Common Lyrics

The Hustle lyrics - Common (feat. Dart Chillz, Omar)

[Common]
My eyes watch God from a place
Where times is hard, hard times we embrace
Everybody want a yard, cuz a yard means space
Being broke is odd and leaves an odd taste
In the mouth of the metropolitan
The hustle is hollarin'
Beautiful minds grind, grind for the dollarin'
Whether dice scholarin' or white collarin'
We all taught hustle to prophet like Solomon
The young play corners, Sean Jean modelin'
They get it from they momma, black music is fatherin'
Blue and whites flash lights like parliment
In court non-whites, wishin' they had Cocharan
Tell your guy and them, yo the blocks hot again
Aunties walking to liquor stores in moccasains
My guy got a gig, on the side he barberin'
Married a foreign chick so she could get a green card up in the hustle

[Chorus]
[Common]
Just put it in your back and hustle
The paper's stacked so hustle
[Omar] Gon'! - Gon' get it and get me that
Gon'! - Gon' get it and get me that
[Common] Just move, and shake, and grind and hustle
It's on your mind so hustle
[Omar] Gon'! - Gon' get it and get me that
Gon'! - Gon' get it and get me that

[Dart Chillz]
First to the third, I'm close to the curb
Toast to the bird, now I'm posted to serve
Heard is a verb when you pour dirt on the floor
Bill collecters and the roaches working your nerves
It's a ghetto truck for a ghetto boy
To get in them ghetto streets and get him a ghetto toys
So he can come so just work murder rate is increasin'
I don't give a fuck long as my coke is decent
And my rims blind the whole damn precinct
Everytime you see a head in my lap you know she sinked
I know I'm dead in this trap, that's not how we think
Fifty shells all around on the ground, can't catch a weak blink
Five went through me, two stayed in me to do my duty
Only thing that subdued me
Two weeks, same corner, new freaks
New geese, all white AND 1's new sneaks

[Chorus]

[DJ Joe Sinista scratches bridge]
"Can't knock the hustle!" "The Hustle!" "I'm in"
"Im in" "I'm in too deep" "deep to sleep!" "Can't knock the hustle!"
"The hustle!" "Caught up in the hustle!" "I'm gettin' high"
"Can't knock the hustle!" "The Hustle!" "I'm in"
"Im in" "I'm in too deep" "deep to sleep!" "Can't knock the hustle!"
"The hustle!" "Gotta hustle up!" "I got to have it, have it...have it" [echos out]

[Common]
Some rhyme, some throw shows, some sow clothes
Some hobo at the junction inbetween cars
Some enter in functions inbetween stars
Some teach, some preach saying they seen God
Some put they money up, against me odds
Flippin' real estate yo, stocks and bonds
Dreams of rollin El Derado's bumpin' El DeBarge
Whatever the dreams, stay on ya deem the world is ours, its the hustle

[Chorus - repeat 2X]

[DJ Joe Sinista]
"Gotta hustle up!" "Stay hustlin'!"
"Gotta hustle up!" "Stay hustlin'!"
"Gotta hustle up!" "Stay hustlin'!"
"Gotta hus-" "hustle up!"
"Stay hustlin' hustlin' hustlin'!"
[echoes out]

Come Close lyrics - Common (feat. Mary J. Blige)

[Intro]
[Common:] It's just a fly love song, what
[Mary J:] Mmmmm
[Common:] It's just a fly love song, what

[Verse: Common]
Are we living in a dream world?
Are your eyes still green girl?
I know your sick and tired of arguing
But you can't keep it bottled in
Jealousy, we got to swallow it
Your heart and mind baby follow it
Smile, happiness you could model it
And when you feel opposite
I just want you to know
Your whole being is beautiful
I'ma do the best I can do
Cause I'm my best when I'm with you

[Chorus: Mary J. Blige]
Come close to me baby
Let your love hold you
I know this world is crazy
What's it without you

[Verse: Common]
Put down your bags love
I know in the past love
Has been sort of hard in you
But I see the God in you
I just want to nurture it
Though this love may hurt a bit
We dealing wit this water love
You even give my daughter love
I want to build a tribe wit you
Protect and provide for you
Truth is I can't hide from you
The pimp in me
May have to die with you

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
I know what you're thinking, you're on my mind
You're right, you're right, you're right
You promise so fast you just might take flight
Hope your not tired, tonight, tonight

[Verse: Common]
You help me to discover me
I just want you to put trust in me
I kind of laugh when you cuss at me
The aftermath is you touching me
It's destiny to we connected girl
You and i we can affect the world
I'm tired of the fast lane
I want you to have my last name

[Chorus]

[Bridge (2x)]

New Wave lyrics - Common (feat. Laetitia Sadier)

Yeah! The war zone. Who you fighting for?

[Verse 1: Common]
It's funk to rhythm and punk to rock
loud like shot that come from a glock
Pick up your mind, run from the spot
Revolution jumping in the parking lot
Shit is so hot that the sun watch
Children by the window with the gun cocked
they could get robbed and stop the luck (?)
Monkeys dance around for MTV spots
I lock into a....
rock into a rhythm of street and ancient wisdom
Experiment in stereo loud so crank the system
For the humble on the path I paint a vision
How far will a nigga go just for attention
And to be remembered, you forgot the mission
Listen!

[Chorus: Laetitia Sadier]
All traces of life
in our gats we carry
that's used to dress humanity
([Common:] it's a New Wave, Come on!)

[Sung in French]
All traces of life
in our gats we carry
that's used to dress humanity
([Common:] it's a New Wave, Dig it!)

[Sung in French]
This life is precious
it's goddamn? marvelous
before it ever ends
([Common:] it's a New Wave, Come on!)

This life is precious
it's goddamn? marvelous
before it ever ends
([Common:] Come on! Come on!)

[Verse 2: Common]
I lay terror in this era like Che Guevera
for the people to make or wait it's better
in a room called real I stay forever
Everyday I lose something I gain forever
Meditate on how I can change the weather
My brainstorm for some it's like (?) umbrella
where bullets and lies both spray together
My mind scream like Al Green "Let's Stay Together"
How could a nigga be so scared of change
That's what you hustle for, for the currency exchange
Ya'll rich, we could beef curry in the game
out your mouth, ain't nobody hurrying my name
You seen what happened when the Com go BANG
Wouldn't have a shot, even at a gun range
Seen hype become fame against the grain become main-stream
It all seems mundane in the scope of thangs

[Chorus]

[Verse 3: Common]
From a land of shit talk, boy stars and pitch forks
didn't really see white until I went North
Getting bent on backyards, wishing in the air for a black god
Where people fix cars and clap hard
and look to the stars for rap jobs
I walk through the black fog with reflectors on my boots
smelling war near, I'm connected with the troops
that master anger and ain't afraid to shoot
through poured liquor fallen angels they salute (Whew! Whew!)
Feel the wind blow
A new wave- people with their hair trimmed low
It's two ways living in this world of techno
This age can't really save the ghetto
I pause for the rebels who rock heavy metals
and tell them that they're pharoh so let go
Come on!

[Chorus]

I Got A Right Ta lyrics - Common

[Common]
Yeah! Hah! Yeah, we got, come on
Y'all cats know the abstract nigga with the attitude
Pass the booze, and let's build on it
I'm rolling in a Cadillac with the grill fronted
I ain't even smoke no mo' but I feel blunted
Yo I'm tokin on the freedom
Stepping to the A.M., cats be tokin in the P.M.
Tell the players I'm the G.M.
Told my team let me get my plays straight, I'ma feed them
They need me like I need them
See the streets is bleedin
Had to meet with my mind and ? to be defined and
Stay on my climb
I'm grind - ing, 'til I get blue balls
Everyday, same shit new star
Don't make me act like where I come from because he grew tall
There's a place that to run from it if you neu - tral
Hustlers and vogues, customers and smokes
I kiss the sky feeling high off the stuff that I wrote

[Chorus (x2)]
I want to ride in my car, smoke my weed
Keep my head high, let the chrome spin
I got the right to feel hood
I got the right to feel high
I got the right to feel hood
I got the right to feel high

[Common]
I'm the only cat in hip hop that can go into a thrift shop
Connect, get up to the ghetto and get props
If you gonna get that kick-a-box
Make sure that ? not
If you gonna get that glock don't be scared to big shot
Hip Hop is changin, y'all want me to stay the same?
Sorta like Barkley on how I see the game
I recognize game like a scout
Ayo, I'm bound to wreck your lady as I turn your lady out
I ain't about that
Messing with no other man's women
Because of jealousy then a man go under
Understand a man and his mental
Listening to Joan Mitchell
With the fan and the window
Can it be so simple then?
I rock Rockports, you rock Timberlands
I want a Rover, but I'm thinking long range
I ain't switch over, I just made my own lane

[Chorus]

[Common]
Like a pimp to a hoe I connect to the track
I feel it in my neck and my back
A thug came to me, said it changed his life
Said the love of his life, he used to bang to the light
I'm trying to do better
I ain't claiming Mister Right
I'm a grown man, I'm too old to fist-fight
I stay on point like trick dice
Tweeking like the sound man who need to switch mike
Sounding bitch like
I know the block is hot, but we just can't get ice
When our children's children sit nice?
I sing the song to make the fiend's strong
King Kong ain't got shit on me
I train days to rip emcees, I'm peaking
But I still gotta get that cheese
You on some monkey ball damn chimpanzees
Mobbin through the Chi-Town to feel the breeze yo

[Chorus]

Between Me, You & Liberation lyrics - Common (feat. Cee-Lo)

