Talib Kweli Album

(w/ Madlib)

[Talib Kweli]
Okay...
Okay, I'm only gettin it on one side of the headphone
Aight~! Yeh, bring it in like...

Five somethin in the mornin goin on six
It's daylight, sunrise time
Time to free yo'self... free yo' soul, free yo' mind
Ladies, free that ass... yeah!
Coast to coast it's the most, we don't brag and boast
We just leave 'em comatose
It's your boy Talib Kweli, yeah!

Flow is tight, though I got a couple screws looses
It's cuckoo, my rep in this game is bigger than Bruce Bruce
Who you? Your name smaller than fine grains in couscous
It's the highest calibre, your calibre is deuce deuce
SHOOT~! Y'all niggaz can't hang like a loose noose
I get on stage, niggaz in my ear like a Bluetooth
And that's the triple truth Ruth, they lips is loose like
they seen your lovedaddy in the bulletproof blue Coupe
My rhymes is full of truth, and the business full of lies
Try to look a Masai kid in his eyes for the flies
and tell him how he fucked up our environment daily
The only thing we know about Africa is from Nas or Belly
But go off like a Hutu or Tutsi, from Rwanda or Burundi
Over drums like Babatunde Olatunji
Sayin nigga just to keep our teeth white, like Paul Mooney
Fightin spiritual wars, like the Shi'ite or the Sunni
Yo~! Our music went from tap dance to the lapdance
Try to get me to sell out and that's a fat chance
You see black faces in my rap pages
Larry Davis, Angela Davis or Ossie Davis

Yeah, welcome to the show, it's Talib Kweli, so amazin
Live from California it's the Madlib invasion, let's GO~!

This exercise in freedom is called the "Liberation"
I keep it fly by a process of elimination
When it come to payin the kid, sometimes it's hesitation
'Til I make 'em check it in like they got reservations
But there ain't no reservations about coppin this
Even though it's free for the people there ain't no stoppin this
Poppin fresh, cakin up, I'm breakin up the, monotonous flow
that can't write or plant life like a botanist grow
a new crop and just roll, it up, blow it out whoa
Excuse the cockiness though, I'm just showin out - know
you can't go without this, now what'chu know about that?
Now what'chu know about... now what'chu know about... {*to fade*}

(w/ Madlib)

[Talib Kweli]
Yeah
Ladies, make it hot, girls, make it hot {*3X*}

Mr. International, passport pimpin
City street dweller every asphault different
Hittin with Jean and The Roots, my man Black Thought rippin
Now a glass goes whistlin, my rap flow's switchin up
Wait~! The promoter bitchin, is this asshole trippin?
Why my cash flow missin?
Don't fuck around this is how I make a livin
Stop, listen, get the guap'
My kids can't eat my love for hip-hop
This ain't the circus, I don't see no big top
So - who ya tryin to clown your money like Chris Rock
Don't make me laugh wit'cha funny money

Yeah, uhh, yeah, hehehehehe, ehyeah, yo

These promoters shady and they good for broken promises
Some of them scared of the hood so they only promote the colleges
I'm havin problems with excuses
Especially when it comes to my money and the contract is exclusive
They sell the tickets wit'cha name up in lights an' shit
But when it's time to pay they came up with all type of shit
Or tried to pay me in marijuana
The crowd was so thin he blamed Osama and the Twin Tower bombers
In my pocket like a thief and there ain't no honor
Livin all reckless like there ain't no karma
You ain't on punishment, I ain't your momma
I just had to expose the truth like Leonardo DaVinci when he paint Madonna

Hey, hey heyyyy, c'mon, uhh, whoa

Illegal business control America
Illegal immigration, gun control hysteria
The war on terror, war on drug, now everybody have vices
So we still gettin higher than gas prices
Yeah we have righteous MC's, ready to infilitrate
the system like a disease and bring it right to its knees
Who ain't fuckin with the pay for play, that shit is gay
Get down with Blacksmith or get the fuck out the way
E'rything's straight! Just get out from under the table
I'm not a pimp runnin a stable
I'm a kid with a vision runnin a label
With the freshest MC's with somethin to say too
We cuttin the umbilical cord from the navel
Willin and able to change the game for the better
A lot of crews claim they together
Then they fall apart and blame it on cheddar
Please~! I stay professional in all my endeavors
So we about to blow like Parliament in "V for Vendetta"
They try to get you with the funny money

(w/ Madlib)

