Day by Day

[Talib Kweli]

Yo you think that, it's crazy man?

This brother from South Africa told me that there's like

A 2Pac tribe, and a Biggie tribe right?

And heads got like AK-47's and machine guns and

And and and Africans killin each other

Over some East coast/West coast, knahmsayin?

I mean that we deaded it a long time ago man

But lives is bein lost, yaknahmsayin?

Over some bullshit, yaknamsayin?

I don't really understand it yo

[Wordsworth]

Yo, reality is life and death, full of fights and threats

Murders, burglars, prostitutes search the night for sex

Rollin dice on steps, take advice from vets, brains are bright in death

And you can have accounts that never bounce from writin checks

Life and tecs, there ain't really much here

Either sports video games you deal or cut here

Jeeps or Porches, a portion of dreams in fortune

Intercourse that I'm stressed to keep it or abortion

My topics full of plans, on profit from this land

A pocket full of grands to have your optics full of fans

I'm tired of dollar bands, shoppin carts pushin cans

And jobs ain't callin back, you better off pullin scams

To rack props, cops harass black blocks

Parents addicted, kids on they colors from crack tops

For jacktops, pistols instead of tissue muscle to bust you

You got a choice, either b-boy or drugs can rush you

[A.L.]

Life is too short, that's why I strive to live it to the fullest

Half my brothers are locked up, the other half a caught a bullet

To pull it, it's kinda strange like every night I got a full moon

I used to pull boom, hopin one day I'd drop a jewel soon

But hard to see that, with so many problems in my picture

My car ? that, I try to soft it with the liquor

We're dissolvin quicker, my streets are hotter than Cancun

Backstabbers'll shank you, say more than thank you and prank you

They're brainwashin us, that's why I never use the shampoo

The game knockin us, that's why I'm clever when the cam zooms

So what's the reason for the treason who you pleasin when you skeezin

Bullets breezin every season leavin bodies freezin

Forget excuses, puttin the blame up on the flamer

Hip-Hop is useless, when entertainers hit containers

Simple and plainer but crime is gettin stranger

Wrinkles my gainer, but in time we'll live in danger

No remainders in my chamber my eras are filled with toxicant

Lyrics my oxygen I get the spirits from my moccassins

My mouth is where I dropped my gem, I made the Glock my friend

No peace in the East, little kids is throwin rocks again

Chorus: Talib Kweli

It's only one life to live so I sacrifice

But nobody came back from the afterlife

Life and death is the fate of the streets

Take it day by day, pray before I eat, pray before I sleep

One life to live so I sacrifice

When nobody came back from the afterlife

Life and death is the fate of the streets

Take it day by day, pray before I eat, pray before I sleep

[Talib Kweli]

The survivor of slavery, definition of bravery

Flowin like Brooks bust Nines in Deep Space like Avery

With rhymes made to be complete like A to Z

Or the number nine the months of pregnancy, what can you say to me?

Call up the travel agency, book a flight to the end of time

When the wicked get refined, the righteous kick a rhyme livin divine

Rewind, to the present state of mind right now

Where beef will have you dead like the first man to catch Mad Cow

Life is full of too much trifeness to chill and be enjoyin

I be in the inner city like asbestos and lead poison

My memories within the cannon of history

Ready aim spit-fire my artillery, in the faces of cats who grillin me

(Yo what you lookin at?) Quick to touch up cats who ain't feelin me

With the ability, to plug you in, like auxillary

Livin digitally, the only condition is critically

You still the man physically but I'm sunnin you spiritually

Consider me far from average, lyrical rites of passage

Rhymes comin out my cabbage, cold light up a savage

Take you back to baby carriage, yo, for what it's worth

Drop a master verse before they cleaned up the afterbirth

[Punchline]

Aiyyo since I was teethin, I was labelled a heathen

A demon, my pops must have had bad semen

Now all eyes peepin, the man with the raps

Been kickin since the womb and my moms felt that

Train of thought off track, cause I couldn't F widdit

I taught myself to hold ground on one pivot

And never be timid, call me the rap God

A slave to the game just like Amistad

I rap eager, a daydreamer

I seen cats dance for crack, like Gator in Jungle Fever

While the thugs bust shots til it just don't stop

I'll have a fat knot, controllin finances through the laptop

Enhancin your mind, at night when I rhyme

I spit gems that shine havin you thinkin it's daytime

I be the final sign, at any rate, opposin debate

For all rappers with militant mindstates

Chorus