Friday, May 17, 2024

Track selection by: Phenomenal P
Mathematics
Yasiin Bey
(Formerly known as Mos Def)
Album: Black on Both Sides (2002)
Producer: DJ Premier

Verse 1

Yo, check it 
1 for Charlie Hustle, 2 for Steady Rock 
3 for the forth-comin' live future shock 
It's 5 dimensions, 6 senses 
7 firmaments of heaven and hell 
8 million stories to tell 
9 planets faithfully keepin' orbit, with the probable 10th
The universe expands length 
The body of my text possess extra strength
Power-lift the powerless up out of this towering inferno 
My ink so hot, it burn through the journal
I'm blacker than midnight on Broadway & Myrtle
Hip-Hop passed all your tall social hurdles 
Like the nationwide projects-prison-industry complex
Working-class poor — better keep your alarm set
Streets too loud to ever hear freedom ring 
Say evacuate your sleep, it's dangerous to dream 
For ch-ching, cats get the "Cha-pow!" — you dead now 
Killing fields need blood to graze the cash cow 
It's a numbers game, but shit don't add up somehow
Like I got 16 to 32 bars to rock it 
But only 15% of profits ever see my pockets 
Like $69 billion in the last 20 years 
Spent on national defence , 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
16 ounces to a pound, 20 more to a key
A 5 minute sentence hearing and you no longer free
40% of Americans own a cell phone 
So they can hear everythin' 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 niggas, large niggas, 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 at PlayStation 
This New Math is whippin' motherfuckers' ass
You wanna know how to rhyme? 
You better learn how to add 
It's mathematics