(Talib Kweli) And the people say? We wanna live it up And what the people Please deliver us And the people need? Hey... I got that,
[Talib I call these rappers baby seals, cause they you to death I could call 'em Navy SEALs, they government feds What become of the They drugged up, they fucked up, they in debt There ain't no love and no respect, like a gang it's like a club or a set the new WWF What do you rap or do you wrestle? love to forget We got til it's gone, you you on, you still hustlin backwards Your topical a tropical storm, it's a fuckin disaster Back to the we on, it all started at Rawkus They couldn't find the words to describe me so they to the shortcuts Is he a backpacker? Is he a mad An entertainer or the author of the chapter We living in times of love and cholera Synonymous with the apocalypse, look up the is ominous We got ten years left say meteorologists, shit We waitin for the Congress to acknowledge this~!
[Chorus: Kweli & singers in the background] What the people want? deliver us We live it up, please deliver us Th-th-this is the, th-th-this is the, this is the gospel I'm reaching through the - please deliver us I'm to the choir - please deliver us Just keep it real with us, you scared to your blood Your rung hollow, we need someone to follow
[Talib You ain't tomorrow, so get your paper up You can't always just and asks for favors bruh Stand on your own two, covet thy neighbor's stuff a bitch so watch your mouth and what you sayin bruh I a conversation based on general observation is not a nation, take it to population Niggaz got a lot to say when locked inside the belly of Awaitin trial debatin how the I got placed in this system Am I a or just a product of indoctrination? They exploit it and use me like a movie with product You hear the congregation; this is the hostile The truth is hard to swallow it'll leave you tomorrow Keep it honest our motto, niggaz keep it bottled I'm the writer who reach the fighters like speeches by Cus DJs stickin to vinyl "Fuck Serato" Suppliers who ride around the block, in the models Ballin like the struck the lotto you know who the is A nigga keep it reeich with the stitch and geniuses I'm not a hipster, but I flip it like a pimp Expose the game, treat it like a Smack out these hoes, cause they snitch and tap wires while I plead the fifth You can't trust a soul in the biz, so be who you eatin with and sleepin and also who you chiefin with You never know they might've added in secret
[Talib Freedom's a road seldom traveled, watch hell unravel Right before the eyes of the who fell in battle The single mother who raised her to bear the sacred water And not the hand of every man who make a offer To black kids wishin they white kids, when close they eyelids Like, "I bet they neighborhood like this" White kids wishin they black kids, and wanna like rappers It's all it's identity crisis The industry inside us is vipers with fangs trying to us Drug is the health care providers We cakin, makin narcotics outta household We ain't workin out 'til we the demons that's inside us they seem to just provide us with enough rope to hang ourselves Enough dope to slang ourselves, enough to bang ourselves It's officially season, these niggaz is bleedin That's why I'm spittin freedom we had of trigger squeezin
[Outro: In these tryin and times All I is to be free I do it on my own can you deliver me? There are still to come It's that I need So I'm to the sky Lord can you me? us... Deliver us, Deliver us, Oh, us us Ohhhhh us yes us, deliver us, deliver us Yeah yeah yeah, ohhhhhhhhhh... [ad libs to