Talib Kweli - What If? Lyrics

The likes of me, F-you-D-G-E brains compete
Wit CP0-three's intelligence
Accompanied by Mike Z-double-O-T
Shabaam Sahdeeq, Skam, Kweli, and Spinna permanently
Deadin the negligence

I buy trees all the time, twenties and dimes
You see it in my rhymes frequently, when every other line
There's the reference, the understood preference is that I'm biased
To black shh, black shh to keep me more hype
Seasoned trees get minus disposed right there
Mixed it the ten piece, divide my share
Amongst niggas to overrun it, it's a long climb to the summit
On the lazy afternoon, on the boom oh how I love it
So I does it but imagine if I wasn't, fascinated
Wit the sense of heat that stressin me, fled to frustrated
Ticked off, pissed off, tried to get my dick off
I'm savin a little money, twenty dollars ain't shit
I'm still hungry, and thirsty
You haven't seen the worst of me yet
Since we met it's back to back cigarettes
All my breath hurt, my chest nervous wreckin the session
Imagine Mike Zoot, my brain off drugs, any questions? (yes, yes)

[Repeat: x25]
What

We bring it back to science, wit the finest of Medina
Imagine all the people livin in, maybe I'm just a dreamer
Non-believers microscopic like ameobas
Runnin out of phony acts, be at the underground spots when you need us
Defeat the purpose of the circus, guess who the animals (guess who)
They over-work us and jerk us till we ain't thinkin clearly (come one)
'cause the history we stay weary of various theories
Question evolution and use to pass this lesson through revolution
Ask what not to do (yes), without firepower how is you militant? (yes)
That type shit we don't forget like elephants (never forget)
We stompin black holes in space
If you tore this wicked system down, what would you build in its place?
You gotta plan then we rollin (come on), don't waste my time (please)
There is land that is stolen which is rightfully mine
What if slavery never happened and we was never colonized?
What if governments never lied and white folks apologized?
Or if the environment didn't create the context for the art
When niggas celebrate the death and breakin black mommas hearts
What part, would a MC like me play wit my positive talents play
If there was no negativity to keep the balance?

What if eighty seven never happened?
No innovative hip-hop, no crack kingpin, no park hand-clappin
Damn, one to his chest, the tool jam
He tried to flash a black casket, his son's a bastard
What if the guns was gone soon as your sons was born?
Back to the fisticuffs, only the snakes get bust
>From greed to lust, I seen em all fall face first
Rapidly tappin the frequency and get dissed by chemist
I be exposing the scandalous
Sahdeeq, maniscription is the beef shit
What if the sky fell into the sea?, apocalypse now
Crushin the globe on a quest for your long lost souls
What if I catch the red-eye flight to J-A
And build wit the knotty's on the hill all day?
What if I smacked the grin off your chin
When you say, that the cats on this track don't have nuttin to spray?

[Repeat: x17]
What

What if all world sort of didn't straight up exist?
You wouldn't witness the diabolicness that'll twist
Your head off, and suck the juice out your neck like a sports bottle
Rip a rhyme full throttle, and put the sun in a clutch
If you confused you can use your bad luck for a crutch
So what you if tried to spit my brain's a pit, throw em in
Shake a watchness up and stitch his lips to the opening
I'm hoping above average becomes the new average
Some mediocre rappers are flipped to sub-standard
Demanded, the day da county dazzlely degenerate
Three-oh-five representative the slang that scam
Deep thought wit Shadow Man in Miami we do things
Like sellin rap nigga's hoes to y'all for weddin rings
Wit more mysteries than conspiracies wit change links
We're strangely spittin thoughts by my lonely
After all this close contact you still don't know me

What if? to me is the same question I've asked myself
Exactly twenty years I just blew the penitentiary
Imagine if disease, prejudice didn't exist
Materialistic dreams of purchasing that Lexus would be deaded
What if we remained primitive depended on natural resources?
To live and didn't have technology to abort our kids
How about if there was no rated-are flicks to corrupt our minds?
Or if world wars ain't take place and didn't interrupt our times?
What if this free world shit didn't have us hypnotized?
Or cannibalism was a permanent state of mind?
The death rate, grows faster than we can produce yellow tape
The main suspect is society for committing this mistake
Categorizing everything, I sit back and dig up some more "what if's"
Hand em the drama that any bring
Black and blues ain't results to some of em being mad at you
Egos are devils sittin on shoulders, trickin em to blast at you word

What