What Is Beef?

[Intro: Dave Chappelle]

So I got a little riddle for you:

What happens when you take two of Brooklyn's finest MC's

And put 'em together in a group?

Well, then you have my next guests, make some noise

Mos Def, Talib Kweli — Black Star

[Mos Def, Talib Kweli & Both]

This is a real nigga PSA

From the Black Star Embassy (Yes, yes) of Brooklyn

Entitled: What Is Beef?

[Verse 1: Talib Kweli, Mos Def & Both]

Yo! I was sold to a sick European by a rich African, battlin'!

Middle Passages, I can't go back again

Battlin' years of denyin' history, lies and mysteries

Wives with misty eyes watchin' their niggas be beaten viciously (Brooklyn!)

Battle in the wilderness of North America

Ran by the river, only stoppin' to pray, chased by predators

Terrorists with etiquette who vote and kill their president

Their capacity for evil so evident and prevalent

Ain't no hesitation involved, a nation dissolved

While we sit back waitin' to evolve

Those who would trade in their freedom

For their protection deserve neither

Fuck a name, fuck tradition, religion — you learn Jesus

Turn the other cheek, inherit the Earth, just stay meek

Fuck the way you speak

Try to walk? We chop off your feet

Fast forward to 2003, niggas beef

The psychology of children are slaves to run deep, yo

[Hook: Mos Def, Talib Kweli & Both]

Hell yeah (Hell yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah, yo)

What's beef? (Hell yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah, yo)

That's beef (Hell yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah)

It's always your own peoples

Sometimes, it's your own peoples yo

Yeah, yeah, (Hell yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah, yo)

What's beef? (Hell yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah, yo)

That's beef (Hell yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah, yo)

It's always your own peoples

Sometimes, it's your own peoples, yo

[Verse 2: Mos Def, Talib Kweli & Both]

Beef is not what Jay said to Nas (C'mon)

Beef is when workin' niggas can't find jobs

So they tryna find niggas to rob

Tryna find bigger guns so they can finish the job (Yeah)

Beef is when the crack kids can't find moms

'Cause they in a pine box, or locked behind bars (Yeah)

Beef ain't the Summer Jam for Hot 97

Beef is the cocaine and AIDS epidemic

Beef don't come with a radio edit (Nope)

Beef is when the judge is callin' you 'defendant'

Beef, it come with a long jail sentence

Handed down to you in a few short minutes (Yeah)

Beef is when your girl come through for a visit

Talkin' 'bout "I'm pregnant by some other nigga" (C'mon)

Beef is high blood pressure and bad credit

Need a loan for your home, and you're too broke to get it

And all your little kids is doin' is gettin' bigger

You tryin' not to raise 'em around these wild niggas

Beef is when a gold digger got your seed in her

A manicured hand out like, "Pay me, nigga

Or I'm tellin' your wife"

Or startin' up some foul rumor that'll ruin your life

Beef is when a gangster ain't doin' it right

And other gangsters done decided what to do with his life

Beef is not what these famous niggas do on the mic (Uh)

Beef is what George Bush would do in a fight (That's right)

Beef is not what Ja said to 50 (Uh)

Beef is Weldon Irv not bein' here with me

When a soldier ends his life with his own gun

Beef is tryin' to figure out what to tell his son (Uh)

Beef is oil prices and geopolitics

Beef is Iraq, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip

Some beef is big, and some beef is small

But what y'all call beef is not beef at all

Beef is real life happenin' everyday

And it's realer than them songs that you gave to Kay Slay

This has been a Black Star PSA (C'mon)

From Mos Def, Pretty Flaco, black Dante

And the Black Star embassy (Black Star) B to the K!