[Intro - Talib Kweli]
Yo, you sent out the signal right?
And this is what happened
The voice of Hip Hop got heard
Never compromised
This is how we put it down, c'mon!
[Verse 1 - Kool G Rap]
Throughout my thug life, I've seen the most trife
Like toast lightin' over the role of dice
Flash your whole life when killers on a heist
Sold them tight, get poltergeisted over the bowl of Christ
Who pulled the slice from cats aiming gats at shoulder height
Told you, right? G be the one that come and hold the mic
And aim it at the whole vice squad that's out patrolling nights
Rollin' like every prototype *nigga* was Dolomite
One man be cold as ice. Inside his gun hand, he holds for life
[Verse 2 - Rah Digga]
This for those who pose in they grave
Waitin' for they peace when the law misbehave
I say we fall deep, watch 'em walk the beat
Like, "You can't cross streets"—make 'em all retreat
(Now) Judges and the jury be a little too acquainted
Ending up defendants when we 'sposed to be the plaintiffs
Laugh now cause soon the thrill stops
When heads get it on and start to kill cops
[Verse 3 - Sporty Thievz]
I'm sober, they pulled me over
What I do, yo? (what we do, yo?)
Po-po go, "I'm drivin' too slow" (cool, yo)
Eyes tourin' them, explorin' them (damn)
Four of 'em—that's why I'm ignorin' them (uh-oh)
Think quick, brain like King Skip
Before they bring this to some Rodney King *shit*
(Forget them fools) Naw, make no sudden moves
They reachin' for they tools (let's move)
You buggin', dubes
Kirk, you ran the stop? (nah) Word, them pigs frontin' (uh)
Yo, tell like you tell 'em cousin—we ain't did nothin'
All they see is three blacks in a jeep with seats back
Lookin' for G-packs, how the blood dog can eat that
They thirstin' for a reason to blast, you can't peep that
Gats and a badge to match—you can't beat that, so bounce 'em
[Hook 1 - Mos Def]
My people unite and let's all get down
We gotta have what? Love, peace, and understandin'
One god, One love, One light
One aim, One voice, One fight
[Hook 2 - Mos Def]
My people unite, hop up, and do it right
We gotta have what? Love, peace, and understandin'
One god, One love, One light
One aim, One voice, One fight
My people unite, hop up, and do it right
Do it right ya'll, keep it tight ya'll, do it right ya'll, just do it
[Verse 5 - Shabaam Sahdeeq]
Blood on my mans, destroying the fam'
More soldiers die, another mother cries
Anthony Baez, Eleanor Bumpurs, Diallo
Let it keep happenin' and there's more to follow
It's even deeper than that, penal shot in the back
Forever we fight and cuss, but the world still adjust
So many bullets just to stop one man
Is that the plan? To leave us all dead in the street?
[Verse 6 - Common and Talib Kweli]
[Common]
I'm an opponent of violence
Too many of my guys have become moments of silence
Law takes lives and condone it through sirens
And night sticks. I write quick
Hoping that
[Talib Kweli and Common]
I might hit somebody in the heart
[Talib Kweli]
Like a arrow with her eyes on a sparrow
Yo, I feel my people pain all in my bone marrow
[Common]
I'm tellin' Pharoahe to let my folks go
Marcs is singin' to law like they background vocals
[Talib Kweli]
Local, state, federal cops are being payed properly
To protect the property
How can I just stand by, watch a man die for nothin' and not react
The way we spit on this track is how we bustin' back
[Common]
Yo, I pimp slap 5-0
Get behind them and make them marks drive slow
[Talib Kweli]
Yo, you wanna know how to improve on the quality of life?
Try respectin' it. Step in my zone [?] it
[Verse 7 - Pharoahe Monch]
Cops, they transport me from Long island to Medina
With they *fucked* up demeanor
Dreamin' of stickin' it to me like Abner Louima
Pharoahe slash el-Hajj Malik Shabazz in the flesh
With plans of retaliations for you coward *ass*
God, please allow me to preach for him
A voiceless man through a spirit—I speak for him
Step to city hall, [if for delf, do it for dolo?]
With visions of cops inside the Public Enemy logo
[Verse 8 - Posdnous]
All that schemin' and plottin'
The young absorb like cotton
Especially in my city where the poor steady rottin' and
You would thought 5-0 would cut it all short
But they play the biggest part in the art of livin' wrong
In our land, cops guns clap more than hands
As if we don't deserve what they here to preserve
We just tryna do it right in these boroughs that we reppin' in
Why they tryna fill us with more lead than Zeppelin?
[Hook 1 - Everyone Lead by Mos Def] (x4)
My people unite and let's all get down
We gotta have what? Love, peace, and understandin'
One god, One love, One light
One aim, One voice, One fight
