NOIR - Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Black Thought

A young inmate

Who knew his fate

Was truly great

Had to escape from the chains

That brought him to the States

To save face

He made more than a few mistakes

While back-tracing his roots

Like Henry Louis Gates

Respectfully, the trajectory

He remained in it

He tried to walk on water

Instead of wade in it

He went from cradle to grave

He’s been a king of the slaves

The menagerie of America

He was made in it

Instead of waiting for Superman

His people had a plan

They were sticking it to the man

Whose energy was spent like solid gold

Uberman

'cause everything he did came back

Like a boomerang

A ruler without a throne

The ruins are not of Rome

Intruder without a home

A heart made out of stone

A blade made out of bone

The skin made out of copper tone

A loner that’s not alone

The child that’s got his own

N-O-I-R

N-O…

N-O-I-R…

The wave took some time to catch on

The spade was

He wasn’t afraid to press on

Neither was his child

Because he embraced the weapon

That aimed at the same prize

His eyes were kept on

Surviving on soup kitchens, bread lines

And newspaper clippings

When he was in the headlines

For being degradated

Segregated

And red-lined

For blue-collar crimes

That could’ve got him fed time

Where funds is critical

And sons is killable

That unfulfillable

40 acres, untillable

To make it

Would’ve taken a miracle

I pray for the earth

The day the meat will inherit you

I’m singing as

But couldn’t lift every voice

Society in life and death

Is making a heavy choice

Lifting a heavy weight

With so much hella hate

That every day I wait

Is a reason to celebrate

N-O-I-R

N-O…

N-O-I-R…