"Well I'm impressed most of all with the serene mood.
A lack of comprehen..."
{"I can dig it man, right on right on~! I know what'chu sayin baby.
These folks that come here, have invested, a lot of credit
in havin a - fine time, when the time is right - baby."}
{*"WHAT TIME IS IT! WHAT TIME IS IT! WHAT TIME IS IT! WHAT TIME IS IT!"*)

[Talib Kweli]
Yeah, the time is right for me to find a mic
The crowd is tight, the lab ac' ain't workin right
But I'ma get it done, even if we gotta fight
I ain't goin out like that, no not tonight
Yo let me get a mic check
This my prayer for y'all niggaz cause the game ain't got no life left
Came in with Mos Def and Hi-Tek
And that's my family dawg, they might catch the last gasp of my breath
And rest in peace to my nigga Dilla
My mind into real estate like a bigger villa
Your rhymes are cheaper than gas in Jersey
Before you leave the state you know you got to fill up
Matter fact, put your schwag back, cause I got the realest
If not the killer then I ain't smokin
I'm not buyin off the street or be askin 'em what kind you growin
You can't flush it is cause the kind is floatin
Kids be eyein totin open defyin mothers that's cryin oceans
It's Sin City without the Clive Owen
I keep it fresh, these rappers staler than a big of chips you findin open
Let's take our time and, have a silent moment
It's like I'm jokin, I get 'em open like multiple lines are snorted
They snortin I'm spittin flames; nigga the flow'll blowtorch ya
I'm on fire so they always try to put me out
Flatbush all day but they don't know what my hood about
I'm so good without your props and accolades
Crackin like whips on the back of slaves, spittin on the master's grave
I'm tighter than 'yette's braids, y'all niggaz are "Tenderheaded"
Just cause I ain't you as my friend yet, then forget it
SHEESH~! Y'all niggaz are sensitive
That's really me on that shit, not a representative
Nuttin pretend or fake, many came and went, tryin to imitate
That's the quickest way to disintegrate
It's cause I innovate, my shit hardly assimilate
Still I'm bringin "SexyBack" like Timbaland and Timberlake
I don't stop, I never hesitate
Plus it don't start 'til I arrive and so I'm never late
The time is right get it straight
The time is right get it straight... c'mon!

I'm so slick it's slide when you ride with it
Like the Y kitted, do or die with it like the Stuy in it
Fly with it, +Do or Die+ with like the Chi in it
Live the life of Riley like my nigga from Guy, shit... {*fades out*}

(feat. Consequence)

[Various samples]

[Hook:]
Just wait outside and keep the engine runnin
Just wait outside and keep the engine runnin
And don't make a move unless the wartime's comin
And just wait outside and keep the engine runnin man
Just wait outside and keep the engine runnin
Just wait outside and keep the engine runnin
And don't make a move unless the wartime's comin
And just wait outside and keep the engine runnin, runnin

[Verse 1: Consequence]
Man, my pops won't let me drive until the law says that I'm able
But since he fell asleep and left his keys up on the table
I figured I'd be able to snatch em without permission
And he be out cold and never find out they was missin
So I did just that and got the car up out the driveway
Then hit up Pat and we was headed toward highway
But made one stop to get some Newports and Coroners
Before we checked these chicks that we had New out and Coroner
But at the turn of corner in this bad part of town
We see this nigga Rell and he's flaggin us down
Then he walked up on the car, asked me and Pat "What's poppin? "
Then jumped in the backseat before I got the chance to lock it
Asked me if could we drop him even though we going elsewhere
But what poked from his shirt gave me concerns for my welfare
Cause even though his belt's there, the tech's on his waist
And he made us stop the car at the check-cashing place
Then threw a mask on his face like MF Doom
Cause there's enough cash in the safe to buy a new Lex soon
And his tone was rather smooth when he said, "Don't make a muscle move"
Cause 'til I get inside the only thing I wanting y'all to do is

[Hook]

[Verse 2: Talib Kweli]
Top shotters got the block hotter than Jamaican sun
You taste it on your tongue, the shots is stronger than Jamaican rum
Rain and a few the apple tongue, the big ratchets, they packin em
They argue when they leavin they over cause they'll be back again
Trapped with the clackers, tonight is blacker than the pistol grip
They let off over little shit and chill for a little bit
Hop in my hoopty, gotta stop for a Lucy
Butter crunch and the dutch, grab the clutch, bump a juicy
The nigga BIG can move me cause the shit be like a movie
Plus I live in Brooklyn like the old donees and Roodie
Plus Sandra Evanesce left my cash on the dresser
Cause the ATM machine at the check casher next to
Da bodega, I pulled up in the back, a Acura runnin
The cats in the car looked like disaster was comin
Niggas buggin thinkin somethin was wrong, I played the corner
I always keep the gat like DMX in Arizona
In the corner of my cornea, I see the one time California
Slang for cops and they comin by cruisin
The niggas in the ledger pealed out
The people in the check-casher spot spilled out
On the street, their faces looking like a child has been abused
Here come this nigga with a gun lookin wild and confused
Put it together, I'm like "These niggas"
The cop shot me in the back and then I heard him say, "Freeze nigga"

