Yo Dee (What?)
 Come on (Yeah..)
 What? What? Come on
 (Yeah)

 "Give me the fortune, keep the fame," said my man Louis
 I agreed, know what he mean because we live the truest lie
 I asked him why we follow the law of the bluest eye
 He looked at me, he thought about it
 Was like, "I'm clueless, why?"
 The question was rhetorical, the answer is horrible
 Our morals are out of place and got our lives full of sorrow
 And so tomorrow comin later than usual
 Waitin' on someone to pity us
 While we findin beauty in the hideous
 They say money's the root of all evil but I can't tell
 YouknowhatImean, pesos, francs, yens, cowrie shells, dollar bills
 Or is it the mindstate that's ill?
 Creating crime rates to fill the new prisons they build
 Over money and religion there's more blood to spill
 The wounds of slaves in cotton fields that never heal
 What's the deal?
 A lot of cats who buy records are straight broke
 But my language universal they be recitin my quotes
 While R&B singers hit bad notes, we rock the boat
 of thought, that my man Louis' statements just provoked
 Caught up, in conversations of our personal worth
 Brought up, through endangered species status on the planet Earth
 Survival tactics means, bustin gats to prove you hard
 Your firearms are too short to box with God
 Without faith, all of that is illusionary
 Raise my son, no vindication of manhood necessary

 [M.D.] Not strong
 [T.K.] Only aggressive
 [M.D.] Not free
 [T.K.] We only licensed
 [M.D.] Not compassioniate, only polite
 [T.K.] Now who the nicest?
 [M.D.] Not good but well behaved
 [T.K.] Chasin after death
 so we can call ourselves brave?
 [M.D.] Still livin like mental slaves
 [both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
 Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
 [both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
 Illusions of oasis makin you look twice

 [Mos Def]
 Yo, I'm sure that everbody out listenin agree
 That everything you see ain't really how it be
 A lot of jokers out runnin in place, chasin the style
 Be a lot goin on beneath the empty smile
 Most cats in my area be lovin the hysteria
 Synthesized surface conceals the interior
 America, land of opportunity, mirages and camoflauges
 More than usually -- speakin loudly, sayin nothin
 You confusin me, you losin me
 Your game is twisted, want me enlisted -- in your usary
 Foolishly, most men join the ranks cluelessly
 Buffoonishly accept the deception, believe the perception
 Reflection rarely seen across the surface of the lookin glass
 Walkin the street, wonderin who they be lookin past
 Lookin gassed with them imported designer shades on
 Stars shine bright, but the light -- rarely stays on
 Same song, just remixed, different arrangement
 Put you on a yacht but they won't call it a slaveship
 Strangeness, you don't control this, you barely hold this
 Screamin brand new, when they just sanitized the old shit
 Suppose it's, just another clever Jedi mind trick
 That they been runnin across stars through all the time with
 I find it's distressin, there's never no in-between
 We either niggaz or Kings
 We either bitches or Queens
 The deadly ritual seems immersed, in the perverse
 Full of short attention spans, short tempers, and short skirts
 Long barrel automatics released in short bursts
 The length of black life is treated with short worth
 Get yours first, them other niggaz secondary
 That type of illin that be fillin up the cemetary
 This life is temporary but the soul is eternal
 Separate the real from the lie, let me learn you
 Not strong, only aggressive, cause the power ain't directed
 That's why, we are subjected to the will of the oppressive
 Not free, we only licensed
 Not live, we just excitin
 Cause the captors.. own the masters.. to what we writin
 Not compassionate, only polite, we well trained
 Our sincerity's rehearsed in stage, it's just a game
 Not good, but well behaved cause the ca-me-ra survey
 most of the things that we think, do, or say
 We chasin after death just to call ourselves brave
 But everyday, next man meet with the grave
 I give a damn if any fam' recall my legacy
 I'm tryin to live life in the sight of God's memory
 Like that y'all

 [Mos Def]
 A lot of people don't understand the true criteria of things
 Can't just accept the appearance
 Have to get the true essence

 [Talib Kweli]
 They ain't lookin around

 [M.D.] Not strong
 [T.K.] Only aggressive
 [M.D.] Not free
 [T.K.] We only licensed
 [M.D.] Not compassioniate, only polite
 [T.K.] Now who the nicest?
 [M.D.] Not good but well behaved
 [T.K.] Chasin after death
 so we can call ourselves brave?
 [M.D.] Still livin like mental slaves
 [both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
 Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
 [both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
 Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
 [both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
 Illusions of oasis makin you look twice
 [both] Hidin like thieves in the night from life
 Illusions of oasis makin you look twice

 [Mos Def (singing)]
 Stop hidin, stop hidin, stop hidin your face
 Stop hidin, stop hidin, cause ain't no hiding place
 * repeat 2X*

 (Ad libs to fade