Samples: Mobb Deep - "Allustrious" The Intruders - "Memories Are Here to Stay" -------
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