[Hook]

Hahaaah
Uh, uh, yeah feel that for a second
I ain't even gon say shit for a couple of seconds
Gonna let you feel that for a second
It's Madlib like
Yeah, what you know about that?
The era of the bullshit is over
It's the year of the Blacksmith
Kweli, aiyyo, aiyyo

[Verse 1:]
Aiyyo, we need some new leaders
Politicians is lying, now artists is true divas
They meant to deceive us, they were sent to defeat us
Everybody in here shot his peers through the speakers
Guerrilla tactics, I'm a find a weapon, drop a rhyme or
Find a session, give you a final lesson in your final seconds
Liberation ain't the illest vinyl pressing?
Yeah right, and the government ain't lying about 911
Find me repping Brooklyn on the daily, what the dealy?
Questioning my teachers like "Oh, really? " so they feel me
Based on fraudulent facts as they practice like O'Reilly
Making me a hero for the class to come behind me
It's collusive like your newest sneakers, ain't you glad you waited?
This year I graduated, y'all niggas is super seniors
Stay getting left behind, this the year of the Blacksmith
Liberation clearly a classic

[Hook: x2]
People want to live it up, what, what's your drug of choice?
What, what, give it up, what, let me hook it up
Over the counter intelligence got ya hooked
You's a gonna when I'm on the corner selling it

[Verse 2:]
Cats after the pot of gold like the luck of the Irish
I don't fuck with silly broads, I only fuck with the flyest
What they saying, stop playing, they delaying the plane
Usually I'm late and they saying my name over the loud speaker (Talib Kweli)
The turbulence will make you find Jesus
I took a train from Brussels to Antwerp, the cops find pieces
Don't get it twisted, London got dime pieces
We stopping in Amsterdam for top of the line reefers
Trying to get to Egypt for the pyramids in Giza
Got me tripping like Cameron Diaz in Tanzania
A family guy on a grind, still we up heed her
I'm using poetic licence like onomatopoeia
Headed to Philadelphia, I'm yelling out "Free Mumia"
CDs selling like nuclear weapons in North Korea
Madlib, Talib Kweli, we off the meter
To start a fight, I'm coursing your life, the talk is cheaper

[Hook x2]

[Verse 3:]
Yeah, yeah
This the Liberation, rhyming is my occupation
Occupation of a nation, drop the population
From creating self-esteem, plus the stream of consciousness
When I got it into being I helped to free the populace
Bred to black, green to black is wrapped around a magazine
Under pressure said the freshman at Cheshire academy
Kicked out of Brooklyn Tech, focusing on looking fresh
Bright kid accepted to the schools that only took the best
Bounce like a check, yes, without no hesitation
I went to college, then I left, that's when I got my education
Still live my regrets, now how I'll would I be with a degree?
Use would just a piece of paper to me, a receipt
One day I might go back, shit, who am I kidding?
How can I live a stupid decision?
Get used to the prison that I built for myself
It's all real, true in lividness so I rap to put food in the kitchen, c'mon

[Hook x2]

Feel the man, the Liberation

(feat. Strong Arm Steady)

[Talib Kweli:]
One, two, three and the place to be
You got the almighty Talib Kweli, BK emcee
It's the international rockin' with Madlib
We got the Strong Arm Steady gang and the place to be
We got Chace Infinite, Self Scientific and the place to be, word

[Hook:]
Blacksmith is running through your function
No need for interruptions or discussions, no
Welcome to a Madlib production
We listenin; but y'all really sayin' nothin, ' no

[Talib Kweli:]
I try to say the most just to say the least
I try to stay the coast while I slay the beast
I'm bout to say my piece, you listenin' to Rita's voice
Speakin' is the people's choice, Blacksmith is
The return of the black fist, that's quiet
That's it, it's the black star shout out to black
Bonte give me a call the next time you watch the VMA's
I'll be right there with the whole rock steady gang
Or making a fucking logistical nightmare
My nigga's is right here at the speed of light yea
Soon as I send the signal out after the night air
The sound that we makin' got them quakin' in they Nik' airs
We don't fight fair I'll make your shit crash
Quit yellin' whiplash you bitch ass (nigga)
Mad cause I'm faster and I hit the gas quicker
My squad cut like a glass of liquor, pass that

