Blackalicious — Back to the Essence

[Verse 1: Lateef] When I'm on the mic I stand tall with gall Style worth more than anything you gon' find in mall The treasure of the mutiny is what keeps you all enthralled I lively up the people with the yes, yes, y'all Create, wait, watch and let the fake fall Employ my strategy like checkmate Call your bluff in that destruction of all previous discussion When I hit like a concussion your heart rate stall Recorder all ball, your jaw go slack I deliver, makin' quivers and shivers all down your back Like a river flow the beat Bounces in Cadillacs that's bumpin' that vicious Blackalicious Kick drum that keeps punchin' through that speaker Countinously, meticoulously Etchin' out the spaces in time For miles affecting rhymes that changing minds permanently Like mescaline giving your whole peception perspective A new design to wreck that misconception Now we seeing eye to eye yet? Can the MC speak? The suckas stay quiet The crowd can get rowdy like the party was a riot Try it and the ladies'll hoo-ride your ass up out the spotlight "You crazy, don't you know that fool Lateef'll set it on you? He better than you" she telling you the truth too I give you the proof dude Step, you end up getting cut up by the cornerstone's edge Down back by the [?] I say don't get contrary 'Cause baby I'm very a-highly motivated I'm tryna do that plan ownership thing like Isaiah did Hope your vision ain't impaired But my prayers you can hear what I'm saying to you Now if you fakin' it may sound strange to you Like some way under my breath maybe I'm playing you But I only do that murder rap shit for those who the cap fit As for the rest I'm tryna take you all back to the essence [Hook: Lateef] Back to the essence When we in the house feel the almighty presence Making MCs act humble like peasants Smoking the mic and leaving nothing but resin Making the spots pop like pots full of wesson Making it hot, cooking your goose and your pheasant Taking your props, leaving your ass butt naked Soul exposed, no material protection Low and behold, we going back to the essence [Verse 2: Gift of Gab] I be that G-I to the F when I get def up on that mic I swing that lefty, no discrepency And effortlessly and in the right frame of mind Electricity combined with my soul and the way I flex the agility Focus ability makes some heads quite restless in this vicinty Tryna fill me out but they just jesters in my vicinity stuck in my art Tryna feather my energy, I bless plenty of enemies daily With expressions that'll lyrically man would like to get rid of me In my quest to be the epitome, it'll be cold in helll For I feel stress from any of these illiterate Insecure about they little insignicant contributions Infinitely I'm mocking yes And don't whenever the Gift put out a fly quote Yes, I'm doing my thing and leaving a cloud of cess smoke Wherever I go, whether I'm balling, whether I'm flat dead broke I'm heeding my call and leaving a ball of rappers with heads roast And bringing that universal dopeness to the east and west coast And really no one the best though is god Allowing you to harness the energy within whoever feels it the most at the moment, takes it the farthest So thank him 'cause it's through you that he manifest artistry Like a painting with an infinte beyond lifetime warranty And Satan is a wack diseased that needs to be quarantined And caged in, I'm riding a boat of dopeness come on aboard with me And engage in a tale of musical invention An MC lynchin' convention GA lyrical fifth dimension miracles All up in your system [Hook: Lateef] Back to the essence When we in the house feel the almighty presence Making MCs act humble like peasants Smoking the mic and leaving nothing but resin Making the spots pop like pots full of wesson Making it hot, cooking your goose and your pheasant Taking your props, leaving your ass butt naked Soul exposed, no material protection Low and behold, we going back to the essence