Free (The Book Song)

Lyrics

[Intro] I'ma tell you the truth though (Really?) [Verse 1] I like to read a lot Books be uplifting me Words help you see a lot This book was a gift to me Chuck D Presents This Day In Rap and Hip-Hop History It's a reference book and puts important dates in lists for me Jamel Shabazz A Time Before Crack A photographic history of hip-hop from way way back Here's Martha Cooper's "Hip-Hop Files", Charlie Ahearn, "Wild Style" And 50 Cent's 50th Law, I used to read this to my child Sometimes I look at my library and I'll smile Cause if I can't find it on the shelf I know it's there in my file Meanwhile, there's other books with other hooks and out looks I like to cook so I'll read about cooks, I can't live without books I like books, I recite books, I even write books a lot Science and rap, ruminations, gospel of hip-hop But let me spit a quick list, a book list, that's really short The first book that you should get is really a passport Travel, that's key. But the books can unlock it Unlock your mind by reading lines of new topics Place your optics on books of real black knowledge Beginning with Carter G. Woodson, I'm paying homage His book, Mis-Education of the Negro is essential For freeing your mind from the slavery that's mental Turn up this instrumental, you ain't dealing with an amateur I'm reading Walter Rodney How Europe Underdeveloped Africa That's the man to thank, high rank Let's look at The Birth of Black America by Andrew Frank Take that to the bank Let me rock again, hip-hop again Check out Africa: Mother of Western Civilization by Yosef Ben-Jochannan Check out Black Man of the Nile again by Yosef Jochannan Civilization or Barbarism by Cheikh Anta Diop and then Black Indians by William Loren Katz, take it back Anything by Dr. Cornel West, you need to go get that Michael Eric Dyson, all his books, go get all of that Henry Louis Gates, PBS, show support for that I'm like Banneker with the almanac, books I got the tallest stack The Brooklyn Public Library, yeah that's where I started at I read up everything, every book that I can see While these others went to college, I got my knowledge for free Philosophy, theology, paleoanthropology Mythology, economy, I studied these subjects entirely for free [Chorus] It was free! You got to see me It was free! Open your eyes and see! It was free! You've got to see Good things in life are free Don't waste your money [Verse 2] Let us continue on the menu with these reference books Like the Oxford English Dictionary for words its a better look It deals with word history, before and after them But its funny, in the A section you can't find the word African But these books, don't start trashing em, bashing em, harassing em It just shows accurately the racism to the maximum Here's American Heritage Dictionary, 4th edition Here's what it looks like when you look at the definition of Shirley Chisholm Peep the wisdom and the complication Shirley Chisholm was the first black woman to seek the Democratic presidential nomination You talk about breaking new ground, Shirley's profound But in the American Heritage Dictionary, this is nowhere to be found This is an American Heritage Dictionary reference And Shirley Chisholm's run for president doesn't get one sentence I'm just pointing it out, scholarship, what it's all about Don't just read, find out what these authors are all about [Chorus] I'm free! It was free! You got to see me It was free! Open your eyes and see! It was free! You've got to see Good things in life are free Don't waste your money