Re:Definition
[Chorus: Mos Def]
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-yo!
I said; one, two, three
Black Star shine eternally
We came to rock it on to the tip-top
And Hi-Tek make the beat drop, Y-O
[Verse 1: Talib Kweli]
Redefinition, turnin' your play into a tragedy
Exhibit level degree on the mic, passionately
Niggas is sweet, so I bet if I bit, I'd get a cavity
Livin' to get high, you ain't flyer than gravity
We die hard like the battery thrown in the back of me
By the mad MC who think imitation is the highest form of flattery
Actually, don't be mad at me, I had to be the one to break it to you
You get kicked into obscurity like judo — no, Menudo
'Cause you pseudo, tryin' to compete with reality like Xerox
Towards destruction, you spiralin' like helix, wipe them teardrops
Chasin' stars in your eyes, playin' games with your lives
Now the wives is widows, soakin' up pillows, weepin' like willows
Still more blacks is dyin', 'cause they live and they tryin'
"How to Make a Slave" by Willie Lynch is still applyin'
Regardless, Mos is one of my closest partners
Rockin' ever since before Prince was called The Artist
Rockin' before Funkmaster Flex was rockin' Starter
When 'Pac and Biggie was still cool, before they was martyrs
Life or death, if I'm choosin', with every breath I'm enhancin'
Stop, there comes a time when you can't run
[Verse 2: Mos Def]
What?
Lyrically handsome, call collect a king's ransom
Jams I write soon become the ghetto anthem
Way out like Bruce Wayne's mansion, move like a Phantom
You'll talk about me to your grandsons
Cats who claimin' they hard be mad fags
So I run through 'em like flood water through sandbags
Competition is mad, what I got, they can't have
Sinkin' they ship like Moby Dick to Ahab
Son, I'm way past the minimum, enterin' millennium
My raps will hold a gat to your back like Palestinians
Ancient Abyssinian, sure to hold the Gideon
Official b-boy gentlemen, long term, never the interim
Born inside the winter, when? Day after December 10
These simpletons — they mentionin' the synonym for feminine
Sweeter than some cinnamon, the Danish rings by Entenmann's
Rush up on adrenaline, they get they asses sent to them
(Gentlemen!) You got a tenement? Well, then assemble it!
Leave your unit tremblin' like herds of movin' elephant
Intelligent embellishment, follow for your element
From Flatbush settlement, skin possesses melanin
Hotter than tales of crack peddlin'
Makin' 'em WOOP like blue gelatin, swing like Duke Ellington
Broader than Barrington Levy, believe me
The hot Apache red who burned down your chief teepee
You see me?
[Chorus: Mos Def]
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-yo!
I said; one, two, three
Black Star shine eternally!
We came to rock it on to the tip-top
Because we rulin' hip-hop
Yes, we is rulin' hip-hop
Talib Kweli is rulin' hip-hop
Say we Black Star, we rule hip-hop-ah-ahh-ah-ahh-ahh
Whoahhhh!