Album Name

Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star

Artist

Black Star

Genre

랩/힙합

Release Date

2002.01.01

Release Agency

Universal Music Group

Respiration - Black Star
What'd you do last night
We did umm two whole cars
It was me Dez and Main Three right
And on the first car
in small letters it said
All you see is
and then you know
big big you know
some block silver letters
that said crime in the city right
It just took up the whole car
Yeah yeah it was a whole car and shit
Escuchela la ciudad respirando
Escuchela la ciudad respirando
Escuchela la ciudad respirando
Escuchela
The new moon rode high
in the crown of the metropolis
Shinin like who on top of this
People was tusslin
arguin and bustlin
Gangstaz of Gotham
hardcore hustlin
I'm wrestlin with words and ideas
My ears is picky seekin
what will transmit
the scribes can apply
to transcript yo
This ain't no time
where the usual is suitable
Tonight alive
let's describe the inscrutable
The indisputable
we New York the narcotic
Strength in metal and fiber optics
where mercenaries is paid
to trade hot stock tips
for profits thirsty
criminals take pockets
Hard knuckles on the second
hands of workin class watches
Skyscrapers is collosus
the cost of living is
preposterous stay alive
you play or die no options
No Batman and Robin
can't tell between
the cops and the robbers
they both partners
they all heartless
With no conscience
back streets stay darkened
Where unbeliever
hearts stay hardened
My eagle talons STAY sharpened
like city lights stay throbbin
You either make a way
or stay sobbin the Shiny Apple
is bruised but sweet
and if you choose to eat
You could lose your teeth
many crews retreat
Nightly news repeat
who got shot down
and locked down
Spotlight to savages
NASDAQ averages
My narrative rose
to explain this existance
Amidst the harbor lights
which remain in the distance
So much on my mind
that I can't recline
Blastin holes in the night
til she bled sunshine
Breathe in
inhale vapors
from bright stars that shine
Breathe out
weed smoke
retrace the skyline
Heard the bass ride out
like an ancient mating call
I can't take it y'all
I can feel the city breathin
Chest heavin against
the flesh of the evening
Sigh before we die
like the last train leaving
Breathin in deep city breaths
sittin on shitty steps
we stoop to new lows hell froze
the night the city slept
The beast crept
through concrete jungles
communicatin with one another
And ghetto birds where waters fall
from the hydrants to the gutters
The beast walk the beats
but the beats we be makin
You on the wrong side of the track
lookin visibly shaken
Taken them plungers plungin
to death that's painted
by the numbers
with Krylon applied
pressure cats is playin God
but havin children by a lesser
baby mother but fuck it
we played against each other
like puppets swearin you got pull
when the only pull you got
is the wool over your eyes
Gettin knowledge in jail
like a blessing in disguise
Look in the skies for God
what you see besides the smog
is broken dreams flying away
on the wings of the obscene
Thoughts that people put in the air
Places where you could get
murdered over a glare
But everything is fair
It's a paradox we call reality
So keepin it real will make you
casualty of abnormal normality
Killers Born Naturally
like Mickey and Mallory
Not knowing the ways'll get you
capped like an NBA salary
Some cats be emceeing
to illustrate what we be seeing
Hard to be a spiritual being
when shit is shakin
what you believe in
For trees to grow in Brooklyn
seeds need to be planted
I'm asking if y'all feel me
AND THE CROWD LEFT ME STRANDED
My blood pressure boiled
and rose cause New York niggaz
actin spoiled at shows
to the winners the spoils go
I take the L transfer
to the 2 head to the gates
New York life type trife
the Roman Empire state
So much on my mind
I just can't recline
Blastin holes in the night
til she bled sunshine
Breathe in
inhale vapors
from bright stars that shine
Breathe out
weed smoke
retrace the skyline
Yo don't the bass ride out
like an ancient mating call
I can't take it y'all
I can feel the city breathin
Chest heavin against
the flesh of the evening
Sigh before we die
like the last train leaving
Escuchela respirando
Yoon The Amen Corner
I stood lookin at my former hood
Felt the spirit in the wind knew
my friend was gone for good
Threw dirt on the casket
the hurt I couldn't mask it
Mixin down emotions struggle
I hadn't mastered
I coreograph seven steps to heaven
And hell waiting to exhale
and make the bread leavened
Veteran of a cold war
It's Chica-I-go for
What I know or what's known
So some days I take the bus home
just to touch home
From the crib I spend months gone
Sat by the window
with a clutched dome
listenin to shorties cuss long
Young girls with weak minds
but they butt strong
Tried to call
or at least beep the Lord
but didn't have a touch-tone
It's a dog-eat-dog world
you gotta mush on
Some of this land I must own
Outta the city they want us gone
Tearin down the 'jects
creatin plush homes
My circumstance is
between Cabrini and Love Jones
Surrounded by hate yet I love home
Ask my God how he thought
travellin the world sound
Found it hard to imagine
he hadn't been past downtown
It's deep I heard the city
breathe in its sleep
Of reality I touch but for me
it's hard to keep
Deep I heard my man
breathe in his sleep
Of reality I touch but for me
it's hard to keep
So much on my mind
I just can't recline
Blastin holes in the night
til she bled sunshine
Breathe in
inhale vapors
from bright stars that shine
Breathe out
weed smoke
retrace the skyline
Yo how the bass ride out
like an ancient mating call
I can't take it y'all
I can feel the city breathing
Chest heavin
against the flesh of the evening
Kiss the Ide's goodbye
I'm on the last train leaving