Featuring: Talib Kweli
Songwriter: Mr. Khaliyl Talib Kweli
Producer: Mr. Khaliyl
[Talib Kweli]
Yeah, yeah, YEAH!
Y'all already know what it is, this is fam
Yo, Brooklyn raise up (come on)
Uptown raise up, Queens
Staten Island, the Boogie Down
[Chorus: Mr. Khaliyl (Talib Kweli)]
Aiyyo some people die for it (And some live it)
Some people snatch what they can (And some give it)
It's not how you play the game (It's how much you win)
Fuck the wages of sin, we gon' hustle
(We don't get by) We multiply
(We don't settle for less) We take the whole pie
(Don't gamble, we invest) Cause the stakes is high
(Whether we live or we die, we gon' hustle)
[Talib Kweli]
You all comfy when shit is paid up, like the car note or your rent
Look out you broke, and now you got more Hustle than Larry Flynt
Diggin up dirt on politicians when you got no pot to piss in
Sellin watches for commission, with fake rocks that don't glistin
Holdin up a block position, been a lot of options
For you to get in, stop the bitchin!
You just ain't makin no hot decisions - where the blood clot?
Look how many gold-diggers the clubs got
If you ain't up on the hustle, find yourself doin the bus-stop
Or the train station, with the change, waitin for a metro card
Petrified, cuz once you get the dough to let go is hard
I'm a vet though and it's odd to see these new cats splurgin
Industry virgins think money make 'em a better person
Sign to ya mans label, which is under a label, under a parent label
Apparently you ain't even able to sit down at the table
You ain't braggin about seein the dough
You braggin about bein a ho
Don't be mad at me, be mad at'cha boys
I just thought you needed to know
[Chorus]
[Mr. Khaliyl]
Yo, they try to gas me up (gas me up)
But I don't fall for the flattery
Just keep the people charged like assault with a battery
Now your mad at me, and your squad wanna battle me
Cuz every line I spit, got a money-back guarantee
With a lifetime warranty, just keep the receipt
Universe is passing moments, but my world is the street
They can't dance and when they hustle, they trip over they feet
They tryna make ends meet like when they cipher complete
I used to wanna be a star when I was a spectator
So now I'm legendary, when I die I'll be greater
It's funny how life is just like an elevator
But major life changes ain't nuttin to be afraid of
Remember (-member) nuttin in this life come free
Cuz if I take from you, somebody else gon' take it from me
And I'll be damned if I let somebody take it from me
Shit I'ma do for y'all the way you never did it for me
Come on
[Chorus]
[Talib Kweli]
Up in the city that never sleeps, black mommas forever weep
And cats whip Jeeps equipped with fashion designer leather seats
But the team is never beat, and we always weather the heat
Stay with that mentality, I'll bet y'all niggas never eat
[Mr. Khaliyl]
Yo, they callin me the Devil's Advocate
But they don't know the half of it
The lone catalyst, shaped for my master shit
Make it tangible, firmin up the hand of these apes
Who can't grasp because intense, so they rewindin my tapes
Yo Kweli!
[Talib Kweli]
We count down to armageddon like 1, 2, 3, 4
We raw like C4, been here before and after
You up and down like a see-saw
With your fake hustle, that beats more
Like when I ask my three year old son to make muscles
[Mr. Khaliyl]
Cuz muscles come in all shapes, and mine take the form of breath
So when I spit the air is thick enough to beat you to death
See to die is to have lived, but you can't even die right
You like a candle on the sun, nigga you just a waste of light
[Chorus]
[Mr. Khaliyl (Talib Kweli)]
Come on eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh
(It's like, it's like, it's like)
Come on, come on, come on (Uh, uh, uh, it' like)
Yea yea yea yea yea yea (Yo, it's like, uh)
Yea yea yea (Come on it's like)
Raw Series, Mr. Man (Come on, it's like)
(Yo, yo, it's like)
Kweli, Reflect 'Ternal
(Y'all wanna get a peice) C-Smith
Rawkus Records, Raw Series Entertainment
Make it nice like that for you..
Yeah, yeah, YEAH!
