Epik High - Lesson 1 (Tablo's Words) lyrics

[Intro: Rakim] People um I walk through the streets Everybody wanna change You gotta do certain things, you know? Straight up [Intro: Tablo] Yeah, people, attention Education, knowledge Huh, yeah, I got something to say to my teachers Genius is not the answer to all questions It's the question to all answers [Verse 1: Tablo] Do we learn math to add the dead sums? Subtract the weak ones, count cash for great ones? Yo, we multiply but divide the nation Break down like fractions, send our sons away to die Do we learn science in defiance of faith? To make alliance with fakes for an appliance's sake? We ask for the real to make artificial intelligence To make smarter k**s of others' presidents Why do we learn history? To fix stories for the guilty? Make angels look filthy and the devils look milky? If the victor writes the books then what have we won? Are we battleships of authorship a rich man's guns? Do we learn to read to receive the lies To deceive the eyes from seeing between the lines? Yo, we use words to bring forth sticks and stones To sing songs of hate that fill the streets with bones [Hook: Various scratches] "Unseen or heard" "A king with words" "Tablo, lyrical a**a**in" "Y-y-yeah yeah" "Make me vision for better livin'" "Unseen or heard" "A king with words" "Tablo, lyrical a**a**in" "Y-y-yeah yeah" "Make me vision" "I'm the truth" [Verse 2: Tablo] Is a day job more than self-slavery? When we're locked watching the clock impatiently We sweat for the dollar bills, the checks, and the credit cards But the dollar k**s, breaks the necks of our inner hearts If the police are role models for the righteous Why does justice depend on guns and nightsticks? Mr. officer, don't punish me, with brutality The streets got me singing Marvin Gaye off-key Why do we need church to get to heaven's gates? Can holy water quench the thirst of those whose fates Started in the wrong place with the wrong face? Can the poor and the hungry survive solely on grace? Can this rap game ever bring changes? When MCs would rather floss a cross than be saviors? Will I last in this game, be blasted with shame Will I stand for my name and never blaspheme for fame? [Hook]