Mathematics

[Produced by DJ Premier]

[Intro: Mos Def]

Bucka-bucka-bucka-bucka-bucka-bucka, haha!

You know the deal, it's just me, yo

Beats by Su-Preemo for all of my people, Negroes and Latinos

And even the gringos

[Verse 1: Mos Def]

Yo, check it

1 for Charlie Hustle, 2 for Steady Rock

3 for the forthcomin' live future shock

It's 5 dimensions, 6 senses

7 firmaments of Heaven and Hell

8 million stories to tell

9 planets faithfully keepin' orbit, with the probable 10th

The universe expands length

The body of my text possess extra strength

Power-lift the powerless up out of this Towering Inferno

My ink so hot, it burn through the journal

I'm blacker than midnight on Broadway & Myrtle

Hip-Hop passed all your tall social hurdles

Like the nationwide projects-prison-industry complex

Working-class poor — better keep your alarm set

Streets too loud to ever hear freedom ring

Say evacuate your sleep, it's dangerous to dream

For cha-ching, cats get the *cha-pow!* – you dead now

Killing fields need blood to graze the cash cow

It's a numbers game, but shit don't add up somehow

Like I got 16 to 32 bars to rock it

But only 15% of profits ever see my pockets

Like $69 billion in the last 20 years

Spent on national defense, but folks still live in fear

Like nearly half of America's largest cities is one-quarter Black

That's why they gave Ricky Ross all the crack

16 ounces to a pound, 20 more to a ki'

A 5 minute sentence hearing and you no longer free

40% of Americans own a cell phone

So they can hear everythin' that you say when you ain't home

I guess Michael Jackson was right — "You Are Not Alone"

Rock your hardhat, Black, 'cause you in the Terrordome

Full of hard niggas, large niggas, dice-tumblers

Young teens and prison greens facin' life numbers

Crack mothers, crack babies, and AIDS patients

Youngbloods can't spell, but they could rock you at PlayStation

This New Math is whippin' motherfuckers' ass

You wanna know how to rhyme? You better learn how to add

It's mathematics

[Chorus: DJ Premier scratches]

"The Mighty Mos Def"

"It's simple mathematics"

"Check it out"

"I revolve around science"

"What are we talking about here?"

"The Mighty Mos Def"

"It's simple mathematics"

"Check it out"

"I revolve around science"

"What are we talking about here?"

"Do your math" – "Do your math"

"1! 2! 3! 4!"

"What are we talking about here?"

[Verse 2: Mos Def]

Yo, it's 1 universal law, but 2 sides to every story

3 strikes and you biddin' for life, mandatory

4 MC's murdered in the last 4 years

I ain't tryin' to be the 5th when the millennium is here

Yo, it's 6 million ways to die from the 7 deadly thrills

8-year-olds gettin' found with 9mils

It's 10PM, where your seeds at? What's the deal?

He on the hill pumpin' crills, to keep they bellies filled

Light in the ass with heavy steel, sights on the pretty shit in life

Young soldiers tryin' to earn they next stripe

When the average minimum wage is $5.15

You best believe you gotta find a new grind to get CREAM

The white unemployment rate is nearly more than triple for Black

Some front-liners got they gun in your back

Bubblin' crack, jewel theft, and robbery to combat poverty

And end up in the global jail economy

Stiffer stipulations attached to each sentence

Budget cutbacks, but increased police presence

And even if you get out of prison still livin' –

Join the other 5 million under state supervision

This is bidness; no faces, just lines and statistics

From your phone, your Zip Code, to S.S.I. digits

The system break man, child, and women into figures

2 columns for "Who is" and "Who ain't" niggas

Numbers is hard and real, and they never have feelings

But you push too hard, even numbers got limits

Why did one straw break the camel's back?

Here's the secret — the million other straws underneath it

It's all mathematics

[Chorus: DJ Premier scratches]

"The Mighty Mos Def"

"It's simple mathematics"

"Check it out"

"I revolve around science.."

"What are we talking about here?"

"The Mighty Mos Def"

"It's simple mathematics"

"Check it out"

"I revolve around science.."

"What are we talking about here?"

"Do your math" – "Do your math"

"1! 2! 3! 4!"

"What are we talking about here?"

[Outro: Mos Def]

(Mathematics, mathematics, mathematics...)