i don t remember the first time i heard kwe li i don t remember what i was doing there were no remembered witnesses to my doings but it seems like i ve known him forever he who has moved through mornings and midnights through deaths and dawns to document our bones our blood our lives listen listen to his exact wings strumming mists from clouds listen listen a man always punctual with his mouth listen to his revolution of syllables scoping lightning from his pores keeping time with his hurricane beat asking us to pick ourselves up and become thunder yeah they say you can t please everybody let s go yeah ay they ain t know what that sound like feel the heartbeat feel the heartbeat on your eardrum we got a new heartbeat feel the heartbeat feel the heartbeat on your eardrum we got a new heartbeat yo what becomes of a dream deferred that never makes it to the world to be seen or heard do it breathe do it got a heartbeat is it alive do it leave only to become a star in the sky i believe no scratch that i know this ain t my full potential only usin 10 percent of my mental on instrumentals but incidentally my energy heavenly can he be so ill there ain t no pill or no remedy the maker of memories posess the recipe to your fate make no mistake there ain t no escapin your destiny especially when til death do us part like wedding rings i ll be here forever put that on e rything your everything man your alpha and your omega your beginning and your end your father your brother your lover your friend the blood in your vein that gets spilled and runs in the drain that s right my flow one and the same the joy and the pain my name the burner that destroy the toy and the train all city all night i m enjoyin the fame i m a hustler i m a gangster and a rebel with the rank of a general in the battle between god or the devil i lay claim to your spirit your religion your belief system ill do your hittin your catching and youre relief pitchin this kid proficient in every position the man of your dreams and your nightmares commandin your vision til it s quite clear like light beer yeah i m standin right here i get you hot but stay cooler than the night air i try to fit it in the same rhyme but realize i can t be everything to everyone at the same time  your everything man first time i heard him i was in japan seems like the first time i heard him was like the reflection reflection eternal like when kanye came out i guess was when i started to listen i hate to say that but new york native and serious talib fan i came all the way from puerto rico just to see talib kweli him mos def all of them man i need them out here in my life it s a rainy morning in new york city