Lyrics

[Intro: Common] The revolution will not be televised The revolution is here Yeah, it's Common Sense with DJ Premier We gon' help y'all see clear It's real hip-hop music from the soul, y'all Yeah, check it, yo [Verse 1: Common] The perseverance of a rebel, I drop heavier levels It's unseen or heard, a king with words Can't knock the hustle, but I seen street dreams deferred Dark spots in my mind where the scene occurred Some say I'm too deep, I'm in too deep to sleep Through me, Muhammad will forever speak Greet brothers with handshakes on ghetto landscapes Where a man is determined by how much a man make Cop cognacs and spit old raps with young cats With cigarettes in they ear, niggerish, they appear Under the Fubu is a guru that's untapped Wanna be in the rap race but ain't ran one lap Ran so far from the streets that you can't come back You trippin' with nowhere to unpack, forgot that [Chorus: Bilal, Prodigy & Common] This is rap for real, somethin' you feel And you know, yes, you know This is rap for real, somethin' you feel And you know, yes, you know This is rap for real, somethin' you feel Hey, hey This is rap— this is rap for real And you know, yes, you know This is rap for the Black people (One, two) [Verse 2: Common] In front of two-inch glass and Arabs, I order fries Inspiration when I write, I see my daughter's eyes I'm the truth, across the table from corporate lies Immortalized by the realness I bring to it If revolution had a movie, I'd be theme music My music, you either fight, fuck, or dream to it My life is one big rhyme, I tried to scheme through it Through my shell, never knew what that divine'd bring through it I'd be lyin' if I said I didn't want millions More than money saved, I wanna save children Dealing with alcoholism and Afrocentricity A complex man drawn off of simplicity Reality is friskin' me This industry'll make you lose intensity The Common Sense in me remembers the basement I'm Morpheus in this hip-hop Matrix, exposin' fake shit [Chorus: Bilal, Prodigy & Common] And you know, yes, you know This is rap for real, somethin' you feel (Yeah, one, two) And you know, yes, you know This is rap for the Black people (Yeah, how we do it) Hey, hey This is rap— this is rap for real (The soul music) And you know, yes, you know This is rap for real (Yeah) [Verse 3: Common] Some days, I take the L to gel with the real world Got on at 87th, sat by this little girl She recited raps, I forgot where they was from In 'em, she was sayin' how she make brothers cum I started thinkin' how many souls hip-hop has affected How many dead folks this art resurrected How many nations this culture connected Who am I to judge one's perspective? Though some of that shit, y'all pop to it, I ain't relatin' If I don't like it, I don't like it, that don't mean that I'm hatin' I just wanna innovate and stimulate minds Travel the world and penetrate the times Escape through rhythms in search of peace and wisdom Raps are smoke signals lettin' the streets know I'm with 'em For now, I appreciate this moment in time Ball players and actors be knowin' my rhymes, it's like [Chorus: Bilal, Prodigy & Common] And you know, yes, you know This is rap for real, somethin' you feel And you know, yes, you know This is rap for real, somethin' you feel Hey, hey This is rap— this is rap for real And you know, yes, you know This is rap for the Black people And you know, yes, you know This is rap— Common Sense And you know, yes, you know This is rap for real, somethin' you feel Hey, hey This is rap— this is rap for real And you know, yes, you know This is rap for real, somethin' you feel [Outro: Bilal] You know And you know, yeah (Woah) Yeah [Skit: Common] Yo, get away from me, man Yo, man, yo, yo What are you doin' around here, man? I thought I told you to stay away Look, man, I told you, I need it, man No, no, no, I don't got anything for you, man Uh, excuse me, Common? Yeah, yeah, what's up? Oh my goodness, um, I'm sorry, I'm sorry to bother you I just wanted to know if I could get your autograph, and, and, and I just wanted to tell you, I just wanted to thank you because your lyrics are so positive for the women out here Oh, yeah, I appreciate that, I appreciate that, sister, you know It's like, I think that we gotta portray women in a better light You know how, you know, most rappers is talkin' all this other stuff, makin' women look bad, you know I was raised by my mother, you know, I got a daughter, so it's like (Comrade, comrade) Wait, excuse me, excuse me (I can't be out here on the street) The police is comin', this skirt's too short, uh-uh, it's rainin', uh-uh I gotta go, this ain't cool, I ain't gettin' enough money Bitch, bitch, didn't I tell you to get out there? I don't give a fuck if the police out there, I don't give a fuck if it's snowin' I want you out there hoin' This a business, you ain't gone too far to see that yet You know what I'm talkin' 'bout? Get your ass on them streets, get on gone, get my paper Sorry about that, sister, I'm sorry for that Oh my goodness, how you gon' dis-retrospect me like that?