Lyrics City Playgrounds - Talib Kweli, Hi-Tek

City Playgrounds

What we have here
Is the alpha and the omega
I spit it, bare witness to the greatest
And the latest, they try to hate us
Witness the evolution of spitting, it’s wicked and it’s decadent
Revolutions per minutes, every time the record spin
Retribution for cynics, like a stick-up kid with weapons
In Brooklyn, they say I run it, the 'Natti is checking in
No matter the terminology, blood splatter artistically
It’s looking like a Jackson Pollock painting, it’s a mystery
Really should be brothers united against the industry
The African diaspora scatter with shattered history
The game missing me, rap is so repetitive
Although I ain’t your blood or your cuz, it’s all relative
I got a gang of rhymes, and Tones' beats is banging
We moving through the streets like we’re slanging dimes
It’s magical, how the track’s so classical
The cats who got gassed up in their sweats like Plaxico
I’m back from my sabbatical, voice of the future, black radical
Keeping all the damages collateral
Listening to instrumentals
Thinking about all the things I’ve been through
The music is just a peek into my life, it’s a window
It’s so high tech and it’s all so simple
And if I’m knocked down, I don’t stay down
Even if I get down, I don’t lay down
Hotter than the tar on this empty playground
Hotter than the tar on this empty playground
Hey yo, I’m taking all bets and settling all debts
A giant leap for man begins with a small step
From a sword to a set, to my people on the picket line
Who’s sicking of getting treated like them aliens in District 9
I juxtapose my business model with my spirit
What I’m just supposed to keep you comfortable with the lyrics?
I know the flow’s disturbing, I know for certain just because
You know all about the artist don’t mean you know the person
You don’t know me, I run labels
These unstable rappers so phony
I try to listen but they’re boring as missionary position
So I’m shitting on these niggas like dysentery conditions
I’m sitting on the throne, you dreaming that it’s empty soon
Nobody feeling you, you’re screaming in an empty room
The tree that fall in the forest, nobody hearing you
Even though you fall the hardest, don’t get me started
Listening to instrumentals
Thinking about all the things I’ve been through
The music is just a peek into my life, it’s a window
It’s so high tech and it’s all so simple
And if I’m knocked down, I don’t stay down
Even if I get down, I don’t lay down
Hotter than the tar on this empty playground
Hotter than the tar on this empty playground
Yo, I build up my defenses when I’m left to my devices
Time gets suspended, more than DMX’s driver’s license
My music’s steady, not affected by the higher prices
People having sex in the streets like Dionysus
You know what my advice is?
Fuck my advice, live your life
Stop tripping like everything amount to crisis
I make the sacrifices, my history is black as ice is
I don’t think that I can trust you if you’re lacking vices
I never miss a beat, the liquor make me slurred, it takes my words
Tries to twist them like a Swisher Sweet with sticky herbs
American History X, your teeth’ll hit the curb
It’s easy 'cause I’m ill with the wordplay, I still flip the bird
Like Jeezy, strip it down, now it’s exposed
I suppose my flow is the emperor’s new clothes
Although I’m always by myself, I never ride alone
The music is on then I’m right at home, zoning
Listening to instrumentals
Thinking about all the things I’ve been through
The music is just a peek into my life, it’s a window
It’s so high tech and it’s all so simple
And if I’m knocked down, I don’t stay down
Even if I get down, I don’t lay down
Hotter than the tar on this empty playground
Hotter than the tar on this empty playground
Yeah, it’s pavement
Don’t be scared to think, man, don’t be scared
I know whats in your brain
It’s scary, man, you only usin' like ten percent
The other ninety percent is scary, man
But don’t be scared, scary ass niggas