Released: October 30, 2020

Featuring: Lenny Kravitz

Songwriter: PJ Common Karriem Riggins Isaiah Sharkey

Producer: Karriem Riggins

[Verse 1]
Wa-da-da, wa-da-da-da-da
Cassius Clay in a [?]
Shake my mind and shake the things that trap the grind
Escape the dream, shooting star my aim is supreme
Pac said if you're gon' aim for king, claim a king
My brainstorm reign supreme
Black superhero with a cape and wings
Still, I'm a G like a mason ring
Built with gods and gangstas whose scars in faces
Traces of racist snakes that debased us
Tried to freebase us, mark of the beast erase us
But we raised up from East Asia
Children of Mother Nature
The minority the courts said that we major and we major
I see greater to the fire nеxt time
It's burning down, there's a riot in my mind

[Chorus: Lenny Kravitz]
It's a war outsidе
When it's quiet, it's a riot in my mind
It's a war outside
Won't be quiet, it's a riot in my mind

Gotta get it in, saddle up
If you really about it, we gon' see, oh yeah
Gotta get it in, time is up
If you been about it, we gon' see, oh yeah

It's a war outside
Can't be quiet, it's a riot in my mind

[Verse 2]
Paraphernalia, aware like songs by Mahalia
Soldier, buffalo, Griselda
Held the scolded, told us every [?] is in seven plagues Babylon
Treated days were the Gatorades
Escapades of the everlasting
Where the ghetto praise, fuck compassion, no longer masking
Where Black men and Black women have been art, culture, fashion
The science and mad bling, dramatic attraction, we live for action
Moral arc backbend, our spirits attacking
To the, to the, tick-tick-tick top
You can lick shots, strange fruit get cropped
Get land, get stores, kick doors and sure your family is good
Plus the people next door
Some are tired about the times, some are inspired about the times
Is what power is refined, it's a riot in my mind

[Chorus: Lenny Kravitz]
It's a war outside
When it's quiet, it's a riot in my mind
It's a war outside
Won't be quiet, it's a riot in my mind

Gotta get it in, saddle up
If you really about it, we gon' see, oh yeah
Gotta get it in, time is up
If you been about it, we gon' see, oh yeah

It's a war outside
Can't be quiet, it's a riot in my mind

[Outro]
Nation against nation, simulation, indication (It's a war, it's a war)
Nation against nation, simulation, innovation (It's a war)
Generation, vindication, vindication, vindication

Common

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. (born March 13, 1972), better known by his stage name Common (previously Common Sense), is a Grammy and Oscar-winning rapper and actor from Chicago, Illinois. Common’s inspired mix of poetic flow and hip-hop soul has helped him earn his status as one of the most respected rappers in the game.

After being a ball boy for his hometown Chicago Bulls as a teen and attending Florida A&M University for business administration, Common Sense kicked in and he left school to become a rapper. He gained national attention after being featured in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source magazine in 1991. He released his debut album Can I Borrow a Dollar? through Relativity Records in 1992, followed by his breakthrough second album Resurrection in 1994, which features his hip-hop classic single “I Used To Love H.E.R.”

As his career began to take off, he was sued by the music group Common Sense over the name, leading Common to drop the “Sense” and allude to the change in the title of his third album, One Day It’ll All Make Sense (1997). He has released several critically acclaimed albums, including Like Water For Chocolate (2000), which features his J Dilla-produced hit single “The Light”, and Be (2005), which was released under fellow Chicago musician Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint. He also joined musicians Karriem Riggins and Robert Glasper to form the group August Greene, and the trio released their self-titled album in 2018.