[First Verse]
She rested her head upon my chest
Sensed liberation in between breaths
Wonder if sex is what she found it in
Peace, found it laying down with men
Wasn't there to judge her, many ways I loved her
It was more than bodies we shared with each other
We laid under the cover of friends
A place where many lovers began
I began, to feel her body shake in my hand
Body language, it's so hard trying to understand
Usually after sex, it's a good feel
Took by silence, emotion stood still
I could feel, her tears spill, from her grille
Hurt from before that began to build
She told me hold me, a story she assembled it
Tellin' it, trying not to remember it
It was a story of innocence taken
Thought she could redeem, through love makin'
When she was eight she was raped by her father
And tried to escape through multiple sex partners
Felt pitiful, she had only learned,
To love through the physical, inside it burned
My heart turned, I thought of what this man did
She forgave him, she grew to understand it
Her soul was tired and never really rested
Only with men through aggression
Said it was a blessing and it happened for a reason
By speaking it, she found freedom
Between me and you [echo]

[Chorus - Cee-Lo]
Sometimes I wish a, careless whisper
Serenade her, without speaking a word
Because of you I'm stronger, I'm afraid no longer
I feel so alive in me, you have liberated me

[Second Verse]
She laid, I watched her breathe
Happy to be here, not afraid to leave
I couldn't conceive her not being here
Death in her face her not having fear
Less than a year she was diagnosed with it
Memories of that year, so close and vivid
Happiness, would only visit, once in a while
To watch an adult, becoming a child
Somehow, I knew she'd make it
The life of one so given early would God take it?
Hurt she placed in, hope and prayer
Hurt she placed in chemo and lost hair
I stare with my eyes closed
Wonder when the body leave does the mind go
Watchin' Jordan became less important
Seeing this disease eat away my aunt's organs
According to doctors theres no cure
We went through doubt, and cases of insure
Wish I knew then how to heal with herbs
Knew a part of her I could heal with words
But the Creator was sending for her
What seemed like the end was the beginning for her
Like that, she didn't want us to remember her
No more medication did she want us to give to her
It spread from her liver to her lungs to her last breath
Only to be freed through death
Between me and you [echo]

[Chorus]

[Third Verse]
He spoke with his eyes, tear-filled
A lump in his throat, his fear built
My whole life it was in steel
This ain't the way that men feel
A feeling, he said he wish he could kill
A feeling, not even time could heal
This is how real life's supposed to be?
For it to happen to someone close to me?
So far we'd come, for him to tell me
As he did, insecurity held me
I felt like he failed me
To the spirit, yelled help me
I'd known him for like what seemed forever
About going pro we dreamed together
Never knew it would turn out like this
For so long he tried to fight this
Now there was no way for him to ignore it
His parents found out and hated him for it
How could I judge him? Had to accept him if I truly loved him
No longer he said had he hated himself
Through sexuality he liberated himself
Between me and you [echo]

[Chorus]

Liberation...
Peace

I Am Music lyrics - Common (feat. Jill Scott)

[Chorus: Jill Scott]
Can you speak your words of bedtime
I was just saying to myself the other day
Most of believing the magician
But you're bewitching
Because of this I must say
I (I)
I (oh I)
I
Appreciate what you give to me
Yeah (I)
I (oh I)
I
Appreciate what you give to me

[Verse 1: Common]
People say I got soul look at all the records I hold
The lives I've affected, connect and control
With me in your basement, your mama got blown
I provide the vibe to keep the strippers on poles
Through me the black experience is glorious told
From a school that's old bold, so I rock gold
And platinum, so cats I hold notes and cash for them
On streets I rap for them, in ghettos I blast for them
Mash with them, at the party and all
Peep the universal language that's embodying all
Put the Billie Holiday, Bob Marley in y'all
Y'all feel most high when I be in y'all
System, with the rhythm I up jump the boogie
Shame I rely on record labels to push me
Since the bush, I been y'all way to escape
Through eight-tracks wax CDs and tapes
I am music

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]
You can feel me all over alive, I help culture survive, I opened the eyes of many
Styles y'all wrote in the skies, with your lows and highs, open your mind to hear me
In the streets I beat cops and obsolete
On every station it's hot you can't stop my heat
I taught J and Dre how to rock the beat
On what's going on today yo, I gots to speak
I take the stand, yo you could feel me bam
Whether in Larry Graham or Steely Dan
Live I be killing it man
For how long I survived yo I'm realer than man
Got a soft side but I'm still a man
For me women cry and children dance, I'm trying to eat
I could'a got a mil and ran
But like Sly for the fam still I stand
I am music

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
I been here since the beginning
Beginning of time yo beginning of time
Deep in the mind of the ancient ones
Everybody love me like they do the sun
I shine at times yo at times I'm dark
You can't categorize me, my mind's a art
Inside my heart, it ain't about climbing charts
I'm the one you roll with when your ride is smart
The change that came, the change that comes
I change with chords and I kick it with drums
Get blow with horns and did it on the one
Riffed for guitars, for the Lord I sung
Spun around the world at parties and weddings
Wherever I go I create the setting
You know me from lessons or your pops collections
Whether whole or half stepping I'm a blessing
Yo I am music

[Chorus 2X]

"Like Water For Chocolate" (2000)

Time Travelin' (A Tribute To Fela) lyrics - Common (feat. Vinia Mojica, Roy Hargrove, Femi Kuti)

[Vinia Mojica]
[Singing in Spanish]

[Common]
What what, we do this time
Rock rock....
Yes, let this music travel through you
Talk about feelings, yeah yo
Yo wassup world?
Yo what's happening?
It's the C-double-O and I'm back again
Take this back and then, tell a friend
Spaces and places you been, time travelin [echoes]
Time travelin *echoes*
Yo, I was a piano player in my last lifetime
Now I write rhymes, sip white wine and let my light shine
Out the dark space, with the world on my mind like Scarface
though my sex drive like a car chase
More than a uhh, it's the piece of mind I chase
Stakes are high, like my uncle is
We both got problems, he never confronted his
Under the bridge I wrote, some shit to stay afloat
And paint a picture, raw like the first coat
Send my old man a note to keep his phone on
My little cuz'll know cheap tricks are homegrown
Travel to a place sweeter than home, listenin to Nina Simone
Repeat this psalm, to the sky I'm keepin my palms
Facin the east, actions macin the beast
Embracin the streets, my god caught a case cuz he beat
His lady down, it's two-thou
That ain't the way we lay it down
Souls get, found and lost at the roads they cross
Many paid dues, but few knew the costs
I ran through the Moss like Randy
Touchindown wit God, close friends, and family
Recognize the voice in the wilderness
Com Sense, '92 and I'm still in this

Time travelin, took my time in hand
My rhyme learn and plan
Jealousy, money and pride can burn a man
Some walk but never learn to stand
Still, afraid to expand what they feel
I'm dealin wit, wakes, marriages
ATM's, Ericsson's
Loud niggas that whisper carelessness
If we livin in Revelation
Why should the people of the sun have to run?
Come to Esau in a year, he'll have freedom
He ask why I hadn't been to see him
Really, I ain't have a good reason
He said, "Rah, give back what you receivin"
In a race against time, I was caught
In the same game as you, but long live the sport
It's time travelin
It's the C-double-O and I'm back again
Take this back and then, tell a friend
Spaces and places you been
Time travelin [fades out] time travelin....

Time travelin [echoes]
Time travelin [echoes]
Yeah, yo wassup world, yo what's happening?
It's the C-double-O and I'm back again
Take this back and then, tell a friend
Spaces and places you been
Time travelin [echoes]

Heat lyrics - Common

[Common]
Yeah, one two..
Yeah, where my nigga Jay Dee?
Where ya at? (Yeah!)
(Oooh, you say you got guns, then bring that shit) what?
(You say you got ones, then bring that shit
cause you need a lot more ones and guns for this) what?
(to get my man see we bout to spit some) HOT SHIT
Yeah, one two..
Bout to spit that, HOT SHIT
Huh.. whoo! Yeah..
Turn it down nigga, HOT SHIT
Yeah.. (oooh)

Messenger in the Metropolis; +Apocalypse+ here and +Now+
Niggaz know the ledge, so they don't come near the style
I appear in clouds on some heaven to earth shit
Fake niggaz drown the deeper the verse gets
Deep as a skinny girl's cunt - I surface with the purpose
to let y'all niggaz know the demo
Voice is a instrument that's monumental
You couldn't fuck with the style if you was a nympho
Raised in the temple of Chi, taught to look into the eye
I identify with dobbs and weaves, and niggaz makin moves
that bob and weave, and niggaz with jobs on the side sell weed
I feed off the hunger that a bum or abandoned child gets
freaky, like Marv Albert, in outfits, by Chaka Givens
I lecture how I got God but don't got religion
Got a clip for these niggaz on the net, sellin my shit
Let's just say you Ramone and I'm Spit
In a habitat of Cadillacs and battle raps
and people that travel at the speed of need
Never agree with the ways of the world
Cats say anything - like they say to they girl
How you bringin it when you sit indian style?
Niggaz know me as Com it's time hear me go wild
with HOT SHIT, yeah..
HOT SHIT, yeah, one two..
Came to bring it boy

(You say you got guns, then bring that shit
You say you got ones, then bring that shit
cause you need a lot more ones and guns for this) what?
(to get my man see we bout to spit some) HOT SHIT
What? No doubt.. HOT SHIT!

[Common]
Old men see visions young men dream dreams
I rock the planet - recognize - I'm the C.R.E.A.M.
Com Rules Everything and everything is
How yo' man pullin yo' weight - he ain't carryin his
Scary the biz is like "The Blair Witch Project"
Experiment in rooms on some bare bitch project
State senators, life twirls, most sell out
- like a dread with a white girl
You want me to cypher with you and the Gods?
I just did a show - I'm pursuin these broads
Everyone I ain't tryin to fuck
Wanna feel female presence and conversation a touch
You'll get split like a date that's dutch scuffed and scraped up
Taped up for tryin to say what - ever you was about to say
You rap like a nigga that's about to spray
Get a mouth shot, for openin your mouth to say
feel my heat in the night - it leaves you without the day
What I write is a passage for niggaz to travel through
Before defeatin me - Joe, you better battle you
I tap into my own zone like it's my home phone
Turn the cell off and let my dome roam
Shame I gotta do white labels to keep my life stable
I write fatal bringin niggaz to life
A wise man came in the thick of the night
He said BRING THAT SHIT when you pick up the mic
I said, "What shit?"
He said HOT SHIT, hot shit, hot shit

(You say you got guns, then bring that shit) uhhh
(You say you got ones, then bring that shit
cause you need a lot more ones and guns for this) uhh
(me and my man, see we known to spit this) HOT SHIT
Hot shit, yeah, yeah, uhh
What we spit Jay? (Throw it down nigga)
HOT SHIT, uh, yeah, uh, c'mon, yeah (keep it goin)
HOT SHIT..
HOT SHIT..
HOT SHIT.. yeah, boy (keep it goin)
HOT SHIT.. out
HOT..

