River People (Live)

Come on, yeah

I like to take this opportunity to thank everybody

Who been riding with me so far, it's a been a long journey

But they say your life's path is not about the destination

It's all about the journey, I appreciate y'all


It's my blood, sweat, tears, years

Struggle, love, hate, fear, New York City

You could make it here, you could make it anywhere

I came prepare for the rain, hail, sleet, snow

Whatever the weather we ride

Let my people go to the place where knowledge is born

We welcome you to the 3rd eye of the storm, check it out


Futuristic lyricist, straight from the renaissance

Top of the suffer chain, raps up a edge a lot

My people suffering, slave to another chain

This voyage is maiden like my mother, other name


Is this your first trip to hell?

Avenge a capitalist, if it's a product then we got it for sell

When I first started to spell, my words fell into rhymes

Turned into songs, everything else fell into line


I paint the pictures, you could see the people bleeding my bars

When I was a teen, I was mean, about to reach for the stars

So if I fail or fell, write in the clouds, tighten the vowel

Word, there use to be no biting allowed


Now the gangsters, no grinding allowed

Probably see a fight in the stage, 'fore you see a fight in the crowd

I send this out to my people facing the storm

Homie, we riding it out, you inspire what I'm writing about


It's my blood, sweat, tears, years

Struggle, love, hate, fear, New York City

You could make it here, you could make it anywhere

I came prepare for the rain, hail, sleet, snow

Whatever the weather we ride

Let my people go to the place where knowledge is born

We welcome you to the 3rd eye of the storm check it out


It's the 3rd eye of the storm

It's the 3rd eye of the storm

It's the 3rd eye of the storm

It's the 3rd eye of the storm


Check it out

Check it out

Check it out

Been *** around


I'm not a judge but I'm handing out sentences

To political prisoners, regular inmates with no visitors

*** in the streets outside to reach up for ministers

Not those that say they spiritual but actual practitioners


Rap listeners, we open the black businesses

This underground *** with samples to lack clearances

Once you get a past appearances, you could tell who *** is fake

And who's *** is based upon the past experiences


We really been to war, hand to hand like *** sales

Bill the man, the man they try to kill off the blackmail

Females left to raise up a son

From the day he was one


Til' he twenty, and he raise up a gun

Get the blazin, fore the blaze of the sun

Smoke bracin' his lung

Young in his years and he's facing a ton


None of his peers wanna share the road

Love the child, care to provider

But they hand a blunt and share saliva

You ain't a rider and you hustlin' backwards


To many excess with imitating these crackers

So our kids looking up to drug dealers and rappers

Taking all the work away from the black actors


Revelation is first and Armageddon is after

Tsunami's, hurricanes and natural disasters

Fast food culture be this, is always a factor

It's the gratification they want the cash faster


It's my blood, sweat, tears, years

Struggle, love, hate, fear, New York City

You could make it here, you could make it anywhere

I came prepare for the rain, hail, sleet, snow

Whatever the weather we ride

Let my people go to the place where knowledge is born

We welcome you to the 3rd eye of the storm check it out


It's the 3rd eye of the storm

It's the 3rd eye of the storm

It's the 3rd eye of the storm


It's the place where knowledge is born

Check it out, check it out, check it out

Talib Kweli, that's what it is, break it down