In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Lord, lord have mercy
All nice and peace and true, follow me now, we say
Say Hi-Tek yes you're ruling hip-hop
Say J. Rawls yes you're ruling hip-hop
Redefinition say you're ruling hip-hop
Say Black Star come to rock it non
Yo, from the first to the last of it, delivery is passionate
The whole and not the half of it, vocab and not the math of it
Projectile that them blasted with, accurate assassin shit
Me and Kweli close like, Bethlehem and Nazareth
After this you be pressing rewind on top your master disk
Shining like an asterisk for all those that be gatherin'
Connectin' like a roundhouse from the townhouse to the tenements
Cause all my Brooklyn residents, heavy regiments
Don't believe, here the evidence, where Brooklyn whoa
See that? Bound to take it all kid, believe that
From where they sellin' tree at, to where the police be at
Talib Kweli e-Kweli-ty yo tell them where we be at
Brooklyn, New York City where they paint murals of Biggie
In cash we trust cause it's ghetto fabulous, life look pretty
What a pity. Blunts is still fifty cents, it's intense
Tree scents is dominant can't be covered with incense
My presence felt my name is Kweli from the Eternal Reflection
People thinkin' MC is short hand for Mis Conception
Let me meditate, set it straight, came to the conclusion
That most of these cats is featherweight, let me demonstrate
Walkin' the streets is like battlin', be careful with your body
You must know karate or think your soul is bulletproof like Sade
Stop actin' like a bitch already, be a visionary
And maybe you can see your name in the column of obituary
Third rate teacher readin' and talkin' about
"I knew he'd amount to nothin'"
Neighbors like, "He was the quiet type
Who'd have thought they was frontin'?"
Talkin' and loud like you in RCA, get carted away
With body parts and treys, what a way to start your day
Yo it's like
One, two, three
Mos Def and Talib Kweli
We came to rock it on to the tip-top
Best alliance in hip-hop, Y-O
I said one two three
It's kind of dangerous to be a emcee
They shot Tupac and Biggie
Too much violence in hip-hop, Y-O
I said Manhattan keep on makin' it (Bo!), Brooklyn keep on takin' it (Bo!)
So relax we're takin' it back, Redhook where we're livin' at
Plenty cats be strugglin' not hustlin' and bubblin'
It ain't about production and, what else we discussin'?
When the cock crows, my crop grows, enable me to rock flows
Strivin' for perfection ever since I was a snot-nosed
Colossal, true original B-boy apostle
Standin' on the rooftop with the, Zulu gestapo
You think you the shit
Somebody in the wings'll force you to quit
It could be your crew or click
Or some random kid you smoked Buddha with
Consider me the entity within the industry without a history
Of spittin' the epitome, of stupidity, livin' my life
Expressin' my liberty, it gotta be done properly
My name is in the middle of e-Kweli-ty
People follow me and other cats they hear him flow
And assume I'm the real one with lyrics like I'm Cyrano
Still sippin' wishin' well water, imported, from Pluto
Three hundred and sixty milliliters for all our believers
In miles or kilometers, most cats, cannot proceed us
In the jungle with the leaders we the lions you the cheaters
A cypher, will complete us if we come through your receivers
You can play us and repeat us and then take us home and read us
(Line for line) Good Jesus, Mos Def and Kweli just
Make a pussy freeze up, thinkin' we will ease up
One, two, three
Mos Def and Talib Kweli
We came to rock it on to the tip-top
Best alliance in hip-hop, Y-O
I said one two three
It's kind of dangerous to be a emcee
They shot Tupac and Biggie
Hold your head when the beat drop, Y-O
All nice and peace and true, follow me now, we say
Say Hi-Tek yes you're ruling hip-hop
Say J. Rawls yes you're ruling hip-hop
Redefinition say you're ruling hip-hop
Say Black Star come to rock it non
Yo, from the first to the last of it, delivery is passionate
The whole and not the half of it, vocab and not the math of it
Projectile that them blasted with, accurate assassin shit
Me and Kweli close like, Bethlehem and Nazareth
After this you be pressing rewind on top your master disk
Shining like an asterisk for all those that be gatherin'
Connectin' like a roundhouse from the townhouse to the tenements
Cause all my Brooklyn residents, heavy regiments
Don't believe, here the evidence, where Brooklyn whoa
See that? Bound to take it all kid, believe that
From where they sellin' tree at, to where the police be at
Talib Kweli e-Kweli-ty yo tell them where we be at
Brooklyn, New York City where they paint murals of Biggie
In cash we trust cause it's ghetto fabulous, life look pretty
What a pity. Blunts is still fifty cents, it's intense
Tree scents is dominant can't be covered with incense
My presence felt my name is Kweli from the Eternal Reflection
People thinkin' MC is short hand for Mis Conception
Let me meditate, set it straight, came to the conclusion
That most of these cats is featherweight, let me demonstrate
Walkin' the streets is like battlin', be careful with your body
You must know karate or think your soul is bulletproof like Sade
Stop actin' like a bitch already, be a visionary
And maybe you can see your name in the column of obituary
Third rate teacher readin' and talkin' about
"I knew he'd amount to nothin'"
Neighbors like, "He was the quiet type
Who'd have thought they was frontin'?"
Talkin' and loud like you in RCA, get carted away
With body parts and treys, what a way to start your day
Yo it's like
One, two, three
Mos Def and Talib Kweli
We came to rock it on to the tip-top
Best alliance in hip-hop, Y-O
I said one two three
It's kind of dangerous to be a emcee
They shot Tupac and Biggie
Too much violence in hip-hop, Y-O
I said Manhattan keep on makin' it (Bo!), Brooklyn keep on takin' it (Bo!)
So relax we're takin' it back, Redhook where we're livin' at
Plenty cats be strugglin' not hustlin' and bubblin'
It ain't about production and, what else we discussin'?
When the cock crows, my crop grows, enable me to rock flows
Strivin' for perfection ever since I was a snot-nosed
Colossal, true original B-boy apostle
Standin' on the rooftop with the, Zulu gestapo
You think you the shit
Somebody in the wings'll force you to quit
It could be your crew or click
Or some random kid you smoked Buddha with
Consider me the entity within the industry without a history
Of spittin' the epitome, of stupidity, livin' my life
Expressin' my liberty, it gotta be done properly
My name is in the middle of e-Kweli-ty
People follow me and other cats they hear him flow
And assume I'm the real one with lyrics like I'm Cyrano
Still sippin' wishin' well water, imported, from Pluto
Three hundred and sixty milliliters for all our believers
In miles or kilometers, most cats, cannot proceed us
In the jungle with the leaders we the lions you the cheaters
A cypher, will complete us if we come through your receivers
You can play us and repeat us and then take us home and read us
(Line for line) Good Jesus, Mos Def and Kweli just
Make a pussy freeze up, thinkin' we will ease up
One, two, three
Mos Def and Talib Kweli
We came to rock it on to the tip-top
Best alliance in hip-hop, Y-O
I said one two three
It's kind of dangerous to be a emcee
They shot Tupac and Biggie
Hold your head when the beat drop, Y-O
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this was written after biggie and tupac were shot. black star is talking about defining or redefining hip hop which is why is called DEFINITION. Talib says Let me meditate, set it straight, came to the conclusion that most of these cats is featherweight, let me demonstrate Walkin the streets is like battlin, be careful with your body You must know karate or think your soul is bulletproof like Sade Stop actin like a bitch already, be a visionary
he is talking about all those shit rappers out there who front about being legit and they set up these feuds that take away from what hip hop is about, truth saying. He says stop starting these bitchy feuds and rap about what matters.