o.G.

[Intro: Talib Kweli & Yasiin Bey]

This one is real hot

Let's go, ugh

Bismillah

Welcome to the Black Star

[Verse 1: Yasiin Bey with Talib Kweli]

Joy and pain, coin of the realm, both sides, racks

Such powerful current could make tears touch the eyes, facts

Grace for every morning, God opened up mine and thine, Alhamdulillah

We all on notice that any next moment could be the last time

You stand on this side, slow down, son, you're killing 'em

But only the phony because the real don't die, on God

All good for all hoods and palaces, poised throughout triumphs or challenges

Top rank, duppy conqueror skank

And the balance don't break for any large or small bank balances

The parable of the talented, each generation

The wonders and the wealth of all nations

Is really chump change once you take into consideration

The living revelation that no soul could escape from

So go on, let a sucker say something

'Cause even when they're saying something, they ain't saying much

I refrain from retorts and just pray for him

Stay away from him, roll through or rise raise on 'em

Bang, shine the Gamma, Bey on 'em

Shilalah live from Bedford Stuyvesant, the livest one

The king said, ''uh''

And even when we die, we will not stay dead

And I said what I said, so there it is

The light is not afraid of the dark at all

That part, Black Star (Black Star)

[Chorus: Yasiin Bey]

I want to thank you for helping me reach the understanding

That time is relative and the truth is everlasting

I want to thank you for helping me reach the understanding

That time is relative 'cause the truth is everlasting

[Verse 2: Talib Kweli & Yasiin Bey]

This one is real hot

That's on God

Black star embassy, no fear of time

Getting paid independent like Cinema Nouveau

Logging travels in my journal like Robinson Crusoe

Nom de plume, no Daniel Defoe

Encyclopedia Britannica flow

The gravity to pull a planet, straight insanity that bust open your cantaloupe flow

We the lions where the antelope roam

Brooklyn botanical gardens and stick-up artists with they hands in they coat

Give up the goods or they hands on your throat

That's all she wrote but now we woke, right? I'm making it plain, I talk to 'em

Dissecting all the doors of perception, I walk through 'em

They think I'm arguing, I'm not talking to 'em, I talk through 'em

Way too many garbage humans, they raw sewage

Ashes to ashes and dust to dust

We gon' bash us some fascists and **** them up

This the parable of the talented, powerful is the caliber

My birthday is a holiday, mark it down on your calendars

YouTube, they feeding us through a catheter

'Bout to holler at Yasiin and move to Africa

Spectacular, bars assassinate your character

Brooklyn got the best rappers per capita (Uh)

Yeah, no lies detected

You pull it out, you better fire that weapon

Measure influence by the lives affected, writing records, getting high for breakfast

I crash by lunch but I'll survive the wreckage

By dinner time, I was aligned 'cause I received the message

Heeded a lesson 'cause I needed a blessing

Gave up the glory, the liars and thieves made up a story

I stood up for the people, I ain't wait 'til they came for me (Came for me)

Solidarity, and that's on God

[Chorus: Yasiin Bey]

I want to thank you for helping me reach the understanding

That time is relative and the truth is everlasting

I want to thank you for helping me reach the understanding

That time is relative 'cause the truth is everlasting