Coldblooded lyrics - Common (feat. Rahzel, Roy Hargrove, Black Thought)

[Common]
Cold-blooded, cold-blooded, hard-core
Rough and rugged, rugged and raw
For you and your-your, for you and your
You got the C to the, huh - cold-blooded
Ain't it - huh, c'mon - hard-core
We take it hiiiiiiiiiiiiigh-er

Yo, yo
My little daughter, started, nursery school
Brother Com, gotta make our move through
the stylist(?) and violence with vibrance
The sign of times with rhyme shit is timeless
The mind is a terrible thing to spill
Rap life's like a dream that seems for real
A nigga wake up, superstar, with no acres
after, travellin the world to see paper's just paper
Streets take ya, back and forth like a shaker
I'm a slave to the rhythm's breakin off
I get the job done - but some days I wanna take off
D be like, "We ain't got no time for that!"
?uestlove said, "We ain't got no time for that!"
My old bird like, "We ain't got no time for that!"
So I rhyme when my back hurts
Play the numbers from my grandmother like Kraftwerk
I rock the patchwork fast I'm in to win but then begin to sin
we're in to win with Hen's and Heineken's
Beast for each and greet the meek with speech
to seek and peak cause Pete, shit gets deep
I fuh-fuh-freak, styles that come out
at night, when most cats pull the gun out
Go on and on and, to the break of when the
sound run out, run out, r-run out
C uhh, yeah

Cold-blooded (c'mon) cold-blooded, hard-core
(hit em with the) Rough and rugged (c'mon) rugged and raw
(hey) for you and yours, for you and yours
You got the C, uhh - cold-blooded (yeah)
cold-blooded (c'mon) hard-core
(ain't it funky) Rough and rugged, rugged and raw
for you and yours, for you and yours
(Yo, yo I-I think I wanna taste these horns
I want you to taste these horns, c'mon now)
C, the cold-blooded (uh) cold-blooded (yeah) hard-core
(ain't it) Rough and rugged (uh) rugged and raw
(yeah baby that's what I'm talkin about
c'mon, give em, give us a little more)
for you and yours, for you and yours
C to the, cold-blooded (na, na-nasty) cold-blooded, hard-core
(c'mon) Rough and rugged, rugged and raw
(Yo, aight let let me get a little taste of this here)
for you and yours, for you and yours..

[Common]
The simps, please uhh uhh uhh uhh
These studs mention me, uhh uhh uhh uhh
As a, intense MC, sent to be the reign
on the industry I came
With penitentiary talk, Coke and a Hennesey walk
My imagery talks, metaphors and similes stalk
Time for war, my artillery caulks the hardest nigga
I'm killin 'em soft
Dealin with golf, gettin blowed on the course
I be dissin magazines, but then buy The Source
Can't explain why the force, is with me
Known to bring a rapper down - like Bobby did Whitney
Sophisticated sissies strut like this is Beat Street in backpacks
Braggin how they don't eat meat and abstract
I backsmack em with they skateboard, flee the crime scene
with a rhyme scheme to escape frauds
Make broads become queens, run things like a rasta sprinter
The way you want the game I rub off like Henner
I remain like a tattoo with natural raps
Copy like a fax that's y'all actual facts
Battle raps is where it began, I'ma end it wherever I land
I done thought of, a master plan, it goes

C to the, cold-blooded (yeah, c'mon)
cold-blooded, (ya know) hard-core
(ain't it) Rough and rugged, (c'mon) rugged and raw
for you and yours, for you and yours
You got the C to the, cold-blooded
cold-blooded, hard-core
Rough and rugged, rugged and raw
for you and yours, for you and yours
You got the C to the, cold-blooded (yeah, hey)
cold-blooded (na-nasty, yo yo) hard-core
Rough and rugged, rugged and raw
(ain't it, ain't it) for you and yours, for you and yours
You got the C to the, cold-blooded
cold-blooded, (c'mon) hard-core
Rough and rugged, rugged and raw
for you and yours, for you and yours..

[Common ad-libs, then some vocal samples til end]

Dooinit lyrics - Common

Ah keep on, chcka chcka chcka [x6]

Mo'fucker move back, I pursue rap at the pace of a New Jack
Miscellaneous numbers and shoes stack grooves
Rap I deliver for the hungry and underprivileged
Something different from these hollow and grunting niggas
This is business strictly, step to my business is risky
'Specially when you as bitch as Missy
Back to back LP's that sound the same, I surround the game
With a four-pounded brainstorm
To make niggas dance in the rain, scared to take a chance in the game
Used to breakdance, it's a shame
What money do to a nigga brain
If he lose his soul what did a nigga gain?

"Doin' it, doin' it, I am doin' it"
"C O double M O to the N" [cut and scratched x4]

My train of thought is that of a hustler, or a nigga with his shirt off
Trying to get his work off to customers
I rap with a chip on my shoulder, squeezing Coronas
See shirts that say "We gotta get over"
That juggy shit is over, the war is on
I on;y want to be a soldier, I'm holding on, to a culture
Focused like Gordon Parks when it's sorta dark
For niggas that's flooded with ice, my thought's the ark
Performing warming arts with some shit for the heart
Don't fuck with radio, ignoring the charts
I could give a FUCK what you made in a year, nigga, you wack
A soft nigga on a hard track, in this new rap
Generation I "X" cats like a Muslim
He fell off cause I pushed him
Let his Bently and his weak crew be his cushion
I catch him on the streets, in front of the bodyguards and rush him

"Doin' it, doin' it, I am doin' it"
"C O double M O to the N" [cut and scratched x4]

You wasn't saying you was a thug before Pac came
Ten years ago you had a high top trying to be like Kane
Then Snoop released and it became a G thang
Claim sets, your city ain't got gangs
Niggas hate you, they ain't paying you no attention
In a circle of faggots, your name is mentioned
With six degrees, I separate MC's, from a business man that's good
>From a nigga that was raised or just lived in the hood
>From what a nigga says to what's understood
Keep my shit tight like them boys in "The Wood"
Dick is always hard like the "Boyz in the Hood"
Peace to Dug Inf, No I, Sean Lett, the whole Chi
At the crib some cats give me the cold eye
I'm a bitch slap the next one
Let him know the world is my section for taking
You got to reduce aggression

"Doin' it, doin' it, I am doin' it"
"C O double M O to the N" [cut and scratched x4]

The Light lyrics - Common

Yeah..
Doo-doo-doo, mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm..
Doo-doo-d-doo, diggy-doo YO..

I never knew a luh, luh-luh, a love like this
Gotta be somethin for me to write this
Queen, I ain't seen you in a minute
Wrote this letter, and finally decide to send it
Signed sealed delivered for us to grow together
Love has no limit, let's spend it slow forever
I know your heart is weathered by what studs did to you
I ain't gon' assault em cause I probably did it too
Because of you, feelings I handle with care
Some niggaz recognize the light but they can't handle the glare
You know I ain't the type to walk around with matchin shirts
If relationship is effort I will match your work
I wanna be the one to make you happiest, it hurts you the most
They say the end is near, it's important that we close..
.. to the most, high
Regardless of what happen on him let's rely

There are times.. when you'll need someone..
I will be by your side..
There is a light, that shines,
special for you, and me..

Yo, yo, check it
It's important, we communicate
and tune the fate of this union, to the right pitch
I never call you my bitch or even my boo
There's so much in a name and so much more in you
Few understand the union of woman and man
And sex and a tingle is where they assume that it land
But that's fly by night for you and the sky I write
For in these cold Chi night's moon, you my light
If heaven had a height, you would be that tall
Ghetto to coffee shop, through you I see that all
Let's stick to understandin and we won't fall
For better or worse times, I hope to me you call
So I pray everyday more than anything
friends will stay as we begin to lay
this foundation for a family - love ain't simple
Why can't it be anything worth having you work at annually
Granted we known each other for some time
It don't take a whole day to recognize sunshine

There are times.. when you'll need someone..
I will be by your side, oh darling
There is a light, that shines,
special for you, and me..

Yeah.. yo, yo, check it
It's kinda fresh you listen to more than hip-hop
and I can catch you in the mix from beauty to thrift shop
Plus you ship hop when it's time to, thinkin you fresh
Suggestin beats I should rhyme to
At times when I'm lost I try to find you
You know to give me space when it's time to
My heart's dictionary defines you, it's love and happiness
Truthfully it's hard tryin to practice abstinence
The time we committed love it was real good
Had to be for me to arrive and it still feel good
I know the sex ain't gon' keep you, but as my equal
it's how I must treat you
As my reflection in light I'ma lead you
And whatever's right, I'ma feed you
Digga-da, digga-da, digga-da, digga-digga-da-da
Yo I tell you the rest when I see you, peace

There are times.. when you'll need someone..
I will be by your side..
There is a light, that shines,
special for you, and me..

(I'll) take my chances.. before they pass..
.. pass me by, oh darling..
You need to look at the other side..
You'll agree..

