Mos Def – Brooklyn (Alternate Version) lyrics

[Intro]
Brooknam, Bedsty, Crown Heights, mad hood
What it is y'all, bust it yap

[Verse 1]
As is requested on the record my speech is live, devised or nothin'
Fortified the weapon, the best was selected
You ain't the mos def you the mos defective
Bounce and keep steppin'
My inkwell is a riverbed that resurrect the living dead
I manifest what's considered but what isn't said
Stay on the dot like a infrared
It's off the block with whole different thread
The durable, flame-resistant, breathable, fantastic fabric
You all get into your formal wear, weave classics
My speech fits so seamless ya need glasses
to recognize the stitch on your nerve fiber
The Black Star gon' make the whole world turn brighter
You shine bright but my constellation burn brighter
They ain't invited to the table, make it turn cipher
They chattin' big words but backs is yellow like Big Bird
When I flow you ain't seein' no dough like interns
I'm professor, you a freshman just scared of your midterms
The title on my bookbinding is "Advanced Mic Science"
A champion can only rest at the place where the title is
Brooklyn

{*beat switches*}

"And I'm Crooklyn's finest, Crooklyn's finest" -> Notorious B.I.G.

[Verse 2]
Believe that
Brooklyn my habitat
The place where it happen at
Lives sway in the sharp balance of the battle-ax
Irons is brandished at
Thugs draw their hammer back
It's where you find the News 2 crew cameras at
It's where my fam is at, the Summertime Jam is at
They play B.I.G. and get you open like a sandleback
Hotter than candle wax
Hustle and you can't relax
The crack babies tryin' to find where their mammas at
It's off the handle, black
Where big police scandals at
Turned in to action screenplay sold to Miramax
The type of place where they check your appearance at
And cats who know where all the hot low gear is at
The stompin' grounds is where you find the pound smokers that
be blazin' tron that have your wave cap floatin' back
The doorstep where the "Dispossessed" posted at
Dope fiends out on Franklin Ave. sellin' Zorarax
You big ballin' better keep your money folded back
Cuz once the young guns notice that, it's over black
Brooklyn keep on takin' it, worldwide we known for that
Flossy cats get it snatched like the local tax
The place I sharpen up my baritone vocals at
Where one of the greatest MCs was a local cat

{*beat switches*}

[Verse 3]
uh huh yeah
I keep it rockin'
Classic like Adidas Top 10s
I'm free from all feelings and toxins
Mysterious like chessboxin'
Roll with the force to stop gents
from mixin' up their wicked concoctions
Kweli, that's my (???) and thought is our department
If you can't clean up, don't start then
My print on the parchment translate finer and larger
to leave the competition disheartened
The stars shine black like carbon
Writin' in my book of rhymes, all my words pass the margin
To hold a mic I'm throbbin'
I carry off the page
Go on and on for days
So my phrase autographed on the breeze you breathe
Inhale the crisp air of the brand new seas
Where we run things but things don't run we
What you hear from me constructed carefully
Walk until my brothers on the run so fearfully
Passionate to the point of tearful
They be like "Mos I FEEL YOU"
Holdin' it down and still DO
FO' REAL DUDE, I'm real true
Radiate whatever I'm far from or near to
Stay electric like eels who preside in the ocean tide
Better tell the clothesline time to open wide, and RECIEVE this
No trick, son we sleeveless
So nice you can either recite or read this
My semantic's deep like Atlantis secrets
Who you got beef with? Then STATE your grievance
MAKE IT KNOWN before my defense make a zone
Make peace 'fore you find it too hard to make it home
Vocal cords so powerful they might break a bone
We rollin' with the natives, regulate the Terrordome
Bout to enter to the ages where my crew take the throne
My DNA is out of print, you can't make a clone
So rockin' it, keep rockin' it
A hundred percent "B-Boy Document"
Magnetic marvelous, astonishin' accomplishments like consciousness
Whether solo or partnership I dominate the conferences
Can't say that twice, but you ain't that nice
But Mos Def is, ain't that right?