Ali Shaheed Muhammad - The Remedy lyrics

[Intro: Q-Tip] Yo, we all got different things that we got to deal with, you nam'sayin? Sometimes, I think people always want to put the blame on something else rather than sometimes looking at ourselves Recognizing that a lot of the stuff that happens...sometimes has to do with other things But if we look within ourselves, we could prevent a lot of this nonsense sometimes, you know? It's about relating back to the essence, you nam'sayin', where it all stems from So I'mma do my thing over the drum like a Native Tongue, you know? Yeah, buss it [Verse 1: Q-Tip] Do what you will, if you feel that your steeze is real Complicated with the sk**s over reel to reels Brown skin is what I feel, my mind and body's appeal Is to the no-frill mills, who hear the beats to chill Constantly, I'm hearing Black Americans just sneering Looking for a leader who can fill us up with ether Heating us up with great emotional chat About the fact that the black's constantly held back Like 50 tracks back in a relay race And the white team's ahead, so let's keep up the pace And I be needing something that could feed my logical taste At the end of the race is there a paradise place? Yo, we can't get involved in what the next man is doing Material gains we put too much in pursuing ("Yo duke, I need this dough so we can step to this party, man, word") But we can all Mardi Gras-di minus that sh** in our body ("Yo, what that got to do with that?") 'Cause, kid, that's the essence Your physical presence embodies every lesson You can't run the Rolls Royce if the engine is busted Can't even life the knife to cut the mustard What we need to do first Now listen to this verse Let's concentrate on our spiritual plate Recognize your existence in this vast blue space From a tiny cloud of blood to the human beings with taste Sight, touch, smell and sound, let's deem it profound And prioritize this 'cause it was Allah's wish ("Allah? Yo, I'm God") ("I don't believe that. That's a mystery") ("If God is so good, yo, why this sh** be happening to me?") There's divinity within because we come from the divine A force that's not seen but, yo, we feel it every time When the wind blows, and the Earth turns And the rain drops, and the babies cry And the birds fly, and the grounds quake And the stars gleam Yo, so many things are evidence of His existence What we need to do is link it with persistence Hear me out Yo, once we recognize then we can move ahead Native Tongues, Common Sense, yo, he's Hip-Hop bred... [Verse 2: Common] From the spiritual world my film of life has developed First person I lost close to me was Stella Some of my mellows lost their mothers and their brothers For them I feel empathy But I ain't pouring out no f**in' Hennessy I pour my heart out when I see Dot out on the deck Knowing two weeks ago he slap-boxed with d**h I hear of n***as dying in the wind and on the news But when it's somebody you know it hits you And emotions get bruised I ain't been in your shoes I won't judge or knock you The spirit of the ghetto say you got to That scratch you gettin' from rock flippin' Give back into the neighborhood, you better start kickin' Stickin' stores on the strip I'm tired of Arabs giving me my change back Devil bomb my yesterday, my tomorrow he never gave back I lay back, looking at the ceiling, wondering what could I do So my homies won't have to be dealing Not cause you serving and I'm rapping I'm better Just different pieces to the puzzle of black life That we have to put together, better ourselves 'Cause families we gotta raise No matter how long the money, shorter become the days Men become like wind, ain't no difference in the season If you got popped five times, you breathing for a reason Let's put this five-, ten-year come-up plan in progression Before we count our papers, count our blessings [Outro: Q-Tip] And there you have it You know you got to grab it It's all good, naw'mean? Let's make it clear: the Native Tongues is in here The JBs, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Common Sense Busta Rhymes, Flipmode, naw'mean? You got The Ummah, Beatnuts, Rah Digga Consequence, Mos Def, naw'mean? Black Sheep, Beatnuts, Queen La, Mo Love, naw'mean? Native Tongues up in here, don't forget it Raphael Saadiq Yo, we out, peace