Funky For You lyrics - Common (feat. Bilal, Jill Scott)

[Chorus: Bilal, Jill Scott]

Alright.....Okay [x4]
Alright......We'll make it funky for you now

[Common]
I'm a child of the ahh - The 87 ahh
From the streets - Get on a beat and go ahh
I could break it down like whatever ya ahh
On some K-R-S be here forever type unh
You-you-you-you know you shouldn't rhyme like unh
Let them pussy niggas get in your mind like unh
Baby boy you could do it take your time do it....
If you get the chance
To be a man in a b-boy stance and advanced from the go
I'll trace outer space with a unh
The baby-sitter of styles - I've traveled miles with
bitches and....I've traveled miles with.....
I've traveled miles with bitches and brew the ritual
of the real unh
Your platinum but real unh's don't feel you
You sampled real unh's and then filtered
I'm built to last - at last I'm free
The Roots and SV be the family tree
SV and the Roots be the family tree
The Roots and SV and the tree is unh
Come on

[Chorus]
As long as it's funky....alright..okay [yeah]
As long as it's funky...alright
As long as it's funky...alright...okay
As long as it's funky...funky for you now

I style for the ohhh - wild for the ohhh
Baby girl let's go half on a child for the ohhh
Lick shot's pop lock and blaow for the oohh
Like Ra-I'll move a crowd for the ohhh
You talkin' loud but ain't sayin' ohhh
Trickin' paper on a unh... Captain Save-a-ohhh
I've never been.. the type of nigga..
to take.. a broad to the courts
As a shorty I was always into sports
Now I talk to drums and walk in slums and thoughts that's ohhh
Instinct to hustle-divided by the struggle
Plus a couple of scuffle's and up to high shuffle
Even when it sound muffled..
I bust through.. narrow gates..
with king-sized thoughts that's sparrow shaped
Before I came up I had to elevate
Let a nigga move where he wanna move up to
You don't like how I'm livin... well fuck ohhh
I stuck to what I was on... a star is born on a cusp
Many angel's fell to the dust
Leavin' me to trust... only a ohhh
Leavin' me to trust y'all only a ohhh
Leavin' me to trust in a - ahh ohhh ohhh ohhh
ohhh
Yo

[Chorus: x4]
As long as it's funky [yeah]
alright..okay

Let your.. imagination.. dance to the..
Dance to the.. dance to the hey
Like nobody's watchin in a b-boy stance to the hey
I'm funky like Africans in France to the hey
Yo hey.. kick in the bass you..
Chasin paper like a bitch in a race
Spit on or death, I still ain't picked up the ace
The hundred.. styles I run with thick in the race
So let's ohhh.. yeah unh hunh

[Chorus]

The Questions lyrics - Common (feat. Mos Def)

Uhh..

[Common]
It's the questions (what..) it's the questions boy
It's the questions (What?) it's the questions c'mon
The questions (WHAT?) it's the questions boy
It's the questions (hah) it's the questions yeah
Talkin bout the questions, it's the questions y'all
It's the questions (what?) it's the questions, dig it
The questions (why?) it's the questions boy
It's the questions (huh?) that's what it's all about

Yo, yo..
What is an emcee if the wall ain't got no back?
(I don't know, yo, he must be kinda wack)
What is paper to a nigga if the nigga don't stack?
(Yo, why the hell you askin me that?)
Why do these girls, look so good in the summer?
(I don't know, I'm just sayin this shit)
If you got ta-dat-ta-dat-tap for your lady wouldja wanna?
(Hmmm.. yeah, right)
Cause you answer the phone "peace" do that mean that you not a freak?
(Hell no! That's right)
Cause you recognize me-e-e-e-e, yo, I got to speak?
(Why can't you speak? What you big a star now?)
Why you got-ta, act like, nigga, all the time
(Even on SUNDAY's you should..)
Is a nigga yo' complexion, is it all in your mind?
(It's all your mind..)
What's it called y'all?

It's the questions (WHAT?) it's the questions boy
It's the questions (What?) it's the questions, yeah!
The questions (uhh) it's the questions y'all
It's the questions (WHAT?) it's the questions c'mon
The questions, it's the questions boy
It's the questions (ahh, uh ahh) it's the questions, yeah
The questions (yes) it's the questions boy
It's the questions - that's what it's all about

Yo, if I'm a intellectual-al, I can't be sexual?
(I don't know, you wanna be sexual??)
If I want to uhh tah uhh does that mean I lack respect for you?
(I don't know you tell me..)
Youse a grown man, why fuck that young girl, are you lustin?
(I might look twenty but I'm 15 - slow down girl)
If you got paper like that, then why you still hustlin?
(Why you still hustlin? C'mon!)
Now you know yo' stomach too big, to be wearin a shirt like that
(Look at your stomach - ewww it's sloppy)
So why, you want, to go and do that?

[Mos Def]
Why ya why ya why ya why ya why ya wanna why ya wanna
Why ya wanna go and do that love huh?

Yo why your girl gi-giddy when my name come up?
{*female giggling*}
How come the industry build careers that don't last?
(Uh-huh, that's right, ask him)
How come niggaz don't know but they front and don't ask?
(Mmmmhmmm) Man I don't know, I don't know

[Common]
It's the questions (WHAT?) it's the questions girl
It's the questions (What?) it's the questions c'mon
The questions (WHAT?) it's the questions Com
It's the questions (hah) it's the questions yeah
Yo we talkin bout t

It's the questions (the who, the where, the when, the why)
It's the questions, c'mon!!
The questions.. the questions y'all (yo we shoutin it out)
It's the questions - that's what it's all about

[Mos Def]
Yo, why they say never say never, when they know that ain't right?
(What???)
Cause to never say never you done said never twice
(They scrubs, that's why - yeah that's twice)
Why do I need I.D. to get I.D.?
(I don't know, beats me.. beats me)
If I had I.D. I wouldn't need I.D.
(Hahahahah, that's right - that's true)
Why do these fine ghetto women got so much ass?
(Why'd you talkin about our ass though? C'mon now)
Why did Dr. J shave his beard and mustache?
(Like this.. and like this)
How you got high expectations but got no patience?
(C'mon, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know)
How come this joint named "The Questions" is so John Blazin'?
(Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh) Man I don't know, I don't know

[Common + Mos Def]
It's the questions (what..) it's the questions boy
It's the questions, it's just my questions black
Some questions - it's the questions y'all
It's the questions (what?) it's the questions, yo
Talkin bout the questions, it's the questions girl
It's the questions (what?) it's the questions, c'mon
The questions (which?) and we're shoutin it out
It's the questions (huh?) that's what it's all about, yo

[both fade out]...

The 6th Sense lyrics - Common (feat. Bilal)

The revolution will not be televised
The revolution is here
Yeah, it's Common Sense, with DJ Premier
We gonna help y'all see clear
It's real hip-hop music, from the soul, y'all
Yeah, check it, yo

The perseverence of a rebel I drop heavier levels
It's unseen or heard, a king with words
Can't knock the hustle, but I've seen street dreams deferred
Dark spots in my mind where the scene occured
Some say I'm too deep, I'm in too deep to sleep
Through me, Muhammed will forever speak
Greet brothers with handshakes in ghetto landscapes
Where a man is determined by how much a man make
Cop Cognacs and spit old raps with young cats
with cigarettes in their ear, niggerish they appear
Under the Fubu is a guru, that's untapped
Want to be in the rap race but ain't ran one lap
Ran so far from the streets that you can't come back
You tripping with nowhere to unpack, forgot that

[Chorus: Scratched by DJ Premier with variations]

"This is rap for real, something you feel"
"And you know, yes you know"
"Rap for the black people"
"Heeeeyyyy, heeeeeyyyy"

In front of two-inch glass and Arabs I order fries
Inspiration when I write, I see my daughter's eyes
I'm the truth, across the table from corporate lies
Immortilized by the realness I bring to it
If revolution had a movie I'd be theme music
My music, you either fight, fuck, or dream to it
My life is one big rhyme, I try to scheme through it
Through my shell, never knew what the divine would bring to it
I'd be lying if I said I didn't want millions
More than money saved, I wanna save children
Dealing with alcoholism and afrocentricity
A complex man drawn off of simplicity
Reality is frisking me
This industry will make you lose intensity
The Common Sense in me remembers the basement
I'm Morpheus in this hip-hop Matrix, exposing fake shit

[Chorus]

Somedays I take the L to gel with the real world
Got on at 87th, stopped by this little girl
She recited raps, I forgot where they was from
In 'em, she was saying how she made brothers cum
I start thinking, how many souls hip-hop has affected
How many dead folks this art resurrected
How many nations this culture connected
Who am I to judge one's perspective?
Though some of that shit y'all pop true it, I ain't relating
If I don't like it, I don't like it, that don't mean that I'm hating
I just want to innovate and stimulate minds
Travel the world and penetrate the times
Escape through rhythms in search of peace and wisdom
Raps are smoke signals letting the streets know I'm with 'em
For now I appreciate this moment in time
Ball players and actors be knowing my rhymes, it's like

[Chorus til fade]

A Film Called (Pimp) lyrics - Common (feat. Bilal, MC Lyte)

[Common talking]
Yea,Yea,Yea
You know, they call me a pimp, and you know what that mean
I'm a Person that's Making Profit. See I pimp internationally
I'm nationally recognized, locally accepted
I pimp with the truth, that's the only method

[Common]
Seen her on Madison where Vice Lords be Travelin
And Chevy windows be rattlin
and badder than any other broads that I've seen in these parts
Her body language spoke like a smart remark, eyebrows arched
Thick lips, blond wig, nice tits, ass the size that I dig
Asked her the name, one way to approach her
See she had game, she needed me to coach her
Expose her to some paper, freedom and culture
The way a righteous pimp is supposed to

[MC Lyte]
As he came closer in his eyes I seen fortune
I ain't having it like abortion
Walking with this stick holding his tip
Looked like a Black Panther that was trying to pimp
It was cold as shit, I'm waitin on my ride
Act like I didn't see him I tried

[Common]
Motion denied [pause]
I felt the vibe like Roy Ayers
She was used to seeing pimps in furs and gators
Told her I'm an innovator, a gentlemen of leisure
That's in tuned with nature, hold Common's hand
I'm a take you to a pimps promise land
Where no man can break ya, break ya, break ya

