Blackalicious: The Craft

[Chorus]
This Craft, this beat, this rhyme, this vibe
This style, they say music gives new life
From a source inside that is forever flowin'
This stage, this mic, this crowd, this show
This life, I've been given a gift tonight
And for that, I vow to be a vessel

[Gift of Gab - Verse One]
I didn't have to be, given the gift to rip
I'll never master me, I know that it's from Him
or Her or It, dimensions that sit
Waitin' to sift through me, I fall short, still it hits me swift
I didn't have to see, I coulda hit the lick
I coulda drifted it quick, I coulda quit so quick
It's really a trip, I guess I was picked
I don't know what I did to deserve a ride like this (Damn!)
I didn't have to eat, I coulda been so thin
I didn't have to be, quoting these sentences
I didn't have to reap, the work put in but then
even the work in itself was such a blessin
I didn't have to see, the planet lip to lip
I didn't have to make, a livin' writ to writ
I didn't have to dream and then begin to live it
And for that, I vow to be a vessel

[Chorus]
This Craft, this beat, this rhyme, this vibe
This style, they say music gives new life
From a source inside that is forever flowin'
This stage, this mic, this crowd, this show
This life, I've been given a gift tonight
And for that, I vow to be a vessel

[Verse Two]
I give thanks for my rhymin' ability
I don't front like it's not a responsibility
I can open a mind, if the youth will listen to me
I'm not goin' to front, like I'm on some killin' spree
and as hard as the times are, God is livin' through beats
that come not from minds, but that travel through spiritual reasons
Some of the time, I feel like, it's not even me
No mon-ey can buy gateways to infinity
Still I'm hun-gry to shine, when I know I should let it be
I want but I have, every single thing that we need
So help me align self with soul and then I'll be free
To sculpt and design verbal styles and experience freedom

[Chorus]
This Craft, this beat, this rhyme, this vibe
This style, they say music gives new life
From a source inside that is forever flowin'
This stage, this mic, this crowd, this show
This life, I've been given a gift tonight
And for that, I vow to be a vessel

[Chief Xcel samples]
"Let go, do what's in front of you"
"Then, let go, then do what's in front of you"

[Verse Three]
This ain't leisure, although it feels
It is a duty, a way to live, another way to give
Another way to just, have communion
With the source of the sun and moon and, a way to pay the bills
Displayin' skills, I take it REAL serious
The vibe's so mysterious, not just one more day to kill
..and I could lose my connection
if I do not respect it enough, fffade away it will
Day to day it gives energies
That replenish me, if I believe and I say it will
and act on it, 'cause action is the key to freedom
Only way to be a leader, lead by the way you live

[Chorus 3X]
This Craft, this beat, this rhyme, this vibe
This style, they say music gives new life
From a source inside that is forever flowin'
This stage, this mic, this crowd, this show
This life, I've been given a gift tonight
And for that, I vow to be a vessel