(Intro: Talib Kweli)
This the year of the Blacksmith
Talib Kweli (Kweli) K-1 (K-1)
Let's go! {"Listen!"}
Yeah, yeah niggaz don't {"Listen!"}
Back in the days we all used to {"Listen!"}
Now shit is so wack, nobody {"Listen!"}
To that real hip-hop, yo {"Listen!"}

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready here it come {"Listen!"}
Talib Kweli and I'm bangin on your eardrum
{"Somethin I wanna tell you"} Now let me get up in it
Wait, wait, wait, wait {"Wait just a minute"}

(Talib Kweli)
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears
Start repentin cause the endin is near
But don't, panic you can't function if you livin in fear
Pay attention you gotta listen to hear {"Wait just a minute"}
Who the fuck you think you talkin to?
Put you on hold, get a specialist to walk you through
Kweli, the flow captain to fast or slow rappin
I'm soul crackin, you ain't heard your shit appear like closed captions
King of the bars and I'm goin hardcores
All my confidence comes from knowin God's laws
Bangin on the system, fightin my kind of war
Loud as a whisper, quiet as a lion's roar

Chorus Talib Kweli
Ladies and gentlemen, get ready here it come {"Listen!"}
Talib Kweli and I'm bangin on your eardrum
{"Somethin I wanna tell you"} Now let me get up in it
It's for your spirits so, but y'all don't hear me though {"Listen!"}
Get up, get into it and get involved {"Listen!"}
There's a little somethin that I wanna spit for y'all
{"Somethin I wanna tell you"} Now let me get up in it
Wait, wait, wait, wait {"Wait just a minute"}

(Talib Kweli)
Get it now, get it fast, get it right
Get it big, get it live, get it done, get it tight
{"Somethin I wanna tell you"} But you don't really hear me though
I, spit it clearly so it's live at your stereo
To your heart while it's beatin in your chest
I'm speakin to execs in the seat behind the desk
To your spirit nuttin weaker than the flesh
So while you try to keep it fresh you gettin deeper in the depth
Real hip-hop is missin from the shelf
Yep, it's what you felt when you listen to yourself
Only a few is makin cuts that finish
So before you spend your hard-earned spinach {"Wait just a minute"}

Chorus

(Talib Kweli)
Yeah, you love the sounds comin out your speaker
I spit rounds like a 9-millimeter
The youth today they, frown at the teachers
They ain't down with no leaders, they don't wanna wait just a {"minute"}
They like "What nigga? Wait right there
I got reservoir dogs, you be missin a right ear"
{"Listen!"} Get it clear, figure is my year
I'm everywhere makin appearances in niggaz nightmares
Hear the word, peep the flow, check the cadence
What you heard is a pro I'm so amazin
Don't front girl you know it's your favorite
New Kweli yo they runnin out of patience

Chorus

(Outro: Talib Kweli)
Yo, don't it sound so good to ya?
Uhh, it's the return of the greatest y'all
Talib Kweli, BKMC, Blacksmith is the movement
Blacksmith is the music, what you ridin for?
What you livin for, what you dyin for?
{"Somethin I wanna tell you"} Bangin on your eardrum, yeah
{"Wait just, wait just, wait just a minute"}
{"Listen!"}
{"Wait just, wait just, wait just a minute"}