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Mathematics Lyrics
[Mos Def]
Booka-booka-booka-booka-booka-booka
Ha hah
You know the deal
It's just me yo
Beats by Su-Primo for all of my peoples, negroes and latinos
and even the gringos
Yo, check it one for Charlie Hustle, two for Steady Rock
Three for the fourth comin live, future shock
It's five dimensions, six senses
Seven firmaments of heaven to hell, 8 Million Stories to tell
Nine planets faithfully keep in orbit
with the probable tenth, the universe expands length
The body of my text posess extra strength
Power-liftin powerless up, out of this, towerin inferno
My ink so hot it burn through the journal
I'm blacker than midnight on Broadway and Myrtle
Hip-Hop past all your tall social hurdles
like the nationwide projects, prison-industry complex
Broken glass wall better keep your alarm set
Streets too loud to ever hear freedom sing
Say evacuate your sleep, it's dangerous to dream
but you chain cats get they CHA-POW, who dead now
Killin fields need blood to graze the cash cow
It's a number game, but shit don't add up somehow
Like I got, sixteen to thirty-two bars to rock it
but only 15% of profits, ever see my pockets like
sixty-nine billion in the last twenty 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
Sixteen ounces to a pound, twenty more to a ki
A five minute sentence hearing and you no longer free
40% of Americans own a cell phone
so they can hear, everything 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 niggaz, large niggaz, dice tumblers
Young teens and prison greens facin life numbers
Crack mothers, crack babies and AIDS patients
Young bloods can't spell but they could rock you in PlayStation
This new math is whippin motherfuckers ass
You wanna know how to rhyme you better learn how to add
It's mathematics
Chorus: scratched by DJ Premier (repeat 2X)
"The Mighty Mos Def.."
"It's simple mathematics" -> Fat Joe
"Check it out!"
"I revolve around science.."
"What are we talking about here?"
.. "Do your math" -> Erykah Badu (2X) ..
.. "One.. t-t-two.. three, four" -> James Brown ..
.. "What are we talking about here?" ..
[Mos Def]
Yo, it's one universal law but two sides to every story
Three strikes and you be in for life, manditory
Four MC's murdered in the last four years
I ain't tryin to be the fifth one, the millenium is here
Yo it's 6 Million Ways to Die, from the seven deadly thrills
Eight-year olds gettin found with 9 mill's
It's 10 P.M., where your seeds at? What's the deal
He on the hill puffin krill to keep they belly 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 ground to get cream
The white unemployment rate, is nearly more than triple for black
so frontliners 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 five million under state supervision
This is business, 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
Two columns for who is, and who ain't niggaz
Numbers is hardly 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
{closing scratch} "Mathematics.."
Booka-booka-booka-booka-booka-booka
Ha hah
You know the deal
It's just me yo
Beats by Su-Primo for all of my peoples, negroes and latinos
and even the gringos
Three for the fourth comin live, future shock
It's five dimensions, six senses
Seven firmaments of heaven to hell, 8 Million Stories to tell
Nine planets faithfully keep in orbit
with the probable tenth, the universe expands length
The body of my text posess extra strength
Power-liftin powerless up, out of this, towerin inferno
My ink so hot it burn through the journal
I'm blacker than midnight on Broadway and Myrtle
Hip-Hop past all your tall social hurdles
like the nationwide projects, prison-industry complex
Broken glass wall better keep your alarm set
Streets too loud to ever hear freedom sing
Say evacuate your sleep, it's dangerous to dream
but you chain cats get they CHA-POW, who dead now
Killin fields need blood to graze the cash cow
It's a number game, but shit don't add up somehow
Like I got, sixteen to thirty-two bars to rock it
but only 15% of profits, ever see my pockets like
sixty-nine billion in the last twenty 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
Sixteen ounces to a pound, twenty more to a ki
A five minute sentence hearing and you no longer free
40% of Americans own a cell phone
so they can hear, everything 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 niggaz, large niggaz, dice tumblers
Young teens and prison greens facin life numbers
Crack mothers, crack babies and AIDS patients
Young bloods can't spell but they could rock you in PlayStation
This new math is whippin motherfuckers ass
You wanna know how to rhyme you better learn how to add
It's mathematics
"It's simple mathematics" -> Fat Joe
"Check it out!"
