep the fame," said my man Louis

I agreed, know what he mean because we live the truest lie

I asked him why we follow the law of the bluest eye

He looked at me, he thought about it

Was like, "I'm clueless, why?"

The question was rhetorical, the answer is horrible

Our morals are out of place and got our lives full of sorrow

And so tomorrow comin later than usual

Waitin' on someone to pity us

While we findin beauty in the hideous

They say money's the root of all evil but I can't tell

YouknowhatImean, pesos, francs, yens, cowrie shells, dollar bills

Or is it the mindstate that's ill?

Creating crime rates to fill the new prisons they build

Over money and religion there's more blood to spill

The wounds of slaves in cotton fields that never heal

What's the deal?

A lot of cats who buy records are straight broke

But my language universal they be recitin my quotes

While R&B singers hit bad notes, we rock the boat

of thought, that my man Louis' statements just provoked

Caught up, in conversations of our personal worth

Brought up, through endangered species status on the planet Earth

Survival tactics means, bustin gats to prove you hard

Your firearms are too short to box with God

Without faith, all of that is illusionary

Raise my son, no vindication of manhood necessary



[M.D.] Not strong

[T.K.] Only aggressive

[M.D.] Not free

[T.K.] We only licensed

[M.D.] Not compassioniate, only polite

[T.K.] Now who the nicest?

[M.D.] Not good but well behaved

[T.K.] Chasin after death

so we can call ourselves brave?

[M.D.] Still livin like mental slaves

[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life

Illusions of oasis makin you look twice

[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life

Illusions of oasis makin you look twice



[Mos Def]

Yo, I'm sure that everbody out listenin agree

That everything you see ain't really how it be

A lot of jokers out runnin in place, chasin the style

Be a lot goin on beneath the empty smile

Most cats in my area be lovin the hysteria

Synthesized surface conceals the interior

America, land of opportunity, mirages and camoflauges

More than usually -- speakin loudly, sayin nothin

You confusin me, you losin me

Your game is twisted, want me enlisted -- in your usary

Foolishly, most men join the ranks cluelessly

Buffoonishly accept the deception, believe the perception

Reflection rarely seen across the surface of the lookin glass

Walkin the street, wonderin who they be lookin past

Lookin gassed with them imported designer shades on

Stars shine bright, but the light -- rarely stays on

Same song, just remixed, different arrangement

Put you on a yacht but they won't call it a slaveship

Strangeness, you don't control this, you barely hold this

Screamin brand new, when they just sanitized the old shit

Suppose it's, just another clever Jedi mind trick

That they been runnin across stars through all the time with

I find it's distressin, there's never no in-between

We either niggaz or Kings

We either bitches or Queens

The deadly ritual seems immersed, in the perverse

Full of short attention spans, short tempers, and short skirts

Long barrel automatics released in short bursts

The length of black life is treated with short worth

Get yours first, them other niggaz secondary

That type of illin that be fillin up the cemetary

This life is temporary but the soul is eternal

Separate the real from the lie, let me learn you

Not strong, only aggressive, cause the power ain't directed

That's why, we are subjected to the will of the oppressive

Not free, we only licensed

Not live, we just excitin

Cause the captors.. own the masters.. to what we writin

Not compassionate, only polite, we well trained

Our sincerity's rehearsed in stage, it's just a game

Not good, but well behaved cause the ca-me-ra survey

most of the things that we think, do, or say

We chasin after death just to call ourselves brave

But everyday, next man meet with the grave

I give a damn if any fam' recall my legacy

I'm tryin to live life in the sight of God's memory

Like that y'all



[Mos Def]

A lot of people don't understand the true criteria of things

Can't just accept the appearance

Have to get the true essence



[Talib Kweli]

They ain't lookin around



[M.D.] Not strong

[T.K.] Only aggressive

[M.D.] Not free

[T.K.] We only licensed

[M.D.] Not compassioniate, only polite

[T.K.] Now who the nicest?

[M.D.] Not good but well behaved

[T.K.] Chasin after death

so we can call ourselves brave?

[M.D.] Still livin like mental slaves

[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life

Illusions of oasis makin you look twice

[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life

Illusions of oasis makin you look twice

[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life

Illusions of oasis makin you look twice

[both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life

Illusions of oasis makin you look twice



[Mos Def (singing)]

Stop hidin, stop hidin, stop hidin your face

Stop hidin, stop hidin, cause ain't no hiding place

* repeat 2X*



(Ad libs to fade)