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Know That - Mos Def



     
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Know That Lyrics


Hey, hey, hey man
I strike the empire back
I strike the empire back
Fuck the empire
High flyin' like the Millennium Falcon, piloted by Han Solo
I never roll for dolo, frontin' on me's a no-no
Understand? Doin' this for my family
Ha ha, check it out y'all
Yo, I'm tryin' to make a dollar out of what makes sense
Add it up, told my daddy I'd be a rich man
You never know when your fate gon' switch hand
Get today's solid ground out of yesterday's quicksand
I was a young boy, who dreamt about being a big man
On small looseleaf sheets I sketched a big plan
Gotta handle business properly, boost up my economy
Store it up and get my mom some waterfront property
Yesterday was not for me but nowadays it's time for me
The streets is watchin' me, I watch back, that's the policy

Movin' along my oddesey like blood through the artery
Navigate the treacherous and make it seem effortless
Let those who make the exodus seekin' the North beacon
From beatin' and hog-eatin', from punishment all season
From hands cracked and bleedin' cotton thorns in your palms
It's for y'all that I sketch these songs, and it goes
Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
I fear no man, because faith is the arrow
My vocal chord travel worldwide to block narrow
We can blow with the ammo or go mano-a-mano
Kweli is you wit me? Let's make it happen
(Whattup whattup?)
I burn through your argument with action
My eyes stay fastened to tomorrow lookin' for a brighter day
When y'all wanna leave y'all? Right away
Shout it out from East-West, from South to Northern
From Cakalak' to California
From the coldest to the warmest
To the borders 'cross the waters, understand
And know that I love you
We got love in the place
Shout out to all the Queens all the seeds
To all the teams that's gettin' cream
From outlaw to emcee's
Make it happen do your thing, understand
And know that I love you
Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen
Guess who? The illest MC in the atmosphere, yeah the Soul Controller
who roam the frontier like a Buffalo Soldier
I follow the code of honor like a real man gonna
Never disrespect no women 'cause I love my momma
These cats be givin' us praise but it ain't that accurate
I give it up to God, all that, love and attachment, get
Scary well-prepared with the shears when it get hairy
Like how these niggaz is lookin' like some fairies
And singin' like canaries to the beast
And anybody who will listen to 'em clearly
Y'all don't hear me though, even when I'm comin' through in stereo
You make a mockery of what I represent properly
Yo, why you startin' me? I take that shit straight to the artery
Intellectual property I got the title and the deed
I pay for rent, with the tears and sweat, and what I bleed
MC's imitate the way we walk, the way we talk
You cats spit lyrical pork with no spiritual thought
Plus your flow a little bit off, you come across soft
Back in the days, niggaz like that on stage got tossed off
Need to get crossed off the guest list
It's like you gotta be disrespected
And thrown out the exit to get the message
Sometimes your sunshine get snatched like a necklace
when you get too drunk on power and your drive get reckless
Check it, MC's in my face after I slug you then I hug you
If I gotta dead you know it's only 'cause I love you
Shout it out from East-West from South to Northern
From the richest to the poorest
To the elders in the coffins
Livin' native dyin' for it, understand
And know that I love you
Yeah, yeah, we got love in the place
Shout out from up top to the middle
To black bottom, sky high
Whether you colder than December or hotter, than July
It don't stop 'til we complete this
And know that I love you keep this fly
It's so much to life when you just
Stay black, stay black
Stay black, stay black
Stay black, stay black
Stay black, stay black
Stay black, stay black
My people, my people, my people people p-people
My people, my people, my people people p-people
My people, my people, my people people p-people
My people, my people, my people people p-people
My people, my people, my people people p-people
My people, my people, my people people p-people
My people, my people, my people people p-people
My people, my people, my people people p-people
My people, oh oh oh oh ohh, oh ohh

Enjoy the lyrics !!!
Dante Terrell Smith (born December 11, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York, United States), now known by the stage name Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def), is a Grammy Award-nominated rapper and actor. He now works under the nom de plum Yasiin Bey, and has performed under the aliases Mighty Mos Def, The Freaky Night Watchman, Boogie Man, Black Dante and Pretty Flaco. He began rapping in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics in 1994, and then formed the duo Black Star with Talib Kweli in 1998. As a solo artist he has released the albums Black on Both Sides in 1999, The New Danger in 2004, True Magic in 2006 and The Ecstatic in 2009. Initially recognized for his musical output, Mos Def's screen work since the early 2000s has established him as one of only a handful of rappers who have garnered critical approval for their acting work.