[Phil the Agony:]
No matter the cost, we back at it, gat at your boss
Shoot to kill, splatter with force
Air force bubblin' blitz this shit
Fire like two sticks rubbing like this
No tricks nothing is fake I'mma ride
What you want thin ice where you skate? When them niggas hate
I'mma say beat break shake it off
Focus on what's important, but take a loss
Force the hand this is Strong Arm feeding you
We're beating you, cut a nigga short like an interlude
Bars anonymous, I promise you this
One line will make you famous like Travis and shit
It's the S.A.S, you are now rocking with the best
All them other rappers lied to you (nigga)
Yes, yes, it's still west, west
With my east coast, polly, Kweli, you got a problem with me

[Chace Infinite:]
Steady Gang running the game, it won't change
Back to the days with Jordan's and gold chains
Fistful of dollars fucking future top models
Through the knowledge but we still poppin' bottles
Pushing like full throttle on the Interstate trunk full
Of product just to make a nigga's dinner plate
Gotta get this money for my daughter's sake, and I
Smoke a lot of weed and plus a nigga gotta say (what)
Fresher than a motherfuckin' mannequin, you get
The point like we was playing pickle with a couple javelins
Gimme a reason to stop speaking and
Start niggas bleedin' in the mid Los Angeles region
We the niggas that believe in lacerations and lesions
Niggas wanna dick and get it this evenin'
Earn a song James Lionel grain greedy geniuses
Y'all niggas is mysteries nothin' but phantom menaces
And we the niggas y'all love to hate
But see the homies from the east just raise the stakes
And we gonna get it in a major way
Blacksmith is the label strong arm is the game

[Krondon:]
Shawshank charmaleon six pack benatall [? ]
Weeping in the bank watching Robin Hood withdraw
Young orangutan gettin' niggas knocked off
You hall ass and get a trip to see Lou Rawls
I pour Henny from jewelry in my jacket like linen
You don't think I got the hustle in me
Roll with the real resis' you retarded
And winky is not the shit he just farted
One trip you motionless you understand the kid got close
And we can get rich, the rice stay broke
King Tut chrome in the cut like macuricone
Take off your head like the N.O. Superdome
The blacker the better, the greener the cheddar
We the new Dream Team smoking more green (nigga)
Jihad jinkins liberating like Abe Lincoln
Dizzling dumbing out minkin

[Hook x2]

(feat. Candice Anderson)

I'm feelin' free, let's go

[Chorus:]
This, ha - ppy home [x4]

Back in the day when the bus was less than three quarters
Lloyd met Beverly and took her out to Sweet Waters
"Boy what a looker" he thought, "Let me court her"
He musta been a playa cause she popped out three daughters
Brenda the oldest by herself for a little while
That's 'til Joanne showed up she was the middle child
Then came Loretta next she was a little wild
Beverly was fly so her daughters had a little style
Brenda the first in the family to go to college
The dreams of being properly addressed as doctor
Insert the name of the man who gonna sweep her off her feet
In a heartbeat sharper than shark's teeth
Just 'cause a brother say he love you don't make it so
So when she was lookin' for suitors she had to take it slow
Someone to run fingers through her Angela Davis 'fro
And dedicate herself to like songs on the radio
The ratio of black men to black woman at this college is preposterous
If you a scholar you already know
So she decided she should focus on her studies
She couldn't have boyfriends, she could have buddies
When she get out on her own she can bring men home
But there was one in particular breakin' out the friend zone
It's déjà vu the way this came to me
And it explain how I came to be
I'm from

[Chorus]

Yeah
Back in the days it was hard for black actors
They had to lighten they skin with makeup like Max Factor
My grandfather Stan wasn't +Nothin' But a Man+
He fell in love with Jivote so he took her by the hand
They had two sons, Stanley and Perry
They go together like Brandy and Sherry or Coke and Mary and Barry
Simply put they don't always get along
They used to travel as a family doing shows singing songs
But this was through the Segregated South
And before someone got punched in they segregated mouth, Perry was out
Livin' like a hippie in the sixties, Pop's chillin
Headin' to The Village to see Bob Dylan, when he was top billin'
But Perry was not feelin' complete, he had to get on his feet
He said, "God willin', I can get into this school, that's smarter for real
Plus I got this draft card in the mail"
The champ said, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong"
Momma leanin them 'cause[? ] they shootin' blacks, faggots, and Catholics
People bleedin' on TV is so tragic
Creatin' the catalyst for the people to get active
Got into NYU and took classes
The world was changing he knew he couldn't look past this
Who knew goin' to school would make him want to give his name to a girl
And have children that would change the world

