Before He Walked

[Intro: Talib Kweli] It's a brand new day If you passionate about what you do like I'm passionate about this music This song is for you It's like I can't breathe When I wake up in the morning I can't breathe Until I listen Feed my family I affect the world And y'all along for the ride [Chorus: Abby Dobson] Like a medicine in times of war, helps me get over The sweetest sounds I ever heard, my joy, my heart, my music Like a medicine in times of war, helps me get over The sweetest sounds I ever heard, my joy, my life, my music [Verse 1: Nelly] I'm from a small city, but I have big dreams Had some good ideas, but I had better schemes I thought the hustle way for me was etched in stone Until my partner died and name etched in stone My daughter's growing up, my son on the way They closing in on me, it feel like any day Music saves me, swooped in like the navy Put a lifetime of scars all in sixteen bars So I took the vow and made music my life Yep, I proposed and made music my wife And if ever need to cut a nigga music's my knife And if I need to bring the girls together music's my dyke So if I degrade it and I hate it, even cried through it I watch brothers prophesize about dying through it Music gave me knowledge of self, and I'm a knowledge-ous self Then gave me knowledge of wealth [Chorus] Like a medicine in times of war, helps me get over The sweetest sounds I ever heard, my joy, my heart, my music Like a medicine in times of war, helps me get over The sweetest sounds I ever heard, my joy, my life, my music [Verse 2: Talib Kweli] Music a part of me, I'm a bully Beating up the track with brutal honesty The truth inside of me, rappers hit the booth and they lie to me I'm using the inspiration Guru provided me The redefining of space, you can call me the new geometry A picture of you pop up when I google monotony Now all the people who rule and spend responsibly Think your album is trash and it's not the voodoo economy So you expecting the conscious and introspective views Eat your lyrical vegetables, let me tell you what’s best for you My music give you a message true and respect is due But music is emotion that’s lost on the intellectuals A tree fall in the forest is never heard Amongst the sparrows and the robins and even the ghetto birds You download it for free but what I create is sacred It cost you nothing but I pay to make it, trust me [Chorus] Like a medicine in times of war, helps me get over The sweetest sounds I ever heard, my joy, my heart, my music Like a medicine in times of war, helps me get over The sweetest sounds I ever heard, my joy, my life, my music [Verse 3: Talib Kweli] I was born on the afterbeat I'm like Robert Johnson When you reach the crossroads Me and the devil have to meet I saw the same thing as Clef and Lauryn, when they saw it Lauryn went looking for God and 'Clef kept tourin' We listen to the same songs but we hear them different Serenade of death like we got a fear of living Having a seance on stage cause the spirit risen Stop the devilish ways with clever displays of lyricism These songs are a natural resources of actual street stories Attract the police forces Slaves to the rhythm the masters they eat off us