[[Chorus:] Bilal singing]

Pimps, ho's, hustlers, plans, dealers,
customers, and bodies stuck in it, Oh my god
Pimps, ho's, hustlers, plans, dealers,
customers, and bodies stuck in it, Oh my god

[Common]
{hey girl, come on over here, check it out)
Make your next move your best move, choose me

[MC Lyte]
How I look working for a nigga in a cuffe'
If I was on a track you couldn't produce me
With them shits on your wrist looking goofy

[Common]
(yea ok)
I pimp without a pause, for the cause, I'm a rebel
You been on the streets I'm trying to take you to another level
You used to the same game, cats saying the same thang
Nigga you gone ho underground or ho mainstream

[MC Lyte]
Nigga you must not know of me
I'm the mack here
Ought to have you ho for me ([Common:] get real now)
Pimp yo punk ass
Have you write me poetry
I'm from a land called cash
You too slow for me

[Common]
You know why?
I'm thinking bigger than Bagets
Birds in slick cars
Or have you on the corner trickin in strip bars
If you become mine the world would be ours
Respect the game, and universal laws

[MC Lyte]
What, I oughta pimp slap your ass and make you fall against the wall
([Common:] try it)
Why you in the game if you ain't even trying to ball
I know pimpin ain't easy but damn you barely surviving
We can't ride together cause you ain't driving
([Common:] oh it's like that)

[Chorus]

[Common]
(this, this, this really how I look at it check it)
You and I together is like Ashford and Simpson
Picture us elbow to elbow at the hustler's convention

[MC Lyte]
Think I'm gone risk my ass then give you the cash ([Common:] yep)
That shit is the past
I got my own stable (Common: where at)
I oughta pierce your navel and put you on the track
Matter of fact I been looking for a ho that's abstract

[Common]
Girl you getting beside yourself
I'm trying to guide you
Help you see inside yourself
I pimp with vision, I'm a help you see the light
Have you covering your body and have you eating right

[MC Lyte]
(is that right)
I'm pimp ho's, pimp pens, ([Common:] Say what)
Pimp rhythms, pimp flows,
Pimp men ([Common:] and pimp what)
Pimp systems
Got stores called big pimpin ([Common:] Where)
Down South
In Texas I ran the best ho house

[Common]
(So)
I pimp from Brazil to um, Tokyo
Have Japanese broads sayin 'choushi wa dou' ([MC Lyte:] Yea right)
Bring'em back to the states to turn dates from Europe
Made the dirtiest of hoes seem purer

[MC Lyte]
(HA ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)
(Common: Why you laughin)
I'm laughin cause you funny
I'm make bitch niggaz like you have my money
I get six hundred off yo skinny ass weekly
You'll get all the right tolls in that dashiki

[Common]
Yo, what ever happened to loyalty
Don't you want to become royalty
On the streets selling ass and oils for me
But you on this ho-asis and really I can't reach you
Fuckyou then I'm about to be a preacher

[Common talking and Bilal Singing Background]

Well there you have it ya'll
The story of pimps and hoes ya'll know how it goes
It's been the oldest profession
The whole thing is like a lesson
Ain't no second guessin
Pimps ya'll, hustlers
All that good shit
Yea, yea 2000 and forever
It'll be here
Uh, uh aiight cool

Nag Champa (Afrodisiac For The World) lyrics - Common

[Common]
Yeah baby boy
In the place (for you and yours) to be
Da uh da uh, we got the uh ya'll
We bout to rock ya'll, we got the uh baby...
Yo yo yo check it
Excite-ting, enlight-ning, invite-ting
I'm writin shit that I feel
Raps are Black Steel In the Hour of commotion, the motion of Com
Is like that of a ocean, devotion cuz I'm
The Earth, Wind, and Fire of hip hop
By Rakim and Short I been inspired
My shit knocks environ---ments
of cats wit seventeen's tint, time is money
The mind is funny, how it's spent on gettin it
It's sittin wit descendants of Abraham
Who say the jam is "Money, Cash, Hoes"
I went from bashful to asshole to international
Lover-self, word to the mother on my last record cover it's felt
Now deal wit it

[Chorus: Bilal]

I wanna get into it
Let's do this
I wanna see you move it
So move it
So let's just get into it
Let's do this
Can you feel the music?
The music oh ah, can you feel the music, the music

[Common]
Yo check it yo
In this never-ending battle to please
Niggas, magazine writers, MC's
Who request hot shit, I freeze
And tell em where I was rose, we always said cold
Hold your Horses and ya Carriages, this never-went-gold nigga
Rocks shows care-less
You not gon' respect self, at least respect the heritage
Affect the lives, the spread of wealth and the merit is
I realize what I portray day to day, I gotta carry this
And beats, rhymes and life is where the marriage is
Had Dreams of Fuckin R&B broads, it came true
Journalist I wreck, shared the same view
Picked up a fallen angel on the path that I MC
Familiar voice, come to find out the angel was me
Some say "You changin, Rashid"
Times are, we still close
I rhyme far, away away away
From what you accustomed to hearin everyday, uh-ah
You know the dope-choppin, gun-poppin, homies dyin
I'm amongst it, save the war stories for Private Ryan, INI

[Chorus]

[Common]
Yo check it yo
Women cry, children laugh, men dance
I refuse to lose self and try to win fans over
Weight on my shoulder fluctuates like Oprah's
My refrigerator poetry's magnetic like ultra
You couldn't hang if you was a poster
Posin like a bitch for exposure
It's rumors of gay MC's, just don't come around me wit it
You still rockin hickies, don't let me find out he did it
Got My Eyes on the Tiger, Eyes on the Prize
Eyes on the thighs of Mary J. Blige, imagin on how good the cat must be
Stop eatin meat, lost weight, but I still rap husky
My verse depth is that of a baby's first step
Or the old lady who died and the nurse wept
I flow like cursive writing, invitin you and yours to my openess
Shows allow me to cop Range/range like a vocalist
But man does not live on bread alone
What good is a Range/range when it's time to head home?

[Chorus x2]

[Common] [during chorus on the second time]
We be that, we be that
Afrodisiac, disiac
We be that, we be that
Afrodisiac, disiac
We be that, we be that
Afrodisiac, disiac
We be that, we be that
Afrodisiac, disiac
We be that, we be that
Afrodisiac, disiac
We be that, we be that
Afrodisiac, disiac yeah

Thelonious lyrics - Common (feat. Slum Village)

Ha, yeah, yeah
Uhh, yeah, yeah, play at your own risk
Act like you know bitch I'm on some grown shit
Ha, yeah, yeah, play at your own risk
Act like you know bitch I'm on some grown shit
It's the Thelonious, super microphonist
You know us, this rap shit we 'bout to own it
You know it, these minimes try to clone us
I got a bonus for the bitch that run up on us
I got a bonus for your bitch that run up on us
It's the Thelonious, super microphonist

Uhh, no time to sleep cuz if you sleep you don't eat
Gotta hold heat, just to make ends meet
Niggas livin on the street while other niggas feast
Aight wit you it aint aight wit me
Right, gotta make money all my life
Gotta stay fuckin bitches many types
Yeah you know what I'm talkin 'bout
Yup, stay turnin these bitches out
Dick em down also dick em out
Throw somethin down whenever my dick's out
They know me so they restructure and reroute
They know me from Washington to down south
All the way to London to my nigga Common house
Right, it's like a game we never play out, out, out, out...

Nigga no doubt, nigga get live or get knocked the fuck out
Word up, just be about what you about dogg
Knowhatimsayin, just play at your own risk
Act like you know bitch I'm on some grown shit
It's the Thelonious, super microphonist
You know us, this rap shit we 'bout to own it
You know it, cuz you can feel it in your throat
Say it

I'm 'bout to let my mind float
(Com, say it)
Get your third eye poked
Fuck game, I assemble dope...
Ness, a nigga that's fresh as the 'fess
Studied this rap shit, no need to mic test
You can feel it in your chest
Your B I, feel it in her breasts
Plus you, rhyme like a nigga wit his nipples pierced
We lick off lyrics in the streets and real niggas hear us
Dreamin when I wrote this, box me if I go too wild
Still doin this shit like dude in wild style
Invitin wack niggas to dinner
I "Trick Daddy" emcees and I don't know, "Nann Nigga"
Who can take it where I take it
You better go into God like Mase did
Leavin crowds complacent
I move em above clouds whether on some ?surface the earth? shit
Or thug style you can feel it in your body
Yeah y'all you can feel it in your body

Like if a 12 gauge shottie shell hit your body
You don't want no one to find your ass a hobby
Carbon copy, niggas tryin to clone us
You know us, Thelonious, super microphone
You know this, rap shit we 'bout to own it dun, for real

Ay, it's like a ritual
You been invited let the ?? stimulate the place
With the grace, nevertheless, I stress
Let the music put a smile on your face
As for the ritual, when it comes to spiritual excellence
You know I always leave you with the taste
I know you like it hard to the core
That's what you ask for ???????
Hurtin like a ?? in that ass, like a ritual
Conversation with the most high makes me wanna cry
I wonder why, you wanna get to paradise
But that itty bitty part of you don't wanna die
So pay attention to my word, cuz it's the truth
Meditation ease the mind, and brings the youth
It's like a verse you could never read out of a book
Darken the line and your mind like a fish hook
Word is birth, yo I do it till the break of day
Pay attention to your art, never go astray
Word is bond

Yo we do it and we don't quit
Sucka nigga you don't want it, it's Thelonious
Ownin this rap shit, super microphonist, and we known to spit
I spit fire like Esther on Sanford and Son did
I'm raw dude, more juice than Sunkiss
You want this, so MJ kept sayin the rhyme flawless
Shit fly like MJ in his prime, "Off The Wall" wit mines
I'm grabbin my balls when I rhyme, nine nines bustin plus
Ball all the time, now stay on your mind like great sex
You aint on my mind I'm thinkin 'bout paychecks
Niggas large like an Adex Avirex jacket
Yo the gods they bust like latex sex packets
Emcees they don't rhyme and ball, they lyin' to y'all
They dyin' to ball, the rhyme we do all the time
We do all the fine bitches they fall in lines
Me and my mans is somethin like the Source Sports
We gettin money a long time and y'all short
My niggas bounce and full rise and y'alls fall
You funny doo, cuz really you think you can do me
When you roll a 500 that's really a 320
Should of let somebody else hook it
Numbers look crooked like King Kong shook it
I'm from where niggas bang gats when they celebrate
That's how they play, don't let it be a holiday
Thelonious niggas, if you testin us we get you laid back
Show you the definition of a pay back

Payback Is A Grandmother lyrics - Common

[Common]
Yo.. I don't know what was on y'all niggaz birds(?)
to go up to the boat - and start robbin old folks
Now see you done messed with the wrong old lady
You done went wild; yo, check it..

