State Of Grace Lyrics - Gravitas - 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 hollerate 

But it's only so much she can tolerate 

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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 

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? 

Photos 

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 

She don't love it, no 

She don't love it no more