Definition

Hello everybody, recording live from somewhere
Lord, Lord have mercy
All nice an' peace an' true (this is timeless) follow me (follow me, c'mon) now, we say
Say, Hi-Tek, yes, you're rulin' hip hop (put your hands up)
Say, J. Rawls, (c'mon, c'mon) yes, you're rulin' hip hop, (put your hands up)
Redefinition, say, you're rulin' hip hop (put your hands up)
Say, Black Star, come to rock it

Yo, from the first to the last of it, delivery is passionate
The whole an' not the half of it, vocals an' not the math of it
Projectile that them blasted with accurate assassin shit
Me an' Kweli close like Bethlehem an' Nazareth (now)
After this you be pressin' rewind on top your master disk
Shinin' like an asterisk for all those that be gatherin'
Connectin' like a round house from the town house to the tenements
'Cause all my Brooklyn residents, y'all my heavy regiments

Don't believe, here the evidence, where Brooklyn, (what?) See that?
Bound to take it all kid, believe that
From where they sellin' tree at to where the police be at
Talib Kweli, equality, yo' tell them where we be at
Brooklyn, New York City where they paint murals of Biggie
In cash, we trust 'cause it's ghetto fabulous, life look pretty
What a pity, blunts is still fifty cents (now) it's intense
Tree scents is dominant, can't be covered with incense

My presence felt, my name is Kweli from the Eternal Reflection
People thinkin' MC is shorthand for misconception
Let me meditate, set it straight, came to the conclusion
That most of these cats is featherweight, let me demonstrate
Walkin' the streets is like battlin', be careful with your body
You must know Karate (hit me like a slow bullet) or think your soul is 'Bulletproof' like Sade
Stop actin' like a bitch already, be a visionary
An' maybe you can see your name in the column of obituary (now)

Third rate teacher (now) readin' an' talkin about, I knew he'd amount to nothin'
Neighbors like, He was the quiet type, who'd have thought they was frontin'?
Talkin' loud like you in R.C.A, get carted away, with body parts an' trays, what a way to start your day

Yo, it's like, one, two, three, (c'mon), Mos Def an' Talib Kweli
We came to rock it on to the tip-top, (c'mon) best alliance in hip hop, why oh
I said one, two, three, it's kinda dangerous to be a emcee
They shot Tupac an' Biggie, too much violence in hip hop, why oh

I said Manhattan keep on makin' it, Brooklyn keep on takin' it
So relax we're takin' it back, Redhook, where we're livin' at
Plenty cats be strugglin' not hustlin' an' bubblin'
It ain't about production an' what else we discussin'?
When the cock crows, my crop grows, enable me to rock flows
Strivin' for perfection ever since I was a snot-nosed
Colossal, true original (now) B. Boy apostle
Standin' on the rooftop with the Zulu Gestapo

You think you the shit, somebody in the wings'll force you to quit
It could be your crew or click, or some random kid you smoked Buddha with
Consider me the entity within the industry, without a history of spittin' the epitome, of stupidity
Livin' my life, expressin' my liberty, it gotta be done properly
My name is in the middle of E.Kwelity, people follow me an' other cats, they hear him flow
An' assume I'm the real one with lyrics like I'm Cyrano

Still sippin', wishin' well, water imported from Pluto
Three hundred an' sixty milliliters for all our believers
In miles or kilometers, most cats, cannot proceed us
In the jungle with the leaders, we the lions, you the cheetahs
A Cypher (now) will complete us, if we come through your receivers
You can play us an' repeat us an' then take us home an' read us
Line for line, good Jesus, Mos Def an' Kweli
Just make a pussy freeze up, thinkin' of it ease up (now)

One, two, three (c'mon, c'mon) Mos Def an' Talib Kweli
We came to rock it on to the tip-top (c'mon), best alliance in hip hop, why oh
I said (now) one, two, three, it's kinda dangerous to be an emcee
They shot Tupac an' Biggie, hold your head when the beat drop, why oh