There was a Hardy Boy mystery I tried to solve again
Dude that broke in my crib - it wasn't involvin him
Four in the mornin, my phone ringin
I'm thinkin, "Who da fuck is this," on the other line screamin
Told em, "Keep(?) down," but they was breathin hard
It was my grandmother tellin me that she had been robbed
I told her hold (hold) tight (tight), I'd be right over
Freezin but this situation made the night colder
Knew this was the night (that what?) that she played poker
with some friends in a club at the boat gettin bub'
Said she seen these thugs on the boat for a while (uhh)
Not gamblin but every now and then they'd smile
Then BLAOW! They had(?) Mag's
and told everybody, "Put your shit in the bag"
Made people strip naked, quicker than a Luke record (what?)
Had the place took in a minute and some seconds
Asked her how many of it was em? (How many of it was em?)
Said she couldn't remember
She was spooked and buzzin, couldn't describe em
cause it happened too fast (what?) said they looked like me
with they pants hangin off they ass
Got her some water - and begin to think
How these niggaz take her wig, her bracelet and her mink?
Somebody round the crib know the deal (uhh)
Whoever did it better have Blue Shield for real
cause yo, it's the big payback..

[cuts n scratches, Com ad-libs]

[Common]
Later that day I went to the 'shop, to see what was up
Them niggaz probably knew somethin plus I needed a cut
Walked in they was playin Jigga (jihh-gga..)
Discussin how Da Brat titties done got bigger
These niggaz next to me, was talkin bout the heist
Whoever did it even got Jordan for his ice
Said that it was done so precise the cops ain't know nut-nin
Had to use all my might not to ask no questions
Put down the magazine, went to the pop machine
Noticin these cats, had the Bling Bling
They wouldn't be talkin if they did it; it could be they team
A week ago neither one of these niggaz had a ring
This Hype(?) came in, sellin CD's; said the BD's
was braggin bout robbery they had done
By now, I'm thinkin bout my gun if I see gramps bracelet
I'ma play racist (and what?) and make niggaz run
It's the big payback..

[cuts n scratches, Com ad-libs]

[Common]
My imagination roamed as I got in the chair
Thinkin - when shit went down, I was I was there
Fuckin with fam' - who you are, I don't care
Have your guys pourin liquor witch'ya name in they swear
These chicks claim they was there, knew the niggaz who done it
Said it was Smoke and them from the Wild 100's
Eight million stories got me runnin in place, it's gettin tricky
(like who?) like dude, that do drum'n'bass
There was a air in the place, that made me suspicious
Normally, they'd be talkin like bitches
My barber cut me with a quickness (what?)
Asked him where he got the new bracelet;
he said it was his sister's - I knew then
What made it official, he gave me my change
The money clip had gramp's initials (c'mon)
As I, whooped his ass up, six niggaz masked up
Pulled up in a Cadillac truck [gunfire]

[police scanner]
.. three-alarm fire ?? and a possible homicide
The building is entitled "The Ultimate Barbershop"
There are six unidentified bodies in the building
They are all presumed dead
I repeat they are all presumed dead
However there are no suspects
I repeat the subjects are at large
we might need some backup..
Inform O'Malley that we need backup, over..
The skit definitely needs more ?? added to it
plus a new writer for the script, thank you..
Someone get Prince Paul on the phone please..

Geto Heaven Part Two lyrics - Common (feat. D'Angelo)

God bless...

[D'Angelo]
hmmmmm..., doo doooo, doo doooo, yeah..., yeah..., oooh
Know I love my baby, My baby loves me
Layin in some heaven, need a little company
Let's go into a heaven, time to get some Geto Heaven
Geto...

[Verse 1]
Searchin for a love, throughout the ghetto
Young girls is thick, righteousness is narrow
I got my third, eye on the sparrow
Want my peoples straight and rock sweet apparrel
The mother of my child, we not together
Baby it's your back, I got forever
As the weather, talks to us
Him rockin the Holy Spirit walks through us
The blunted eyes of the youth search for a guide
A thug is a lost man in disguise
The rise and fall, of a nation, even when the buildings tumble
I still stand tall, I walk through the valley, wit a life preserver
Feelin at times, that I might just murder
Yo but that aint what I was sent for
I want folks to say his life it meant more
Than any car, any rock, or any broad
He found Geto Heaven in himself and God

[D'Angelo]
Geto Heaven...
Standin in some Geto Heaven
Geto Heaven...
Standin in some Geto Heaven
Geto...

[Verse 2]
Love, your happiness don't begin wit a man
Strong woman, why should you depend on a man
I understand you want a man that's resourceful
If he pay your bills, he feel like he bought you
Talkin to a friend, about what love is
Her man didn't love her, cuz he didn't love his
Hugged her from afar, said what I felt
You never find a man, till you find yourself
Time helps mistakes, you can learn from
Cuz one man fucked up men you shouldn't turn from
You want a certain type of guy, gotta reach a certain point too
At the destination, a king will annoint you
Goin through the storm, many bodies stay warm
That relationship died, for you to be born, you worth more
Than anything you could cop in a store
For you to grow he had to go so what you stoppin him for
Not even I could ignore bein alone it's hard
Find heaven in yourself and God

[D'Angelo]
I know I love my baby
My baby loves me
I'm layin in some heaven, need a little company, yeah
It's twenty four seven, time to get some Geto Heaven
Time to get some Geto Heaven
Geto Heaven, Geto Heaven
It's time to get some Geto Heaven
Time to get some Geto Heaven, ohhhhhh...

[Verse 3]
This music is so much bigger than me
As far as happy, yo it's like a trigger to me
Dealin with crab rappers, and groupie broads
Record execs, at times it do be hard
But to choose words, and be heard across waters
Doin something you like to support daughters
Keepin your guys who collectin court orders
Conveyin messages that the ancestors brought us
Thought of things to say to become the end thing for the day
Somehow, that didn't seem the way for me to make it
Music is a gift that is sacred
I hope you didn't use it hopin you could grow to it
Whether servin or a surgeon, you gon go through it
Can't imagine goin through it, without soul music
It's like Donnie ?half? helped me see Lonnie's ?fath?
On my behalf, let's take whole steps to a ?ho tep?
And show depth, as we make people nod
Find heaven in this music and God
Find heaven in this music and God
Find heaven in this music and God

[D'Angelo]
Geto Heaven
Geto Heaven
Geto Heaven, yeah, yeah
Geto Heaven, my baby
Geto Heaven, my baby
Geto Heaven, my baby
Geto Heaven, my baby
Geto Heaven, my baby...

A Song For Assata lyrics - Common (feat. Cee-Lo)

[Common]
In the Spirit of God.
In the Spirit of the Ancestors.
In the Spirit of the Black Panthers.
In the Spirit of Assata Shakur.
We make this movement towards freedom
for all those who have been oppressed, and all those in the struggle.
Yeah. yo, check it-

There were lights and sirens, gunshots firin
Cover your eyes as I describe a scene so violent
Seemed like a bad dream, she laid in a blood puddle
Blood bubbled in her chest, cold air brushed against open flesh
No room to rest, pain consumed each breath
Shot twice wit her hands up
Police questioned but shot before she answered
One Panther lost his life, the other ran for his
Scandalous the police were as they kicked and beat her
Comprehension she was beyond, tryna hold on
to life. She thought she'd live with no arm
that's what it felt like, got to the hospital, eyes held tight
They moved her room to room-she could tell by the light
Handcuffed tight to the bed, through her skin it bit
Put guns to her head, every word she got hit
"Who shot the trooper?" they asked her
Put mace in her eyes, threatened to blast her
Her mind raced till things got still
Opened her eyes, realized she's next to her best friend who got killed
She got chills, they told her: that's where she would be next
Hurt mixed wit anger-survival was a reflex
They lied and denied visits from her lawyer
But she was buildin as they tried to destroy her
If it wasn't for this german nurse they woulda served her worse
I read this sister's story, knew that it deserved a verse
I wonder what would happen if that woulda been me?
All this shit so we could be free, so dig it, y'all.

[Cee-lo vocals]
I'm thinkin' of Assata, yes.
Listen to my Love, Assata, yes.
Your Power and Pride is beautiful.
May God bless your Soul.

