| Sometimes, you gotta be direct with the people, y’know like.
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| Give it to 'em (c'mon)
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| Yo!
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| Give it to 'em
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| GET, UP, NOW!
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| Yo, we keep it type raw, and know exactly what we fight for
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| when the nightfall come, we in the right war
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| Cats who spill blood for a cause, not just because
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| Defy the authority and follow God’s law
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| Revolutionary entrepeneurs; |
| who make the fans
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| clap they hands and stompin the floor not start the applause
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| (Ahhh ssssh! Yeah!) Thank you very much, without further adieu
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| Let me introduce the rest of my crew, Mos Def!
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| Yo, I am the world renowned, verb adjective adverb
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| pronoun preposition suffix prefix
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| Original or remix, sunburst and eclipse
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| Me and Kwe’combine like strands on a double-helix
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| My speech seasoned, with dialect of my region
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| Booga-nam Brooklyn Bed-Stuy Eastern
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| Where youth and policemen, they nah reach agreement
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| Pressure in the mornin, pressure in the evenin
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| {*scratching* Mos Def. |
| Kwe'-Kweli.
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| Hi Tek on the beat!. |
| brothers and sisters}
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| Chorus One: BlackStar (Mos Def + Talib Kweli)
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| You, need, to, get, up, right, now
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| and, move, with, this, yes, this, means, you
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| You, you
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| Yeahh, alright yeah, alright yeah, alright yeah
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| Alright yeah, alright yeah, alright yeah, yeah-ehhhh
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| Uh, uh, uh, uh, yo, yo, yo Things changed since we came out, been some shit in New York
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| Niggaz stopped gettin jig in New York, bloods and crips in New York
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| The Y-2-K celebration wasn’t big in New York
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| Babylon live in New York, should I keep a crib in New York
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| or just V.I., to handle my B.I.
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| When with my A-Alikes we see with three eyes
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| Yo Kweli I agree I, was thinkin the same thing myself
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| Smog in the city ain’t no good for your health
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| Things changed in New York, type strange in New York
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| Forty-Deuce don’t look the same in New York
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| Just politics, tricks and big games in New York
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| Switched trains a writer can’t get fame in New York
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| Internet and Wall Street got paid in New York
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| Poor folks and workin class got slayed in New York
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| Even still, everyday they make weight in New York
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| Flashlights lookin for a brighter day in New York
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| In New York they say it’s — red hot
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| Will the temperature ease up? |
| Black I guess not
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| It’s multi-lane traffic, no sign for rest stops
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| No corner breaks, put on your gloves and just box
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| No dance school to teach you to wop and bus stop
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| Better get up in the booth, hop up and just rock
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| If you think it’s like that, it’s not so just stop
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| All mankind time runnin down on one watch, just watch
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| Chorus Two: BlackStar (Mos Def + Talib Kweli)
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| If, you, are, just, coming, in, I, will
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| say it, once, more, so, you, can, hear, cause
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| You, need, to, get, up, right, now
|
| and, move, with, this, yes, this, means, you
|
| You, you
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| Yo, Mos Def and Talib Kweli bring disaster to the industry
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| We best-sellin authors writin great chapters in history
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| These cats undercover like gay rappers dealin with mystery
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| My platinum grey matter spray batter that’s specifically
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| designed to make rappers break faster than eggshells in the mornin
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| Inhaled the divine in that’s laid dormant
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| Water from the well STAY pourin
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| I answer back when I hear fate callin
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| Freedom fighter ready to attack at the crack of a new day dawnin
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| Way more than necessary skills for the application
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| My flow is Great like the Lakes and it rocks like Applachains
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| My facts more than make up for what you lack in imagination
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| You more confused than Tiger Woods when he made up Cabalaysian
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| I’m sayin!
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| Break bounds like the jet Concorde
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| Win awards before I leave for my world award tour
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| When they scream encore, that’s when they want more
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| Flow steadily, whether I’m on or off shore
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| High potent, zone coastin, no jokin
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| Safecracker sniff gon’keep the joint open
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| Peep the focus, high resolution, high reception
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| My Train of Thought connectin with my bredren from Reflection like
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| Chorus Three: BlackStar (Mos Def + Talib Kweli)
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| You, need, to, get, up, right, now
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| and, move, with, this, yes, this, means, you, again!
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| You, need, to, get, up, right, now
|
| and, move, with, this, yes, this, means, you, we goin
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| New York Philly
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| Chicago Detroit
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| Miami D.C.
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| L.A. The world
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| London Amsterdam
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| Paris Japan
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| Any place that a human being might stand, we goin. |