feat. Abby Dobson
[Verse 1: Talib Kweli]
From the top, from the top, from the top, from the top
From the top, from the top, from the top, from the top
In a state of grace
Where the talent is surrounded by the pain and the violence
So the selling never safe
At the same time snitching to the Jake
Is the quickest way to be found at the bottom of a lake
But the problem we face seems so great
That we can't escape so we accept our fate
So the sex and the money and the murder and the pictures we paint
If an artist is a part of a community
And got an opportunity to get that cake
Would never come back to the hood, no immunity
Usually a nigga like that so fake
No different from a snake
Nothing left to give cause you always wanna take
If you ain't using all the talents God provided you with
Would a better minuteman understand you ain't nothing but a waste?
Look into the face of a young girl
Raising up like a flag when it's unfurled
Got game listening to her mother's pearls
And she love Beyonce cause she run the world
Her mama used to run this city
Way back before the nigga Puff was Diddy
When it came to the music then she got real picky
From New York, but preferred 2Pac over Biggie
No disrespect to Ms. Wallace, but she liked to do the knowledge
And she felt that Pac was more lyrical
Plus she never went to college
But she called herself 'Earth' found rhythm with the gods more spiritual
She God in the physical
And it's only natural to pray for a little you
Musical so she played the umbilical chords
So her daughter was born it was a miracle
Music is the light when it's dark
And the way that you spit your dart is a big part
She grew up loving hip hop
Now all her daughter got is Love

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