-Talib Kweli-
[Chorus]
Turn the lights down low and the speakers up high
Feel the energy that we bringing inside
Doin it right, ridin all night
Payin the price, livin the lives
<<To make things better>> women's voice

Take it from me, in this business it ain't unusual to lose your soul
So I zone and put the microphone on cruise control
To let my hands be free
I shape and mold the energy in the room like pottery
Methodically in tune is probably how I be
I walk with God most cats is children of a lesser
On the face of earth they like swords that fester
When they get a little light these snakes be acting all extra
With congratulations that be mad fake like vester
If it's a scam they the investor
A lot of ??? like professor
I make sure my words stay honorable like ??Rob Vinesta??
So true heads is glad I'm hear giving lyrics out the stratosphere
Giving birth, my cipher stay pregnant with ideas, so push
Ever since way back in Ethopia it's known as cush
To the now how we roll through flatbush
We civilized most people in my state is kill or die
Still I rise real hip-hop is still alive

[Chorus] X2

Most of these rap goons, they suck like vacuums
I rhyme great they stuck on primate like baboons
They steady coming lazier than Sunday afternoon
Make me want to turn that shit off and cool out to jazz tunes
But I'm back soon, resurrecting hip-hop is my dream
So you can get the whole picture like a wide screen
Sometimes the road is dark so I flash my high beams
Nobody knows the troubles I've seen
You see these weak in the knee emcees speaking to me
Like they freakin the beat, seeking to be in my company
When in actuality they leaves on the tree compared to me
I'm basically the square root of what they reaching to be
But you can't now can you, I pay my dues on the annual basis
How to lace it I wrote a manual face it
You small like granules and on that fake shit
We keep it down to earth well y'all act like you on spaceships

[Chorus] X4
A few extra <<to make things better>>