[Intro: Q-Tip]
Yo, we all got different things that we got to deal with, you nam'sayin?
Sometimes, I think people always want to put the blame on something else rather than sometimes looking at ourselves
Recognizing that a lot of the stuff that happens...sometimes has to do with other things
But if we look within ourselves, we could prevent a lot of this nonsense sometimes, you know?
It's about relating back to the essence, you nam'sayin', where it all stems from
So I'mma do my thing over the drum like a Native Tongue, you know?
Yeah, buss it
[Verse 1: Q-Tip]
Do what you will, if you feel that your steeze is real
Complicated with the sk**s over reel to reels
Brown skin is what I feel, my mind and body's appeal
Is to the no-frill mills, who hear the beats to chill
Constantly, I'm hearing Black Americans just sneering
Looking for a leader who can fill us up with ether
Heating us up with great emotional chat
About the fact that the black's constantly held back
Like 50 tracks back in a relay race
And the white team's ahead, so let's keep up the pace
And I be needing something that could feed my logical taste
At the end of the race is there a paradise place?
Yo, we can't get involved in what the next man is doing
Material gains we put too much in pursuing
("Yo duke, I need this dough so we can step to this party, man, word")
But we can all Mardi Gras-di minus that sh** in our body
("Yo, what that got to do with that?")
'Cause, kid, that's the essence
Your physical presence embodies every lesson
You can't run the Rolls Royce if the engine is busted
Can't even life the knife to cut the mustard
What we need to do first
Now listen to this verse
Let's concentrate on our spiritual plate
Recognize your existence in this vast blue space
From a tiny cloud of blood to the human beings with taste Sight, touch, smell and sound, let's deem it profound
And prioritize this 'cause it was Allah's wish
("Allah? Yo, I'm God")
("I don't believe that. That's a mystery")
("If God is so good, yo, why this sh** be happening to me?")
There's divinity within because we come from the divine
A force that's not seen but, yo, we feel it every time
When the wind blows, and the Earth turns
And the rain drops, and the babies cry
And the birds fly, and the grounds quake
And the stars gleam
Yo, so many things are evidence of His existence
What we need to do is link it with persistence
Hear me out
Yo, once we recognize then we can move ahead
Native Tongues, Common Sense, yo, he's Hip-Hop bred...
[Verse 2: Common]
From the spiritual world my film of life has developed
First person I lost close to me was Stella
Some of my mellows lost their mothers and their brothers
For them I feel empathy
But I ain't pouring out no f**in' Hennessy
I pour my heart out when I see Dot out on the deck
Knowing two weeks ago he slap-boxed with d**h
I hear of n***as dying in the wind and on the news
But when it's somebody you know it hits you
And emotions get bruised
I ain't been in your shoes
I won't judge or knock you
The spirit of the ghetto say you got to
That scratch you gettin' from rock flippin'
Give back into the neighborhood, you better start kickin'
Stickin' stores on the strip
I'm tired of Arabs giving me my change back
Devil bomb my yesterday, my tomorrow he never gave back
I lay back, looking at the ceiling, wondering what could I do
So my homies won't have to be dealing
Not cause you serving and I'm rapping I'm better
Just different pieces to the puzzle of black life
That we have to put together, better ourselves
'Cause families we gotta raise
No matter how long the money, shorter become the days
Men become like wind, ain't no difference in the season
If you got popped five times, you breathing for a reason
Let's put this five-, ten-year come-up plan in progression
Before we count our papers, count our blessings
[Outro: Q-Tip]
And there you have it
You know you got to grab it
It's all good, naw'mean?
Let's make it clear: the Native Tongues is in here
The JBs, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Common Sense
Busta Rhymes, Flipmode, naw'mean?
You got The Ummah, Beatnuts, Rah Digga
Consequence, Mos Def, naw'mean?
Black Sheep, Beatnuts, Queen La, Mo Love, naw'mean?
Native Tongues up in here, don't forget it
Raphael Saadiq
Yo, we out, peace