Rap career:
Mos Def began his performing career on the television show The Cosby Mysteries in 1994. In 1994, Mos also began his music career, forming the short-lived group Urban Thermo Dynamics (UTD) with his younger brother DCQ and his younger sister Ces. Despite being signed to Payday Records, the group only released two singles and the group's debut album, Manifest Destiny, did not see the light of day until 2004 when released through Illson Media. In 1996 he emerged as a solo artist, working with De La Soul and Da Bush Babees before releasing his own first single, "Universal Magnetic" which was a huge underground hit. After signing with Rawkus Records, he and Talib Kweli released a full length album under the band name Black Star, entitled Black Star. It was released in 1998, with Hi-Tek producing most of the tracks. Mos Def released his solo debut, Black On Both Sides, in 1999. Filled with tracks raving about his hometown, Brooklyn and his love for hip-hop, Black on Both Sides also deals with racial profiling of Black men in America, with the track Mr N**ga. Mos Def was also featured on Rawkus' influential The Lyricist Lounge and Soundbombing series compilations. After the collapse of Rawkus, Def along with Kweli signed on to Interscope/Geffen Records, who released his second album The New Danger in 2004. In early 2005 Mos Def was rumored to join Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella record label, but this was later denied by the artist himself claiming "Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella would never allow me to release songs I plan on putting out there. I ain't down with that commercial non-sense. I'm about to deal with the fake with my next album, from George Bush to 50 Cent." But, after making that comment, Mos Def was featured rapping on a SUV commercial, endorsing the GMC Denali. Mos Def is projected to release his last solo album on Geffen Records, The Undeniable Free Flaco in early 2006. His 4th studio album The Ecstatic was released June 9, 2009 on Downtown Records. It serves as Mos Def's second highest charting album to date. Upon its release, The Ecstatic received general acclaim from most music critics, and it earned Mos Def a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album. Rolling Stone magazine named it the seventeenth best album of 2009.

Impact on hip-hop
The artistic boundaries of hip-hop and rap music had been redefined by artists such as Brand Nubian, De La Soul, and Public Enemy, whose music was more thematically sophisticated and socially conscious than that of their predecessors. By the early 1990s however, this brand of rap had been eclipsed in popularity by gangsta rap. Socially aware rap music (alternative hip hop) has experienced something of a renaissance in the late 1990s and now the 2000s, in part due to artists such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, The Roots and others. "Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are … Blackstar" Mos Def's collaboration with Talib Kweli was released during the aftermath of the deaths of 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. sparking a rebirth of "aware" and "intelligent" hip-hop. Def's music often references his Islamic faith and his contention that black artists receive little credit for their role in the birth of rock and roll music.

On Mos Def's 2004 album The New Danger, the rapper took his penchant for experimentation to a new level. Most of the songs were more hip-hop flavored stylings of blues and rock, with few actual raps thrown in. This threw off fans who were expecting another full-blown rap album. The New Danger also featured the controversial song "The Rape Over", a parody of Jay-Z's The Blueprint hit "The Takeover":

old white men is runnin this rap shit
corporate forces runnin this rap shit
some tall israeli is runnin this rap shit
we poke out our asses for a chance to cash in
cocaine, is runnin this rap shit
'dro, 'yac and e-pills is runnin this rap shit...
mtv is runnin this rap shit
viacom is runnin this rap shit
aol and time warner runnin this rap shit...
quasi-homosexuals is runnin this rap shit

The lyrics would seem to have chafed with higher-placed executives, who made Mos take the song off of later releases of the album, supposedly for "sample clearance issues".

In September 2005, Mos Def released the single "Katrina Clap" (utilizing the instrumental for Juvenile's "Nolia Clap"), a critical reaction to the lack of response by the Bush administration to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. He probably chose the "Nolia Clap" instrumental because the rapper Juvenile hails from New Orleans, and the song was a hit in the New Orleans area before the hurricane.

Mos Def also collaborated with Kanye West on West's track named "two words" and appeared in the music video.

Acting career
The first years of the 2000s have established Mos Def as a notable actor. His performances in Brown Sugar, Monster's Ball, and the HBO made-for-TV film Something The Lord Made have been particularly acclaimed by critics. Having been nominated for several awards, Mos finally broke through, winning Best Actor, Independent Movie at the 2005 Black Reel Awards for his portrayal of Sgt. Lucas in The Woodsman. He also landed the role of Ford Prefect in the long-awaited 2005 movie adaption of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Notably, in 2002 he played the role of Booth in Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog, a Tony-nominated and Pulitzer-winning Broadway play. He has also been a musical guest and participated in many skits on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show.

In 2004, he hosted the MOBO awards in London, after the original presenter, Pharrell Williams pulled out at the last minute.

He has been the host of the award-winning spoken word show Def Poetry Jam since its inception. The show's sixth season aired in February 2007.

Discography
* 1998 Black Star (released with Talib Kweli under the name Black Star) Priority Records
* 1999 Black on Both Sides Rawkus Records
* 2004 The New Danger Geffen
o nominated for Best Urban/Alternative
Performance, 47th Annual Grammy Awards
* 2006 TRUE MAGIC
* 2009 The Ecstatic Downtown Records
* 2010 Mos Dub

Selected Filmography
* Cadillac Records (2009)
* Be Kind Rewind (2008)
* Talladega Nights (2006) (a quick cameo)
* Dreamgirls (2006)
* Bobby (2006)
* The Brazilian Job (2006) (pre-production)
* 16 Blocks (2006)
* The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005).
* Lackawanna Blues (2005)
* Something the Lord Made (2004)
o nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, 56th Annual Emmy Awards
o nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television, 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards
* Chapelle Show (? year) - Black Delegation Rep for Racial Draft
* The Woodsman (2004)
* The Italian Job (2003)
* Brown Sugar (2002)
* Civil Brand (2002)
* Showtime (2002)
* Monster's Ball (2001)
* Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001)
* Bamboozled (2000)
* Where's Marlowe? (1998)

In September 2011, Mos Def announced that he planned to use the name Yasiin Bey instead of Mos Def beginning in 2012.

http://www.myspace.com/mosdef

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