(Talib Kweli) And the people say? We wanna live it up And what the people want? deliver us And the people need? Hey... I got that,
[Talib I call rappers baby seals, cause they club you to death I call 'em Navy SEALs, cause they government feds What become of the vets? drugged up, they fucked up, they in debt There ain't no love and no respect, it's like a gang it's 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 think you on, you hustlin backwards Your topical norm a tropical storm, a fuckin disaster Back to the topic we on, it all started at They find the words to describe me so they resort to the shortcuts Is he a backpacker? Is he a mad An entertainer or the of the last chapter We living in times of love and cholera Synonymous with the apocalypse, up the clouds is ominous We got maybe ten left say meteorologists, shit We still for the Congress to acknowledge this~!
[Chorus: Talib & singers in the background] What the people want? deliver us We wanna live it up, please us Th-th-this is the, is the, this is the hostile gospel I'm reaching through the - please deliver us I'm preaching to the choir - please us Just keep it real with us, you to spill your blood Your words rung hollow, we someone to follow
[Talib You promised tomorrow, so get your paper up You can't just borrow and asks for favors bruh Stand on your own two, never covet thy stuff Karma's a bitch so watch your and what you sayin bruh I start a based on general observation is not a nation, take it to population Niggaz got a lot to say locked inside the belly of Satan Awaitin trial debatin how the hell I got placed in this Am I a or just a product of indoctrination? They exploit it and use me like a movie product placement You the congregation; this is the hostile gospel The truth is hard to swallow it'll you scarred tomorrow Keep it honest our motto, niggaz keep it bottled I'm the who reach the fighters like speeches by Cus D'Amato DJs stickin to vinyl "Fuck Serato" Suppliers who around the block, in the custom models Ballin like the struck the you know who the cleanest 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, it like a bitch Smack fire out these hoes, cause they snitch and tap wires while I the fifth You can't trust a soul in the biz, so be careful who you with and sleepin with and who you chiefin with You never know they added in secret ingredients
[Talib Freedom's a that's seldom traveled, watch hell unravel Right the eyes of the soldier who fell in battle The single mother who her daughter to bear the sacred water And not take the hand of every man who 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 suppliers is the health care providers We cakin, makin narcotics household products We ain't workin out 'til we exorcise the demons that's us Plus they seem to just provide us with enough rope to ourselves Enough dope to slang ourselves, toast to bang ourselves It's officially nigga season, these niggaz is That's why I'm spittin freedom we had of trigger squeezin
[Outro: In these days and times All I need is to be I do it on my own can you deliver me? There are trials to come It's salvation I need So I'm to the sky Lord can you me? us... Deliver us, Deliver us, Oh, us us Ohhhhh us yes Deliver us, us, deliver us Yeah yeah yeah, ohhhhhhhhhh... [ad libs to