Y'all already know what it is, this is fam
Yo, Brooklyn raise up (come on)
Uptown raise up, Queens
Staten Island, the Boogie Down
[Chorus: Mr. Khaliyl (Talib Kweli)]
Aiyyo some people die for it (And some live it)
Some people snatch what they can (And some give it)
It's not how you play the game (It's how much you win)
Fuck the wages of sin, we gon' hustle
(We don't get by) We multiply
(We don't settle for less) We take the whole pie
(Don't gamble, we invest) Cause the stakes is high
(Whether we live or we die, we gon' hustle)
[Talib Kweli]
You all comfy when shit is paid up, like the car note or your rent
Look out you broke, and now you got more Hustle than Larry Flynt
Diggin up dirt on politicians when you got no pot to piss in
Sellin watches for commission, with fake rocks that don't glistin
Holdin up a block position, been a lot of options
For you to get in, stop the bitchin!
You just ain't makin no hot decisions - where the blood clot?
Look how many gold-diggers the clubs got
If you ain't up on the hustle, find yourself doin the bus-stop
Or the train station, with the change, waitin for a metro card
Petrified, cuz once you get the dough to let go is hard
I'm a vet though and it's odd to see these new cats splurgin
Industry virgins think money make 'em a better person
Sign to ya mans label, which is under a label, under a parent label
Apparently you ain't even able to sit down at the table
You ain't braggin about seein the dough
You braggin about bein a ho
Don't be mad at me, be mad at'cha boys
I just thought you needed to know
[Chorus]
[Mr. Khaliyl]
Yo, they try to gas me up (gas me up)
But I don't fall for the flattery
Just keep the people charged like assault with a battery
Now your mad at me, and your squad wanna battle me
Cuz every line I spit, got a money-back guarantee
With a lifetime warranty, just keep the receipt
Universe is passing moments, but my world is the street
They can't dance and when they hustle, they trip over they feet
They tryna make ends meet like when they cipher complete
I used to wanna be a star when I was a spectator
So now I'm legendary, when I die I'll be greater
It's funny how life is just like an elevator
But major life changes ain't nuttin to be afraid of
Remember (-member) nuttin in this life come free
Cuz if I take from you, somebody else gon' take it from me
And I'll be damned if I let somebody take it from me
Shit I'ma do for y'all the way you never did it for me
Come on
[Chorus]
[Talib Kweli]
Up in the city that never sleeps, black mommas forever weep
And cats whip Jeeps equipped with fashion designer leather seats
But the team is never beat, and we always weather the heat
Stay with that mentality, I'll bet y'all niggas never eat
[Mr. Khaliyl]
Yo, they callin me the Devil's Advocate
But they don't know the half of it
The lone catalyst, shaped for my master shit
Make it tangible, firmin up the hand of these apes
Who can't grasp because intense, so they rewindin my tapes
Yo Kweli!
[Talib Kweli]
We count down to armageddon like 1, 2, 3, 4
We raw like C4, been here before and after
You up and down like a see-saw
With your fake hustle, that beats more
Like when I ask my three year old son to make muscles
[Mr. Khaliyl]
Cuz muscles come in all shapes, and mine take the form of breath
So when I spit the air is thick enough to beat you to death
See to die is to have lived, but you can't even die right
You like a candle on the sun, nigga you just a waste of light
[Chorus]
[Mr. Khaliyl (Talib Kweli)]
Come on eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-eh
(It's like, it's like, it's like)
Come on, come on, come on (Uh, uh, uh, it' like)
Yea yea yea yea yea yea (Yo, it's like, uh)
Yea yea yea (Come on it's like)
Raw Series, Mr. Man (Come on, it's like)
(Yo, yo, it's like)
Kweli, Reflect 'Ternal
(Y'all wanna get a peice) C-Smith
Rawkus Records, Raw Series Entertainment
Make it nice like that for you..
SpitKicker Presents: The Best of Talib Kweli
- Re: Definition
- Africa Dream
- Down for the Count
- Soul Rebels
- Some Kind of Wonderful
- Move Somethin’
- Touch You
- Buck ’Em Down
- Joy
- Waitin’ for the DJ
- Peace of Mind
- Bridge to Bama (Hi-Tek Remix)
- The Blast (Remix)
- Respiration
- Memories Live
- Definition
- Good to You
- Brown Skin Lady
- Fortified Live
- The Anti-Love Movement
- Theme From Hi-Tek
- Wages of Sin
- The Manifesto
- The Express