[Common]
It seemed like the middle of the night when the law awakened her
Walkie-talkies cracklin, I see 'em when they takin her
Though she kinda knew,
What made the ride peaceful was the trees and the sky was blue
Arrived to Middlesex Prison about six inna morning
Uneasy as they pushed her to the second floor in
a cell, one cot, no window, facing hell.
Put in the basement of a prison wit all males
And the smell of misery, seatless toilets and centipedes
She'd exercise, (paint?,) and begin to read
Two years inna hole. Her soul grew weak
Away from people so long she forgot how to speak
She discovered frredom is a unspoken sound
And a wall is a wall and can be broken down
Found peace in the Panthers she went on trial with
One of the brothers she had a child with
The foulness they would feed her, hopin she's lose her seed
Held tight, knowing the fight would live through this seed
In need of a doctor, from her stomach she's bleed
Out of this situation a girl was conceived
Separated from her, left to mother the Revolution
And lactated to attack hate
Cause federal and state was built for a Black fate
Her emptiness was filled with beatings and court dates
They fabricated cases, hoping one would stick
And said she robbed places that didn't exist
In the midst of threats on her life and being caged with Aryan whites
Through dark halls of hate she carried the light
I wonder what would happen if that woulda been me?
All of this shit so we could be free.
Yeah, I often wonder what would happen if that woulda been me?
All of this shit so we could be free, so dig it, people-

[Cee-Lo]
I'm thinkin' of Assata, yeah.
Listen to my Love, Assata, yeah.
Your Power and Pride, so Beautiful...
May God bless your Soul.
Oooh.

[Common]
Yo
From North Carolina her grandmother would bring
news that she had had a dream
Her dreams always meant what they needed them to mean
What made them real was the action in between
She dreamt that Assata was free in they old house in Queens
The fact that they always came true was the thing
Assata had been convicted of a murder she couldna done
Medical evidence shown she couldna shot the gun
It's time for her to see the sun from the other side
Time for her daughter to be by her mother's side
Time for this Beautiful Woman to become soft again
Time for her to breathe, and not be told how or when
She untangled the chains and escaped the pain
How she broke out of prison I could never explain
And even to this day they try to get to her
but she's free with political asylum in Cuba.

[Cee-Lo vocals]
I'm thinkin' of Assata, yeah.
Listen to my Love, Assata, yeah.
We're molded from the same mud, Assata.
We share the same Blood, Assata, yeah.
Your Power and Pride, so Beautiful...
May God bless your Soul.
Your Power and Pride, so Beautiful...
May God bless your Soul.
Oooh.

[Assata]
Freedom! You askin me about freedom. Askin me about freedom?
I'll be honest with you. I know a whole more about what freedom isn't
than about what it is, cause I've never been free.
I can only share my vision with you of the future, about what freedom is.
Uhh, the way I see it, freedom is-- is the right to grow, is the right to
blossom.
Freedom is -is the right to be yourself, to be who you are,
to be who you wanna be, to do what you wanna do. [fade out]

"One Day It'll All Make Sense" (1997)

Invocation lyrics - Common

[Common:]
Envisioning the hereafter, listenin to Steve Wonder
On a Quest for Love like the Proceed drummer
I strike like lightning and don't need thunder
Inhale imagination and breathe wonder
That's your lady, I used to run up in her and G weed from her
It's a cold world and niggaz need summer
At times my going forward seems like retreat
As I be writin rhyme after rhyme and throw away beats
Growing into my britches, outgrowing the streets
There's a thin line between war and peace, whores and jeeps
Ignore MCs like beeps, scribblin freedom on pages
My third eye is like pink eye, seemin contagious
Redeemin the ancients with ace this rhyme jargon
I feel Mexican, hip hop is my garden
Don't give a fuck where you chartin, certain shit I can't honor
It ain't that you sellin, it's your karma
Rappers I monitor like a chaperone, you large and haven't grown
Poetically perform fly-bys, another rapper gone
The stage becomes a catacomb, I rap like a mummy
Not for the money, I could have sampled Diana Ross a long time ago
My mind of flow is like motor key 20
Youngblood said he had dimes, I prayed that he see twenty
Hollerin at the brothers, either you gon be a thug or a man
Flip drugs and get land, I can see my man Rashad
As he described how the bucks hit him
And said slugs was still stuck in him, when it rained, it fucked wit
him
This bucket interrupt wisdom and asked when my album was comin
I said it's here
It's here [echoed]

Real Nigga Quotes lyrics - Common

[Common:]
One two, one two, one two
Yo, I be the Big Illinois, here to build and destroy
I come on your deck, on your set
On your strip, through your burrough
Rippin any muthafucka that steps towards me
Yeah, I got power like floors be
Yo, check it out y'all

Real nigga quotes I tote, got some shit on the free but
This some shit that I wrote, legendary like the goat
Who got game?
Giving a quarter rest while I make these quarter notes
My album, niggaz was expectin, now my water broke
Before it, I was sorta broke
Get the paper for the funnies, sports and the horoscope
On a curry goat, like flu stokes order coke
You sharp with your rings and chain but you short a rope
At the end of the road trip still, I'ma hold shit down like syndrome
Rappers are like Fox Brown tryin to get home
Rarely get your touchdown, I'm in the end zone
You can't honor what I'm on, then bitch nigga, get gone
>From the wind storm, I've been told the street folklore
Body language spoke raw, don't talk to broads that are spoke for
That provokes war, stand out like cold sores
You claim that you hard but you wholecore
George Bush and CIA, you movin old or
Write like mention for publishin but you sold yours

[chorus: Dug Infinite]
Com got rhymes, Dug make beats
Style complete, plus unique, the shit be sweet
(on the real)You know the shit be real [x5]
(down on the real to real)

[Common:]
Chicka-chicka-M-chicka-C-chicka-M and my
People call me Com and collective with prospective
I draw crowds, go off like car alarm sounds
Bomb like 'Nam sounds, tell yo bitch to calm down
Unless you want to get me skull askin me to take my hat off
On ill raps, I spit as if I had a bad cough
This Craig nigga stole a style and ain't take the tag off
Playin yourself, you can't come with it, so you jack off
More heart than an artery, jones in my bones
To see thugs in harmony, it's gonna be some drama
If you try to sit Com down, this ain't comedy
Shit is real like a station property, crew is formin colonies
Commonly, I hear these rats thinkin they mahogany
On every rap hook, soundin like a dog to me
In a reservoir, I flow and go
On and on, like Erykah or etcetera
Designated not to make hits but hit home
Out of proportion, hit makers get blown
[scratching] (on the real)

[chorus: Dug Infinite]

[Common:]
R and B studs kill me with they hardcore ballads
Love songs is violent, them niggaz whole style is silent
I hate to Staple the singers together, but in my head
It's been ringin forever...and a day if you grew up on Marvin Gaye
Where all you singers booty this and freak me baby, it gets me
MCs be insecure, like them little hoe niggaz Immature
Wearin bobs, if I got a show in your town, I'm there with mob
Bukein niggaz and pullin broads is the apparent job
(scratching)(on the real)

[chorus x2]
(don't front) [echoed]

Retrospect For Life lyrics - Common (feat. Lauryn Hill)

Yo, we gotta start respectin life more y'all
You look at your brother man you gotta see yourself
Gotta see the God within him
Brothers gettin changed real quick over nothin
We losin too many of ours
Gotta recreate y'all
Yo, check it

Knowin you the best part of life, do I have the right to take yours
Cause I created you, irresponsibly
Subconciously knowin the act I was a part of
The start of somethin, I'm not ready to bring into the world
Had myself believin I was sterile
I look into mother's stomach, wonder if you are a boy or a girl
Turnin this woman's womb into a tomb
But she and I agree, a seed we don't need
You would've been much more than a mouth to feed
But someone, I woulda fed this information I read
to someone, my life for you I woulda had to leave
Instead I lead you to death
I'm sorry for takin your first breath, first step, and first cry
But I wasn't prepared mentally nor financially
Havin a child shouldn't have to bring out the man in me
Plus I wanted you to be raised within a family
I don't wanna, go through the drama of havin a baby's momma
Weekend visits and buyin J's ain't gon' make me a father
For a while bearing a child is somethin I never wanted to do
For me to live forever I can only do that through you
Nerve I got to talk about them niggaz with a gun
Must have really thought I was God to take the life of my son
I could have sacrificed goin out
To think my homies who did it I used to joke about, from now on
I'ma use self control instead of birth control
Cause $315 ain't worth your soul
$315 ain't worth your soul
$315 ain't worth it

[Lauryn Hill: two layers of vocals, same words]
I, never dreamed you'd leave, in summer
You said you would be here when it rained
[Common] Yo
Why didn't you stay

Seeing you as a present and a gift in itself
You had our child in you, I probably never feel what you felt
But you dealt with it like the strong black woman you are
Through our trials and tribulations, child's elimination
An intergration of thoughts I feel about the situation
Back and forth my feelings was pacin
Happy deep down but not joyed enough to have it
But even that's a lie in less than two weeks, we was back at it
Is this unprotected love or safe to say it's lust
Bustin, more than the sweat in somebody you trust
Or is it that we don't trust each other enough
And believe, havin this child'll make us have to stay together
Girl I want you in my life cause you have made it better
Thinkin we all in love cause we can spend a day together
We talkin spendin the rest of our lives
It's too many black women that can say they mothers
but can't say that they wives
I wouldn't chose any other to mother my understanding
But I want our Parenthood to come from Planning
It's so much in my life that's undone
We gotta see eye to eye, about family, before we can become one
If you had decided to have it the situation I wouldn't run from
But I'm walkin, findin myself in my God
So I can, discipline my son with my writin
Not have a judge tellin me how and when to raise my seed
Though his death was at our greed, with no one else to blame
I had a book of Afrikan names, case our minds changed
You say your period hasn't came, and lately I've been sleepy
So quit smokin the weed and the beadies and let's have this boy

[Lauryn Hill]
I, never dreamed you'd leave in summer
You said you would be here when it rained
You said you would be here when it rained
Ohh I, never dreamed you'd leave in summer
Now the situation's made things change
Things change
Why, didn't you stay
Why didn't you stay...
I, never dreamed you'd leave, in summer
In summer
You said you would be here when, it rained
When it rained, it rained
Ohhhohh I, never dreamed, you'd leave in summer
You said you wouldn't leave
Now the situation's made things change
Things change, why didn't you stay?
Stay, stay stay stay stay stay stay
Mmmmm, stayyy
Uh-uh
Ohh why didn't you stay..

Gettin' Down At The Amphitheater lyrics - Common (feat. De La Soul (Posdnuos and Trugoy))

"Ga-ga-gangbusters!!"

