[Intro: Mos Def]
History, it's happenin' every day, y'all (right now)
Everyday (right now)
Right now (good mornin', Vietnam!)
[Verse 1: Mos Def]
Listen! Brooklyn wins again
It's the Stuy, it's the Bush, them n***as again
Ta' Kweli, Mighty Def, and S. Dot on the guest lock
Kanye, you're the dope man in hip-hop, now let's rock
Now roll out, n***as, my hometown n***as
I get it good in your hood, so slow down, n***as
Watch the speed though, mind your pedal and ease off
Or screech into a collision course with these walls – BAM!
They don't move, don't pray, don't lose
Don't sleep, life pa**in', light flasin'
Life happens that fast, part a gun, black hands up in prayer
Black guns up in fear, dyin' wish is to touch the air
Seekin' heaven that wasn't here
Eyes will not see another year, it's another day
It's the same fight, different round, sound the bell
Mix it up in victory, you live it up, the beat'll get risen up
You're knocked down, then get back and get it up
Get off of queer street and get with us
And get clear where we did it, from the heart
From the people, from the top, from the jeep
From the gut, from the street
From my soul to the mic to the essence
So in my absence you feel the presence, exactly
I make contact, for short, I MC
Me and mine we don't just get by
We get free and that's ready [Mos, n***a!]
[Verse 2: Jay Z]
Just to get by, n***a, I sold coke, n***a, I pushed lah
Carried a fo' five, claimed I was ready to die
Promised never to cry, held it all inside
Reality was too much to take, so I
Kept my mind fried, slept for most of mine
Soon as I closed my eyes, then I woke up behind
Thinkin' either I load up these 9's, or blow up with rhymes
‘Cause this flow of mine is like blow up but lines of c**a
And your folks think Hov' just wrote stuff to rhyme
Nah, I'm a poster for what happened seein' your moms
Doin' five dollars worth of work just to get a dime
So pardon my disposition
Why should I listen to a system that never listened to me?
Picture me working McDonald's
I'd rather pull a MAC on you, sorry Ms. Jackson but I'm packin'
[Verse 3: Kanye West]
It's somethin' about that Nina Simone's piano flow
It's like a Michaelangelo painted a portrait of Maya Angelou
And gave it to a sick poet for they antidote
If music gets you choked up, this is the tree and the rope
This is Chi, n***a, I'm Mr. All-of-that
f** a map, let's put this b**h on the almanac
Dice what they hittin' fo', lax what you sittin' on
Tracks who you spittin' on, rap 'til we get it on
And don't let nobody with the power to sign
Ever tell you you ain't got the power to rhyme
They used to tell me toughen up, put some ba** in your voice
They used to tell me lighten up, put some Mase in your voice
Lord willin' I ain't k**ed nobody
But I have a feelin' this album that I'm gonna make a k**in'
Or not a shillin', this is love-it-or-hate-it music
But—at least we made it music
And we didn't make it industry, this is gon' be interesting
This'll be the end of me, or I'm finna be an entity
Kanye, Jay Z, Mos Def, and Kweli
We are not makin' songs no more, we're makin' history
[Hook: background singers + (Talib Kweli)]
This morning I woke up
Feelin brand new, I jumped up
Feelin my highs and my lows
In my soul, and my goals
Just to stop smokin' and stop drinkin'
But I been thinkin' I got my reasons
Just to get (by), just to get (by)
Just to get (by), just to get (get buh buh buh bye bye)
(Just to get by, just to get by)
(Just to get by), just to get get buh buh buh bye bye
[Verse 4: Talib Kweli]
We keep it gangsta, say 'fo shizzle', 'fo sheezy'
Desensitized by the violence on the TV during the war
k**in' each other is easy, its pourin' liquor for fallen n***as
Believe me, it's ghetto libation, seen it all before
Just to get by, my people, we get fly
My people, we get high, fillin' cigars with the lah
n***a, come on! Even Jesus was stoned
Before receivin' the throne
I send a rest in peace to Nina Simone
[Verse 5: Busta Rhymes]
Back in the days we was used to doin' the sh**
I can't call it all in the streets
We was hustlin' fiends that asked for it
I guess I was used to just standin' on corners
Waitin' for paper bags with bundles of crack
Hopin' the week was good, so I could get money back
(To get by, just to get by, just to get by, just to get by)
When I was stressed I possessed a side of my strength
That made me angry and bleed
With the frustration havin' me smokin' Newports and weed
(To get by, just to get by, just to get by, just to get by)
Those be the times when I try to rely
On my n***as and street mothaf**as
And reach out to wifey, and then I place a call on my mother
(To get by, just to get by, just to get by, just to get by)
*Ayo, Mom, pick up the phone, I gotta to talk to you, Ma*
If you was five percent instead of actin' stupid and guessin'
You had to go and study your lessons
And know your math in the building in session
[Hook: background singers + (Talib Kweli)]
This morning I woke up
Feelin brand new, I jumped up
Feelin my highs and my lows
In my soul, and my goals
Just to stop smokin' and stop drinkin'
But I been thinkin' I got my reasons
Just to get (by), just to get (by)
Just to get (by), just to get (get buh buh buh bye bye)
[Outro: Talib Kweli]
Some people try, some people try
Just to get by, for my piece of the pie
We love to eat and get high
We deceive when we lie
And we keepin' it fly – yo, yo, yo, yo, yo
When people decice to keep a disguise
Can't see your eyes, see the evil inside
The best people you find
Stronger people in mind
I stay readin' the signs