[Chorus]

Back in the day we used to barbeque a little beach
Bit up cause I got the sweet blood that mosquitoes eat
My cousin Warren used to hook up the speakers each Fourth of July
We can meet and my people be listening to 'BLS, KISS FM Mastermix
Some dopes pass the fifth we watchin' fireworks after this
Momma bought the biscuits, everything is all delicious as usual
It's beautiful we all can kick it
Touch football we get in the huddle and the twins steady get into trouble
Me and Lebema[? ] blowin' the bubbles, little Lloyd such a happy little boy
It can rain, it can pour, ain't nothin' gonna kill his joy
Jamal playing in the pool or well playin' it cool
Times is hard but we makin' it through
I'm taking you through the scene of the family reu'
The family tree no matter what I'm standin' with you
Insanity? Please, jail time, death is trouble
Through the stress and the mess and to Der[? ] I love you
I go out in the world and represent the family name
It used to hang on people from a tree like a candy cane
Now I'm standing on the shoulders of my ancestors
And I'm throwing up the sign of the times like hand gestures
And no matter, where in the world, in Rome I get the money and always bring it back to

[Chorus]

(w/ Madlib)

[Talib Kweli]
Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-Madlib invasion - music please!

[female singer]
Music, it makes me feel so good
Early in the morning it makes me, feel like I'm open
And I'm strollin
There are times that, the music, it just, it just lets me unwind
I said
Music makes you love, it make you feel, it make it true, it makes it real
It can make you move
It can make you mewl or pray or stare into yourself until you hear the voice
And I, hear the voice inside
It's a celebration, yeah
It's a celebration, I hear music

[male singer]
There are times I wanna give up
Then I remember this gift, that God has given to me
He's living through me
You see the vision through me...
Music make you love, it make you feel, it make it true, it make it real
It can make you move
It can make you mewl or pray or stare into yourself until you hear the voice
And I, hear the voice inside

[female singer]
It's a celebration, yeah yeah
It's a celebration, that never let me down
It makes me feel so good
Early in the morning it makes me, feel so like I'm just floatin
and strollin, there are times that
The music just lets me unwind
MUSIC~!

[Verse 1: Sample - Talib Kweli]
(Swim in the ocean
And thoughts remain to sail on the sea, yeah
What can I do, but what can I do)
Yo, I try to get it here, get it there, everywhere
(What can I do, but what can I do)
So I spit it clear, persevere, interfere
With the status quo the baddest flow throughout the hemisphere
There ain't no pretenders here, only real men is here
If you see a chick she down to ride like she wanna veer
Better yet the Queen of Sheba, Aretha, Queen Latifah
I'm the boss like Aneisha Reefa

[female:]
Boss? You ain't my boss? Baby
You don't run shit up in here
I don't know who the hell you think talkin to
I'm gonna take that shit and bounce
I don't know who the hell you think you are
I ain't got no boss

See I call her baby like she 3 years old
When she fully grown so these dudes is pullin' on
She in the club like a stone cover, fully blown
Speaking in the girly tone even though you got a attitude
I can't stay mad at you

[Chorus:]
(We'll have our quarrels,) word (and you will upset me,
Tell me what can I do, but what can I do)
Nothin', cause if I said that I don't need you I was frontin' so
(What can I do, but what can I do)
Nothing, every time you said you leavin' you was bluffin'

[Verse 2:]
Back in the days I had dreads like Lil Jon
And got numbers armed with nothin' but a pen and a little charm
Everything I'm saying be littered with observation
So I stand up for the dudes with limited conversation
You looking at a star, it's all in the constellation

[female:]
Haha. You ain't no star
Haha you losing your mind
I don't know who told you that shit

She tried to tie me up but she can't tie me down
She ain't never cried a tear but she cryin' now
She tried to leave me, coming back 'cause she can't forget me
I gotta be strong so she can't disrespect me

[Chorus 2:]
(We'll have our quarrels), word
(and you will upset me, tell me what can I do, but what can I do)
Uh uh uh uh yea
(What can I do, but what can I do)
Uh uh uh yea
Let's, let's go uh
Let's, let's go uh