Talib Kweli
"Manifesto"

Manifesto, this is what we want to
see happen
for my peoples still breakin graf writin
and rappin
I rock the mic right and exact my life's
my sacrifice
Take my mic and I'm like a Chinese
man with no rice
Oh yeah we flippin through the pages
of time, to find design
Like Vaseline on the faces of Black
Georgia, we shinin
Deeper than petroleum jelly, we in the
air like conversations
on celly and just appear like stretch
marks on bellies
after givin birth you had to let go, you
playin for life
The Manifesto, here comes the beat
because I said so keep pushin
I got the cushion for the seat of your
soul
Back in the day they stole our smile,
so we clothe our teeth in gold
and we frontin, from nigga to kid, to
Son of God
It's wild dependin on labels for man
woman and child
My style just is, all that's seen and all
that's heard
God gave us music so we play with
our words
So when Tek be in constant
meditation like a monk
while Kweli speaks in tongues to get
your intellect drunk
yo we bound to take over the 90% of
your brain that you ain't usin
To us it's life or death we keep you
chosin

(Chorus)
Every shook eye ain't seen, every
goodbye ain't gone
Ain't no rest for the weary yo forever
it's on
The Manifesto, establishes a hip-hop
order
Movin upon the face of the water,
like Reflections

Aiyyo all the real MC's can meet me
outside
So we can decide how we gonna
change the tide
like the moon we on the Earth takin a
ride around the Sun
Now Son we only just begun, and the
journey's far from done
We all miss you, what your brain gone
fishin like Walter Mosley?
There's an MC that can hold me,
supposedly?
No one could come close to me, only,
the family really know me
Hip-Hop's last hope like Obi Wan
Kenobi
Through your tunnel vision I'm shinin
light like a train
Comin out like earthworms when it
rains, bringin it
like the C.I.A. be bringin in crack
cocaine bailin out of planes
with the George Bush connections, I
push Reflection
like I'm sellin izm, like a dealer buildin
the system
Supply and the demand it's all
capitalism
Niggaz don't sell crack cause they
like to see blacks smoke
Niggaz sell crack cause they broke,
my battle lyrics
get concious minds provoked and
ghetto passes revoked
cause we surrounded by the evil, you
know that the people's minds
is feeble they believe in it, even if it
don't make sense
This makin dollars shit, don't take a
scholar to
see what's goin on around you, either
you widdit or you ain't
is what it comes down to, have you
forgotten?
We pickin 100% designer name
brand cotton
They still plottin, my Third Eye is
steady watchin

(Chorus)
Every shook eye ain't seen, every
goodbye ain't gone
Ain't no rest for the weary yo forever
it's on
The Manifesto, establishes a hip-hop
order
Movin upon the face of the water,
like Reflections

(Yeah see that's what I'm talkin
about, it be the slaughter man
We need to break it down because
these heads
they don't know what they talkin
about
Frontin all this nonsense, yo break it
down)

From open mics to solutions I got a
collage of answers
and a ten point program, just like the
Black Panthers
One: First respect yourself as an artist
If you don't respect yourself then your
rhymes is garbage
Two: Make sure your crew is as tight
as you
cause when them niggaz fallin off
they gonna bring you down too
Three: Understand the meaning of
MC
The power to Move the Crowd like
Moses split the seas
Four: Know your shit and don't ever
be blunted
If you don't know what your words
mean then your rhymes mean nothin
Five: Kick facts in the raps, and curse
with clarity
What's a curse when language is
immersed in vulgarity
Six: We gonna fix industrial poli-tricks
Shit they made an artform out of ridin
dicks
Seven: We soldiers for God needin
new recruits
So if you rhymin for the loot then
youse a prostitute
but Eight: Acknowledge that you
need food on your plate
In order to say your grace make sure
your business is straight
Nine: We buildin black minds with
intelligence
and when you freestyle, keep the
subject matter relevant
Ten: Every MC grab a pen
and write some concious lyrics to tell
the children
I'll say it again, every MC find you a
pen
And drop some concious shit for our
children
The Manifesto!