[Intro: Common & Black Thought]
When you and I verse at war, motherfucker
We gonna do this Chi-town style (verse at war)
Illadelph, you know how we get down
You know the business
Illadelph, Illinois
Bringin' it straight to your chest
Comin' thru with the ill convoy
Yes, sir, hah!
Lieutenant with the Com'
Yeah, break it down, one-two
We about to drop the bomb, check it!

[Hook x2: Black Thought]
When you & I verse at war
And your verse at core for what you thought before
Steppin' up into a zone you should never explore
The next step or level of the whole concept or

[Verse 1: Common]
Rappers, get on the mic talkin' about cars and clothes
Soundin' like hoes
Ain't been exposed to the foes, the most disciples
I'm from the state that is Ill
The rap son of man rotated down to Phil'
To say what I feel, get it off my bird chest, my word becomes flesh
War, goin' on between the West and the East
Of the lands, n***as don't own a piece
Grease is the word, Murray slides some pimp oil to me
My lady friend sneaks my beer in the movie
Throw your hands in the air, if you the true and livin'
Beware — The New World Order, the devil's new religion
Sent my homie to the number two division
Sellin' bootlegged movies, got my VCR on a oove' smoove'
Be at Fat Tuesday's, drinkin' tropical and just sittin'
At a table with sophisticated bitches
Nah, that ain't nothin' I would call my mother
Nor do I call every n***a my brother
Gotta have Black Thought, it sorta B like Malik
So, don't Question a Brother, to The Roots, I get deep
[Verse 2: Black Thought]
Yo! Enter the last era
Your scholarship into the world of politics and mascara
We operate within this artificial op-era
I bring hip-hop terror like the Führer
The Ace Ventura into the horror
Laboratory labor-er, venture beyond the border
I'll struc-ture a style, destroy your whole aura
Plus, your a-drenalin'll rise before your eyes
Immortalize my image in the skies
Deceive the devil in disguise
My music I parenthesize, represent the wise
Through this be how we enterprise
Kid, no compromise (Yeah, yeah)
I'm thinkin' fast like Rama-dan, I wear your mind away like Alzheimer
I pull a mic up out my mama, big up to Bahama-dia
A-yo, this year we leavin' 'em in trauma
Then after me, I plan to leave behind the legacy
Or history of the family — the Fifth Dynasty
For humanity to bear witness to this Del-Val' sylla-ble stylist

You know the time, kid

[Hook x2: Black Thought]
When you & I verse at war
And your verse at core for what you thought before
Steppin' up into a zone you should never explore
The next step or level of the whole concept or
[Verse 3: Black Thought]
Yo, the general flows, kids compose on tablets
Expose how they was average and they thoughts not rapid
Here comes the hot package through your block like traffic
The rock was type graphic, now watch the mic blast it
Shootin' at the stars with emphatic rap static
See the mirror shatter from thoughts, I'm bustin' back at it
The Lieuten-ant, the eleph-ant, sippin' automatic
Mic rippin' Asiatic, architects out to have it
The turn of the century
The planet's like a penitentiary exaggerated
N***as is livin' highly medicated
I Used To Love H.E.R., now she violated
Hip-hop holocausts and camps, old champs are concentrated
They outdated and incarcerated
Loved and appreciated, hated and very debated
For every career created, one's eliminated
And that's the way the balance of Yin and Yang is related, for real!

[Verse 4: Common]
Every block is divine, n***as swing on in a safari
Wild n***as, like I'm high on latari
Some let the block block they mind, if they could see what I see
Get out the city for a sec, be at the places I be
Hey! I'mma be back on the deck
Openin' businesses in places, for you to cash yo' check
My neck of the woods ain't all good, ain't all bad
You can live in the 'burbs, and still get had!
The sad part about it — n***as had houses on the lake
They tryin' to move us out, the land we ain't appreciate
For peace we skate, crackers be rollerbladin' on hate
Call each other "Cuz" 'cause of how we relate
I seen weight turn into Cadillacs with dopeman plates
Through the wind and blow-ups is how n***as communicate
Harmonizin' through beepers and reefer
The city got my peoples in a sleeper, talk is gettin' cheaper
[Hook x4: Black Thought]
When you & I verse at war
And your verse at core for what you thought before
Steppin' up into a zone you should never explore
The next step or level of the whole concept or