[Intro]
Hey, yo, man, I think that dude's tryin' to break into your car
(What?)

New York life... type trife...
That's why I'm tryin' to shine the light, yo
Here it come, here it come, here it come, y'all

[Verse 1]
Mos Def blessed with the breath of life, so arise and give praises
Turn my face to where the mighty sun raises
My book of rhyme pages filled with phrases that amaze
I could go on for days
First name — Dante, last name — Beze
Build the house of tomorrow with bricks of today
My foundation rests on Allah corner stone
Shine the light through the mic to radiate your zone
See, the world that we know is about to get finished
I'm watchin' last days wind down to final minutes
Got dreams of paradise and my whole fam' in it
So I ain't got time to play no crime lieutenant
Do you got time to play the crime lieutenant?
See, time is the asset, how you gonna spend it?
The way you handle yours will be well documented
It's the raw authentic, sandalwood scented
To make you bump the joint and in beyond city limits
21st — no time to approach a thing timid
My name is Mos Def, and this is how I get in it
[Hook]
A-yo, my man (Huh?)
Somethin' tight comin' through the pipe (What?)
You heard the first time
The rhyme is designed to incline throughout space and time (Yeah)
You don't believe? Lend a ear
Yo, my man (Huh?)
Somethin' tight comin' on your right (What?)
You heard the first time, the rhyme is designed to incline
I hold the 'phone to shine (Yeah)

If you can 'huh', you can hear it...
If you can 'huh', you can hear it...
We in your atmos'

[Verse 2]
Shine like black gold, burn like black coal
Make a old timer roll up his sleeves — now that's cold!
Behold, the one and only is blessed
My testimony — approach the ceremony; authentic, never phony
For delf, but never lonely, keep the kinfolk close
Watch me rip it on Pacific and Atlantic coasts
With the antidote for the poisonous snake lies wet on they lips
Put the hiss on tape
You can't get on straight, this is dead on tape
Accompanied by Shawn J. with the bet on Bey
Put the grid on plate, on the hit on trey
"Hot damn!" — Captain Kirk and the Klingons say
You can't sit on stage
You best to get on the M-O-T-I-V-A-T-E
Real life, ain't no freebie
My seed can't be needy, no time for freaky-deaky
I'm movin' on up like George and Wheezy (Woah!)
Who said that this was easy? They must've been treetop high (Word!)
Standin', gigglin' 'til our bold face die
We all got to die, right?
So all got to try, to live life right in the sight of Most High
To live life right in the sight of Most High
To live life right in the sight of Most High
To live life right in the sight...
[Hook]
A-yo, my man (Huh?)
Somethin' tight comin' through the pipe (What?)
You heard the first time
The rhyme is designed to incline throughout space and time (Yeah?)
You don't believe? Lend a ear
Yo, my man (Huh?)
Somethin' tight comin' on your right (What?)
You heard the first time, the rhyme is designed to incline
I hold the 'phone to shine (Yeah)

If you can 'huh', you can hear

A-yo, my man (Huh?)
Somethin' tight comin' through the pipe (What?)
You heard the first time
The rhyme is designed to incline, the pure genuine (Yeah?)
You don't believe? Lend a ear
Yo, my man (Huh?)
Somethin' tight comin' on your right (What?)
You heard the first time, the rhyme is designed to incline
I hold the 'phone to shine (Yeah)

If you can 'huh', you can hear it...
If you can 'huh', you can hear it, we in your atmos'