The Manifesto - Kweli

Manifesto, this is what we want to see happen

For my peoples still breakin' graf writin' and rappin'

I rock the mic right and exact, my life’s my sacrifice

Take my mic and I’m like a Chinese man with no rice

Oh yeah, we flippin' through the pages of time to find design

Like Vaseline on the faces of Black Georgia

We shinin' deeper than petroleum jelly

We in the air like conversations on celly

And just appear like stretch marks on bellies

After givin' birth you had to let go, you playin' for life

The Manifesto, here comes the beat

Because I said so keep pushin'

I got the cushion for the seat of your soul

Back in the day they stole our smile

So we clothe our teeth in gold

And we frontin', from nigga to kid, to Son of God

It’s wild dependin' on labels for man, woman and child

My style just is all that’s seen and all that’s heard

God gave us music so we play with our words

So when Tek be in constant meditation like a monk

While Kweli speaks in tongues to get your intellect drunk

Yo, we bound to take over the 90% of your brain that you ain’t usin'

To us it’s life or death, we keep you chosin'

Every shook eye ain’t seen, every goodbye ain’t gone

Ain’t no rest for the weary yo, forever it’s on

The Manifesto, establishes a hip-hop order

Movin' upon the face of the water like reflections

Aiyo all the real MC’s can meet me outside

So we can decide how we gonna change the tide

Like the moon we on the earth takin' a ride around the sun

Now son, we only just begun and the journey’s far from done

We all miss you, what your brain gone fishin' like Walter Mosley?

There’s an MC that can hold me, supposedly?

No one could come close to me, only the family really know me

Hip-hop's last hope like Obi Wan Kenobi

Through your television I’m shinin' light like a train

Comin out like earthworms when it rains

Bringin' it like the C.I.A.

be bringin' in crack

Cocaine bailin' out of planes

With the George Bush connections, I push reflection

Like I’m sellin' izm like a dealer buildin' the system

Supply and the demand it’s all capitalism

Niggas don’t sell crack 'cause they like to see blacks smoke

Niggas sell crack 'cause they broke

My battle lyrics get conscious minds provoked

And ghetto passes revoked

'Cause we surrounded by the evil

You know that the people’s minds is feeble

They believe in it

Even if it don’t make sense, this makin' dollars shit

Don’t take a scholar to see what’s goin' on around you

Either you widdit or you ain’t is what it comes down to

Have you forgotten we pickin' 100% designer name brand Cotton

They still plottin', my third eye is steady watchin'

Every shook eye ain’t seen, every goodbye ain’t gone

Ain’t no rest for the weary yo forever it’s on

The Manifesto, establishes a hip-hop order

Movin' upon the face of the water like reflections

Yeah, see that’s what I’m talkin' about, it be the slaughter, man

We need to break it down because these heads

They don’t know what they talkin' about

Frontin' all this nonsense, yo, break it down

From open mics to solutions, I got a collage of answers

And a ten point program just like the Black Panthers

One, first respect yourself as an artist

If you don’t respect yourself then your rhymes is garbage

Two, make sure your crew is as tight as you

'Cause when them niggas fallin' off, they gonna bring you down too

Three, understand the meanin' of MC

The power to Move the crowd like Moses split the seas

Four, know your shit and don’t ever be blunted

If you don’t know what your words mean then your rhymes mean nothin'

Five, kick facts in the raps and curse with clarity

What’s a curse when language is immersed in vulgarity

Six, we gonna fix industrial politricks

Shit, they made an art form out of ridin' dicks

Seven, we soldiers for God needin' new recruits

So if you rhymin' for the loot then you’s a prostitute

But eight, acknowledge that you need food on your plate

In order to say your grace make sure your business is straight

Nine, we buildin' black minds with intelligence

And when you freestyle, keep the subject matter relevant

Ten, every MC grab a pen

And write some conscious lyrics to tell the children

I’ll say it again, every MC find you a pen

And drop some conscious shit for our children

The Manifesto