[Dove]
Hey give it Boogie like the BX, sex regular booger bitches
get the backseat, G-bumps'll make you buy tapes
Ex-cape the fire tonight, switch like Jekyll and Hyde
and shit, wreckin we live and shit
This swamp water style'll keep em dirty and wet
I bet mills on the rhyme skills, we walk away set
Rich like topsoil, connect coin with currency
Places that I couldn't pronounce, and then bounce
Illegal ain't illegal if it's less than an ounce
Keep it come in T. La Rock amounts, see It's Yours
Study scrolls that includes the clause
Get your dirty paws out my bowl, your hustle's too old to deal
with the shuffle, you exhaust me like a muffle
Get zapped and zipped in the duffle
Came to the set splashed, no Roley on the wrist
To Hell with a guest list, we all up in this!
A two dollar somethin got your eyes on him
But yo she pinchin my ass so we go, limb for limb
Lights studio dim, it's EXACT tonight
So we can drop the Rap Delight, on one!

Just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
"Just get on down.."

[Common]
Underground under pressure, my style is the child
of a lesser, God, I Master like Farad
Persona in between the El Rook'n, and El DeBarge
Metaphorically massage, verbal hajj
I take over breaks and chop loops
Glorifyin, one-eighty hat cats can rock in my troops
Wisdom like a tooth, mock new shits I knock loose
Datin game Thursday's I spot juice, Plug like Pos'nus
Before you get a style, let's get a style
My style pans the crowd back and forth
You were soft as the tracks you rappin off, I pop shit
You tried to laugh it off, actin like you had to cough
and didn't hear it, my spirit sustains in the same pattern
emcee, familiar sample period; spottin where you sampled
your rhyme scheme from -- I ain't clearin it
I drop science and experiment -- contractually
came to terms of endearment with my label
Want to pick out a day to smack wack niggaz, I contact niggaz
like P.O.'s, you spit background lyrics, I rip Lee flows
Wipin your nose like you need blows
Claimin it's a allergy, I react allergic to cats
or is it how they word it
If you had weight it must have been some pussy you served with
Thoughts fermented, I rode rhythms and words tinted
Many lip profess, I'm verb centered

Just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
"Just get on down.."

[Pos]
It's like rip y'all, add it on to lip
Wonder Why's upon this, just to flex my strength
I was the one who killed wackness so I had to do a bid
of twelve years on the mic, before parole with Tommy 'Kid'
Infinite landscaper, green paper maker
Leap far from home with chrome rims and trims
Man these people still takin rappin for a joke
The pimp, I rock it one-double-oh percent
Some of you MC's should be called CM's, Carbon Monoxide
on the mic exposin your polluted bloodtype
Y'all niggaz need a visit from the Brain Fairy
Walk around dead, like your physical's buried
Wrote the rhymes durin a earthquake, cause your style's
shaky as SHIT! Just need to come clean and admit
that yo' quick draw fails the test, and mine was flawless
My DJ gave the scratch, yours was clawless
Your crew couldn't even measure to mine
That's why yo' bitches is busted, and mines is fine
Performin with an upper design, so back on off the plank
We bringin this Big and Bad like Hank

Just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
"Just get on down.."
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down
and just dance, you know you gots the feelin
Just dance, ah come on and get down!!!
"Just get on down.."

[cut and scratch of "Just get on down.." to the song's end]

Food For Funk lyrics - Common

[Common:]
What, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo
Yo, yo yo yo, yo, yo, yo, yo
Check it, yo
You say a one for the trouble, two for the time
Come on y'all, let's rock that, uh
(I can feel the funk) [x4]
Check it

I come to grips with mics
I come to grips that a lot of mic users is dikes
I come to grips with the likes of Fred Hampton
Cold, so I'm lampin, with no need for spotlight
When I got light like an intersection, you talk
But you came to my town with protection
Election year, had the block hot
I scream "fuck the world" for having a baby girl sorta cock block
I write rhymes like I come from the windy city
With my crew, I click like simply, stand midi with reality
Casually, I walk through these war games
Some claim say but then they take on whore names
If that's the way your sex drives, stay in your lane
If you're a man, I can't tell like if the door rang now

[Chorus:]
Now, to the ladies in the house when you come in the place
It ain't a bunch of niggaz all up in your face
The music is thumpin and you're feelin the bass
What you wanna do girl(wanna shout)
To the brothas when you come in a jam, it ain't a bunch of niggaz
It ain't high tech and ain't got free liquor
You jackin his name and stick to make you jones get thicker
What you wanna do man?(let go)
Yo, check it

Some niggaz be on the mic, sounding like dikes
Allow me to get on and bust like Spike(uh)
Lee, I'm in the majors with no rotation
Through stations of bullshit, I see through like a pager
In the age of Aquarius, various things
Is gonna carry us in intellect and what have you
Street astrologists interpret point stars and half moons
Then end up on garages or walls in bathrooms
Every black moon, a rap tune move me
The rap sun, I rain more than Rudy, that unruly shit is played
It don't stop
It's time to get it, get it made
I got my mind made up like Foxy Brown's face
I know how the underground tastes
I want a crib from the ground up, rooms spin at a round pace
Get down based on true story, through Corey, came close to the teachers
Colder as the Iceman, posted before it start wrinklin
Linkin with cats, who don't react to change in the years
Fulfill prophesies in rooms full of emptiness, now

[Chorus:]

I can feel the funk [x8]
Yo, check it, check it

I came through the corridor, with the aura
Raw Chicago mora, scope the horror
Read between the lines and know the border
Some pop wines for juice, I wait in the water
Waitin for you Big Willie niggaz to have a show at The Crib
We gon get with your glamour, long as we know where it is
Tell you ain't a player by your sweater doused with wack feather
The Crib got the gangsta playa shit patent like black leather
I rap better than you, you, or maybe him
But I am like a tree and every lyric is a timb
Spilled brews and greasy foods got my car smelly
Some be so high, they believe they fly like R. Kelly
But then they fall off, dusted niggaz is gettin sawed off
They fall soft, my mental lift is for me to haul off
I kick ass

[Chorus:]
[scratching]
I can feel the funk [x16] (makes me wanna shout, wanna shout) [x4]
[scratching] Wanna shout

G.O.D. (Gaining One's Definition) lyrics - Common (feat. Cee-Lo)

[Common:]
After bein' 25, you know, just trying to survive in the world
Bout to have a little boy or baby girl. Who knows?
Anyway, just when you start gettin that little age and experience to
you
You start thinkin about stuff...tryin to make the right moves
So bust it out, this is what I was thinkin, check it
Yo, the education of the Lon-chicka-Lonnie Lynn
Began, began with time
Bein my bloodline is one with the divine
In time brotha, you will discover the light
Some say that God is Black and the Devil's White
Well, the Devil is wrong and God is what's right
I fight, with myself in the ring of doubt and fear
The rain ain't gone, but I can still see clear
As a child, given religion with no answer to why
Just told believe in Jesus cuz for me he did die
Curiosity killed the catechism
Understanding and wisdom became the rhythm that I played to
And became a slave to master self
A rich man is one with knowledge, happiness and his health
My mind had dealt with the books of Zen, Tao the lessons
Koran and the Bible, to me they all vital
And got truth within 'em, gotta read them boys
You just can't skim 'em, different branches of belief
But one root that stem 'em, but people of the venom try to trim 'em
And use religion as an emblem
When it should be a natural way of life
Who am I or they to say to whom you pray ain't right
That's who got you doin right and got you this far
Whether you say "in Jesus name" or Hum do Allah
Long as you know it's a bein' that's supreme to you
You let that show towards others in the things you do
Cuz when the trumpets blowin, 24 elders surround the throne
Only 144,000 gon get home
Only 144,000 gon get home
Only 144,000 gon get it baby
Chorus Cee-Lo:
I've lived and I've learned
I have taken and I've earned
I have laughed, I've cried
I have failed and I have tried
Sunshine, pouring rain
found joy through all my pain
I just wanna be happy with being me
Cee-Lo:
Let me voice my concern
So many of my fellow brothers have given themselves a title
That their actions didn't earn
Our ignorance is in the same breath as our innocence
Subconciously, seeking to find an impressionable mind to convince
I've finally come to the realization why Black people in the worse
place
Cuz it's hard to correct yourself when you don't know
Who you are in the first place
So I try to find the clue in you
But evidently, White folks know more Black history than we do
Why're we bein' lied to? I ain't know our history was purposely hidden
Damn, somethin' in me wanna know who I am
So I began my search, my journey started in church
It gave my heartache relief when I started to understand belief
Hustlin was like a gift spent my share of time in the streets
Taught me survival from this evil I'm just gonna have to deal with
And I felt like a fool when I tried to learn it in school
It almost seemed like a rehearsal when the only
Science and math are universal
Takin elder advice, read the Bible, the Koran
Searched scrolls from the Hebrew Israelites
Hold on, this ain't right, Jesus wasn't White
Some leads were granted with insight
and it's all in the plan, but it took me some time to overstand
He still created with the imperfection of man
So, with followin' I disagree
By no means have I forgotten or forgiven what's been done to me but
I do know the Devil ain't no White man, the Devil's a spiritual mind
That's color blind, there's evil White folk and evil niggas
You gon surely find there's no positivity without negativity
But one side you gonna have to choose
Any chance to speak I refuse to misuse
So how can you call yourself God when you let a worldly possession
become an obsession and the way you write your rhymes and
Can't follow your lesson
If a seed's sown, you make sure it's known, you make sure it's grown
If you God, then save your own, don't mentally enslave your own
If you God, then save your own, don't mentally enslave your own
If you God, then save your own, don't mentally enslave your own
Well, I've lived and I've learned
I've taken and I've earned
I have laughed, I have cried
I failed and I have tried
Sunshine, pourin rain
I found joy through my pain
Just wanna be happy...bein me
Bein me