You say "one for the treble, two for the time" Come on, y'all, let's rock this! You say "one for the treble, two for the time" Come on! Speech is my hammer, bang the world into shape Now let it fall, (huh!) My restlessness is my nemesis It's hard to really chill and sit still, committed to page I write a rhyme, sometimes won't finish for days Scrutinize my literature from the large to the miniature I mathematically add-minister, subtract the wack Selector, wheel it back, I'm feeling that From the core to the perimeter black You know the motto, stay fluid even in staccato (Mos Def) Full blooded, full throttle Breathe deep inside the drum hollow... There's the hum Young man, where you from? Brooklyn number one! Native son, speaking in the native tongue I got my eyes on tomorrow (there it is) While you still tryin to find where it is I'm on the Ave where it lives and dies, violently but silently Shine so vibrantly that eyes squint to catch a glimpse Embrace the bass with my dark ink fingertips Used to speak the King's En-ga-lish But caught a rash on my lips, so now my chat just like dis Long range from the base-line (swish) Move like an apparition, float to the ground with ammunItion (Chi-chi-pow) Move from the gate, voice cued On your tape, putting food on your plate Many crews can relate, who choosing your fate (yo) We went from picking cotton To chain gang line chopping, to Be-Bopping, to Hip-Hopping Blues people got the blue chip stock option Invisible man, got the whole world watching (Where ya at?) I'm high, low, east, west, all over your map I'm getting big props, with this thing called hip hop Where you can either get paid or get shot When your product in stock, the fair-weather friends flock When your chart position drop, then the phone calls.... Chill for a minute, let's see who else hot, snatch your shelf spot Don't gas yourself, akh' The industry just a better built cell block A long way from the shell tops And the bells that L rocked (rock, rock, rock, rock...) The more emotion I put into it, the harder I rock Hip Hop is prosecution evidence An out of court settlement, ad space for liquor Sick without benefits (hungh!) Luxury tenements Choking the skyline, it's low life getting tree-top high It is a back water remedy Bitter and tender memory, a class E felony Facing the death penalty (hungh!) Stimulant and sedative, original repetitive Violently competitive, a school unaccredited The break beats you get broken with on time and inappropriate Hip Hop went from selling crack to smoking it Medicine for loneliness remind me of Thelonius and Dizzy Propers to B-Boys getting busy The war-time snap shot, the working man's jack-pot A two dollar snack box sold beneath the crack spot Olympic sponsor of the black Glock Gold medalist in the back shot From the sovereign state of the have-nots Where farmers have trouble with cash crops (woooo) It's all-city like Phase 2 Hip Hop will simply amaze you, praise you, pay you Do whatever you say do, but, black, it can't save you
[00:02.345] You say "one for the treble, two for the time" [00:05.951] Come on, y'all, let's rock this! [00:08.396] You say "one for the treble, two for the time" [00:11.299] Come on! [00:12.236] Speech is my hammer, bang the world into shape [00:14.252] Now let it fall, (huh!) [00:16.301] My restlessness is my nemesis [00:18.715] It's hard to really chill and sit still, committed to page [00:21.670] I write a rhyme, sometimes won't finish for days [00:24.277] Scrutinize my literature from the large to the miniature [00:27.326] I mathematically add-minister, subtract the wack [00:30.321] Selector, wheel it back, I'm feeling that [00:33.022] From the core to the perimeter black [00:34.912] You know the motto, stay fluid even in staccato (Mos Def) [00:38.380] Full blooded, full throttle [00:39.912] Breathe deep inside the drum hollow... There's the hum [00:43.093] Young man, where you from? Brooklyn number one! [00:45.767] Native son, speaking in the native tongue [00:48.375] I got my eyes on tomorrow (there it is) [00:50.375] While you still tryin to find where it is [00:52.338] I'm on the Ave where it lives and dies, violently but silently [00:55.637] Shine so vibrantly that eyes squint to catch a glimpse [00:59.231] Embrace the bass with my dark ink fingertips [01:01.756] Used to speak the King's En-ga-lish [01:03.643] But caught a rash on my lips, so now my chat just like dis [01:07.119] Long range from the base-line (swish) [01:09.127] Move like an apparition, float to the ground with ammunItion [01:12.576] (Chi-chi-pow) Move from the gate, voice cued [01:15.059] On your tape, putting food on your plate [01:16.990] Many crews can relate, who choosing your fate (yo) [01:19.942] We went from picking cotton [01:21.485] To chain gang line chopping, to Be-Bopping, to Hip-Hopping [01:25.050] Blues people got the blue chip stock option [01:27.629] Invisible man, got the whole world watching [01:30.162] (Where ya at?) I'm high, low, east, west, all over your map [01:33.494] I'm getting big props, with this thing called hip hop [01:36.316] Where you can either get paid or get shot [01:38.356] When your product in stock, the fair-weather friends flock [01:40.953] When your chart position drop, then the phone calls.... [01:43.880] Chill for a minute, let's see who else hot, snatch your shelf spot [01:47.273] Don't gas yourself, akh' [01:49.008] The industry just a better built cell block [01:51.491] A long way from the shell tops [01:53.687] And the bells that L rocked (rock, rock, rock, rock...) [02:16.304] The more emotion I put into it, the harder I rock [02:20.240] Hip Hop is prosecution evidence [02:22.002] An out of court settlement, ad space for liquor [02:24.498] Sick without benefits (hungh!) Luxury tenements [02:27.129] Choking the skyline, it's low life getting tree-top high [02:30.825] It is a back water remedy [02:32.528] Bitter and tender memory, a class E felony [02:35.120] Facing the death penalty (hungh!) [02:36.965] Stimulant and sedative, original repetitive [02:39.352] Violently competitive, a school unaccredited [02:42.936] The break beats you get broken with on time and inappropriate [02:45.841] Hip Hop went from selling crack to smoking it [02:47.849] Medicine for loneliness remind me of Thelonius and Dizzy [02:51.157] Propers to B-Boys getting busy [02:53.073] The war-time snap shot, the working man's jack-pot [02:56.473] A two dollar snack box sold beneath the crack spot [02:59.215] Olympic sponsor of the black Glock [03:01.134] Gold medalist in the back shot [03:03.064] From the sovereign state of the have-nots [03:05.084] Where farmers have trouble with cash crops (woooo) [03:07.646] It's all-city like Phase 2 [03:09.047] Hip Hop will simply amaze you, praise you, pay you [03:12.222] Do whatever you say do, but, black, it can't save you