"I revolve around science.."
"What are we talking about here?"
.. "One.. t-t-two.. three, four" -> James Brown ..
.. "What are we talking about here?" ..
Yo, it's one universal law but two sides to every story
Three strikes and you be in for life, manditory
Four MC's murdered in the last four years
I ain't tryin to be the fifth one, the millenium is here
Yo it's 6 Million Ways to Die, from the seven deadly thrills
Eight-year olds gettin found with 9 mill's
It's 10 P.M., where your seeds at? What's the deal
He on the hill puffin krill to keep they belly 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 ground to get cream
The white unemployment rate, is nearly more than triple for black
so frontliners 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 five million under state supervision
This is business, 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
Two columns for who is, and who ain't niggaz
Numbers is hardly 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
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
'Broken glass wall better keep your alarm set'
I always heard this line as 'Working class poor better keep your alarm set.'
About the statistics and state of the US.
This song is awesome. The first part is a little too unfocused, but once he starts getting into the political stuff it kicks ass.
Mos Def is Hip-hop. I love it, and I love him for trying to raise awareness of the black community's struggle and of the corrupt government. One of my favorite songs by him...
Rock your hardhat black cause you in the Terrordome full of hard niggaz, large niggaz, dice tumblers Young teens and prison greens facin life numbers Crack mothers, crack babies and AIDS patients Young bloods can't spell but they could rock you in PlayStation (favorite line.)
its the Premier beat thats just plain briliiant..
"Why did one straw break the camel's back? Here's the secret: the million other straws underneath it - it's all mathematics"
that is fucking genuis.
which murdered MCs is he talking about being murdered besides 2pac and biggie?
"Four MC's murdered in the last four years"
"Four MC's murdered in the last four years"
There are four great MCs that originated from NY: Tupac, The Notorious B.I.G., Big L, and Big Pun, although he could've been thinking about a personal four, such as some of his friends maybe
There are four great MCs that originated from NY: Tupac, The Notorious B.I.G., Big L, and Big Pun, although he could've been thinking about a personal four, such as some of his friends maybe
Big Pun was not murdered.
Big Pun was not murdered.
This is an old post, but I'm fairly certain he was referring to Pac, Biggie, Big L, and Freaky Tah, former member of the Lost Boyz. Freaky Tah was murdered earlier in 1999.
This is an old post, but I'm fairly certain he was referring to Pac, Biggie, Big L, and Freaky Tah, former member of the Lost Boyz. Freaky Tah was murdered earlier in 1999.
big l and big pun
big l and big pun
why dont you guys get off his dick and use the website for its intended purpose: discussing the meanings of the songs. help me out, what is he talking about in the phrase "It's 10 P.M., where your seeds at? What's the deal"
(Yo, it's one universal law but two sides to every story Three strikes and you be in for life, manditory Four MC's murdered in the last four years I ain't tryin to be the fifth one, the millenium is here Yo it's 6 Million Ways to Die, from the seven deadly thrills Eight-year olds gettin found with 9 mill's It's 10 P.M., where your seeds at? What's the deal?)
(Yo, it's one universal law but two sides to every story Three strikes and you be in for life, manditory Four MC's murdered in the last four years I ain't tryin to be the fifth one, the millenium is here Yo it's 6 Million Ways to Die, from the seven deadly thrills Eight-year olds gettin found with 9 mill's It's 10 P.M., where your seeds at? What's the deal?)
He was counting from 1-10 in those lines and when he was at 8, he was describing how parents have these buckwild kids that are trying to be down with gangstas, and how...
He was counting from 1-10 in those lines and when he was at 8, he was describing how parents have these buckwild kids that are trying to be down with gangstas, and how some parents don't know where their seeds (kids) are at around 10p.m.
Isn't it also a reference to Protect Ya Neck by the Wu-Tang Clan?
Isn't it also a reference to Protect Ya Neck by the Wu-Tang Clan?
"It's ten o'clock ho, where the fuck's your seed at"
"It's ten o'clock ho, where the fuck's your seed at"
Ok, I don't even care if every site in the world and the lyric sheet that comes with the CD say that the line is "Streets too loud to ever hear freedom sing," IT IS 100 PERCENT NO FUCKING DOUBT "RING." As in let freedom ring? Jesus fuck. Every single site has it wrong.