Music Video

Featured In

Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS
Weldon Irvine
Weldon Irvine
Keyboards
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli
Vocals
Mos Def
Mos Def
Vocals
DJ Evil Dee
DJ Evil Dee
Scratches
Gabor Szabo
Gabor Szabo
Sampled Artist
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli
Songwriter
Dante Smith
Dante Smith
Songwriter
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Mr. Walt
Mr. Walt
Producer
Chris Athens
Chris Athens
Mastering Engineer
Kieran Walsh
Kieran Walsh
Mixing Engineer

Lyrics

[Intro]
Against the canvas of the night
Appears a curious, celestial phenomena
Called a Black Star, but what is it?
[Verse 1]
What is the Black Star?
Is it the cat with the black shades, the black car?
Is it shining from very far, to where you are?
It is commonplace and different, intimate and distant
Fresher than an infant
[Verse 2]
Black, my family thick, like that-strap molasses
Star on the rise in the eyes of the masses
Black is the color of my true love's hair
Stars are bright, shining, hot balls of air
[Verse 3]
Black like my baby girl's stare
Black like the veil that the Muslimina wear
Black like the planet that they fear, why they scared?
Black like the slave ship belly that brought us here
Black like the cheeks that are roadways for tears
That leave black faces well traveled with years
Black like assassin cross-hairs, Blacker than my granddaddy armchair
He never really got no time to chill there
'Cause his life was warfare
[Verse 4]
See, on the front lines, the Blacks is all there
Black like the perception of who on welfare
Black like faces at the bottom of the well, I've been there before
To bring the light and heat it up like la cocina
Make without imagine happen, but maybe I'm just a dreamer
I love rockin' tracks like John Coltrane love Naima
[Verse 5]
Like the student love the teacher
Like the prophet love Khadija
Like I love my baby features
Like the creator love all creatures
[Verse 6]
Who are knowledge, truth and peace seekers?
We on point like heat seekers, targeting the Black marketing strategists
Run up on 'em with the heaters
Everybody following with no leaders, feeling like we killing ourselves
Because I know they can't defeat us, it don't stop till we complete this
Keep this fly, there's so much to life when you just stay Black and die
[Verse 7]
Blacker than the nighttime sky of Bed-Stuy in July
Blacker than the seed in the blackberry pie
Blacker than the middle of my eye
Black like Fela man cry, some man wanna ask, who am I?
I simply reply, the U-N-I, V-E-R-S-A-L magnetic
Work to respect the angelic
Climb the mountaintop and tell it till the valley's enveloped
You're full of big chat but you nah know me
I'm dark like the side of the moon you don't see
When the moon shine newly
[Verse 8]
You know who else is a Black Star? (Who?)
Me, you know who else is a Black Star? (Who?)
Me, you know who else is a Black Star, who we?
And we be shining, and shining when we rhyming and rhyming
We be shining and shining when we rhyming and rhyming
Now, everybody hop on the one, the sounds of the two
It's the third eye vision, five side dimension
The 8th Light is gonna shine bright tonight
It's the third eye vision, five side dimension
[Chorus]
You know the light come from the dark
The other way is ass backwards, it's absurd
Make you wanna crow like a blackbird, that's right
You living from your first day to your last night
Sometimes, you show your ass like lint on your clothes
When you froze in the black light
Dead that, before you get your head wrapped
Like Badu, we see through your voodoo
Just like Eve's Bayou, you dealing with that black magic
Try to civilize you, not walk on by you
Like Sybil, lies do get you black listed, it'll
Be unlucky for you like a black cat, a panther
Revolution is the answer, that's what we need
Greed plague my people like the cancer, true indeed
Now, Black people unite, and let's all get down
Now, everybody hop on the one, the sounds of the two
It's the third eye vision, five side dimension
The 8th Light is gonna shine bright tonight
Everybody hop on the one, the sounds of the two
It's the third eye vision, five side dimension
The 8th Light is gonna shine bright tonight
It's the third eye vision, five side dimension
Equaling up to eight, light shine bright
Written by: Mos Def, Talib Kweli
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