By Far, One of the Most Powerful Songs through the Lyrics Alone. The Visuals just add
THAT MUCH MORE...
*lyrics after the break
"State Of Grace" (feat. Abby Dobson)
[Verse 1: Talib Kweli] From the top, from the top, from the top, from the top From the top, from the top, from the top, from the top In a state of grace Where the talent is surrounded by the pain and the violence So the selling never safe At the same time snitching to the Jake Is the quickest way to get found at the bottom of a lake But the problem we face seems so great That we can't escape so we accept our fate So the sex and the money and the murder are the pictures we paint If an artist is a part of a community And got an opportunity to get that cake Would never come back to the hood, no immunity Usually a nigga like that so fake No different from a snake Nothing left to give cause you always wanna take If you ain't using all the talents God provided you with For the betterment of man, understand you ain't nothing but a waste Look into the face of a young girl Raising up like a flag when it's unfurled Got game listening to her mother's pearls And she love Beyonce cause she run the world Her mama used to run this city Way back before the nigga Puff was Diddy When it came to the music then she got real picky From New York, but preferred 2Pac over Biggie No disrespect to Ms. Wallace, but she liked to do the knowledge And she felt that Pac was more lyrical Plus she never went to college But she called herself 'Earth' found rhythm with the gods more spiritual She God in the physical And it's only natural to pray for a little you Musical so she played the umbilical chords So her daughter was born it was a miracle Music is the light when it's dark And the way that you spit your dart is a big part She grew up loving hip hop Now all her daughter got is "Love & Hip Hop" Nowadays niggas turn up for the sex Niggas turn up for the money, never turn up for the movement Ratchet reality stars that be looking so stupid Getting in the fights at reunions She used to be inspired by the writers, now she's tired of the biters No desire for the lying and the violence That's inflicted on the body in a so-called party environment Her body is politics Lost count of how many whores she was called today She won't do it no more, lost all her faith They say she exaggerate when she holler 'Rape' But it's only so much she can tolerate
[Hook: Abby Dobson] Help me find my way to a state of grace Stir my heart, touch my soul Feed me freedom sounds you made Help me find my way to a state of grace Lift me up with your weight Pull me to the grace
[Verse 2: Talib Kweli] She wanna to be the first in her family with a higher education Her entire graduation was a dire situation Did a paper on the state of the hip hop generation But no longer felt a part of the conversation Used to be I'm a ''ride or die'' chick B.I.G. with the ''Me And My Bitch'' No objections, being an object Major label seeing a profit She ain't never been a bitch or a ho But she used to sing along when she heard it in a song She used to be front row at the shows 'til she overdosed on the testosterone Her favorite rapper invited her backstage would have stayed But she felt like she really ain't belong When she wouldn't let him hit, this nigga called her a bitch She erased all her songs from the phone You are who you fuck with, so the guy that she stuck with You can bump it or dump it, the artist she trusted Just broke her heart, so misogynistic and disgusting She tried not to judge him In her heart she still loved him And the way that he lusting a part of his suffering And this young man clearly not ready for the harder discussion Female emcees acting more like a dude than a dude do, only if you knew I know a few who flow crazier than if you flew over the nest of the cuckoo But she never gonna hear them in the mix so the new attitude Taking cues from the radio playing that doodoo She on D'Angelo Pandora station playing that Voodoo, who knew?
[Hook]
[Verse 3: Talib Kweli] In the face of hate She'd be lucky for a balance cause the world is challenging her to be great I see lyrics as colors and shapes Put it on tape, let her know I could relate When you wish you could switch the way that you look And your nose was smaller and your hair was straight When you got no faith When you hate yourself, when you hate your race Let's get to the core Our sisters worth more than grinding on the wall half-naked She a bitch, she a whore And you rich and you shit on the poor In all of your records and ask 'em to buy it Why should I support music that constantly disrespects me? And make you dismissive of the efforts of those who get left With the charge of repping it correctly When it's free online or in a cloud Ain't no reason to touch the radio dial You wonder why you don't hear no sounds on the air And it's clear that your sales going down Down by law then you found the raw On a message board and you sounding off These niggas get the whole world, but what's the cause? No wonder why these niggas be sounding lost Rhyming is a memory The assembly line rap niggas is designed by the enemy Stop giving them your soul, gift wrap Prepackaged, fabricated shit rap Running through you like fast food; Big Mac's You don't want no problems, fix that All the time that you spent listening to that bullshit Now you ain't never gon' get back
[Hook]
[Outro: Talib Kweli] She don't love it, no She don't love it no more
