Hey, yo man, i think that dude's tryin to break into your car
  ...what?
  
  New york life... type trife...
  That's why i'm tryin to shine the light, yo
  Here it come, here it come, here it come, y'all
  
  Mos def, blessed with the breath of life so arise and give praises
  Turn my face to where the mighty sun raises
  My book of rhyme pages, filled with phrases that amaze
  I could go on for days
  First name dante, last name beze
  Build the house of tomorrow with bricks of today
  My foundation rests on allah corner stone
  Shine the light throught the mic to radiate your zone
  See, the world that we know is about to get finished
  I'm watching last days wind down to final minutes
  Got dreams of paradise and my whole fam in it
  So i ain't got time to play no crime lieutenant
  Do you got time to play the crime lieutenant?
  See time is the asset, how you gonna spend it
  The way you handle yours will be well documented
  It's the raw authentic, sandalwood scented
  To make you bump the joint and in beyond city limits
  Twenty-first, no time to, approach a thing timid
  My name is mos def and this is how i get in it
  
  Chorus:
  
  Hey yo, my man (huh?)....
  Somethin tight comin through the pipe (what?)
  You heard the first time, the rhyme is designed
  To incline throughout space and time (yeah)
  You don't believe, lend a ear, yo my man (huh?)
  Somethin tight comin on your right (what?)
  You heard the first time, the rhyme is designed
  To incline, i hold the fold to shine (yeah)
  If you can huh, you can hear it...
  If you can huh, you can hear it, we in your atmos'
  
  Shine like black gold, burn like black coal
  Make a old timer roll up her sleeves, now that's cold
  Behold, the one and only has blessed my testimony
  Approach the ceremony authentic, never phony
  For delf, but never lonely, keep the kinfolk close
  Watch me rip it on pacific and atlantic coasts
  With the antidote, for the poisonous snake lies wit
  Only wimps put the hiss on tape
  You can't get on straight, this is dead on tape
  Accompanied by shawn j. with the bid on bait
  Put the grid on plate, on the ear or tray
  Hot damn it captain kirk and the klingons say
  You can't sit on stage, you got to get on the m-o-
  T-i-v-a-t-e real life, ain't no freebie
  My seed can't be needy, no time for freaky-deaky
  I'm movin on up like george and wheezy
  Who said that this was easy, they must have been treetop high
  Standin yieldin to our boldfaced lie, we all got to die
  So all got to try, to live life right
  In the sight of most high, to live life right
  In the sight of most high, to live life right
  In the sight of most high, to live life right in the sight
  
  Chorus:
  
  Hey yo, my man (huh?)....
  Somethin tight comin through the pipe (what?)
  You heard the first time, the rhyme is designed
  To incline throughout space and time (yeah)
  You don't believe, lend a ear, yo my man (huh?)
  Somethin tight movin on your right (what?)
  You heard the first time, the rhyme is designed
  To incline, i hold the fold to shine (yeah)
  If you can huh, you can hear it yo, my man (huh?)....
  Somethin tight comin through the pipe (what?)
  You heard the first time, the rhyme is designed
  To incline the pure genuine (yeah)
  You don't believe, lend a ear, yo my man (huh?)
  Somethin tight movin on your right (what?)
  You heard the first time, my rhyme is designed
  To incline, i hold the fold to shine (yeah)
  If you can huh, you can hear it...
  If you can huh, you can hear it, we in your atmos'...