Reflection Eternal
Reflection Eternal & Bahamadia & Xzibit
Jigmastas & Shabaam Sahdeeq & Talib Kweli & Pharoahe Monch & Mr. Complex
Reflection Eternal
Lone Catalysts & Rubix & Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli & Makeba Mooncycle
Reflection Eternal & Mr. Khaliyl & Yasiin Bey
Reflection Eternal
DJ Spinna & Talib Kweli & Apani B Fly
Reflection Eternal
Yasiin Bey
Tommy Tee & Wordsworth & Punchline & A.L. (All Lyrics) & Talib Kweli
The Creators & Black Star
2000 Seasons was written to be dense on purpose. I wanted to write a song that was as equally beautiful and challenging as the novel it took it’s name from, Ayi Kwei Armah’s 2000 Seasons. This song was the first solo song I ever released in my career, so I wanted to make a powerful lyrical impact.
[Intro]
Yeah, Hi-Tek, watch me!
For whom do we aspire to reflect our own people's death
For whose entertainment shall we sing our agony?
In what hopes?
That the destroyers aspiring to extinguish us will suddenly
Suffer remorse at the sight of their own fantastic success?
The last imbecile to dream such a dream is dead
He was killed by the saviors of his own dream
Armah, 2000 seasons
[Verse 1]
I'm not a human being gettin' on some spiritual shit
A spiritual being manifested as a human, that's it
When I spit, I spray thoughts that's representin' my life
Yo, I step into the spot, leave niggas open like mics
Take 'em on a tour, explore psychologies of war
Things you can't imagine if you've never seen 'em before
Shorties come back raw straight after C-74
I welcome them back to the world they think is run by law
The world is run by men who use laws for tools
But I come through, war tactics like Shaka Zulu
MC's is soft like Play-Doh — I shape 'em, smash 'em to pieces
Volunteer slaves crave the words I'm paintin' — the masterpieces
You hear 'em on the radio babblin', but the truth is travelin'
With the word I sent flyin' through the air like a javelin
Unravelin' like a verdict, pound it in your chest like a gavel in
The highest court in Babylon, let's travel on
If the world is foul, and you think foul is how you got to live
Then from the get, your ass was foul, and foul just is how you is
No excuses, see, life's dilemmas are set up like a mirror
Just to show you all your faces
Now your understanding is clearer
You had your chance for evolution, you let it pass you by
That's why I'm dissin' wack MC's until the day that I die
Reflection gettin' you high
We stand our ground with the believers
The Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Pyramids of Giza
No comparison!
The way I flip it is embarrassin'
'Tis the season, ain't no carolin'
[Verse 2]
All knowin', flowin' like spring water in the desert
Ballin' through the barren land where niggas take a stand
Like castles made of sand, free fallin' for anythin'
Nothin' but a plan to fail for they selves
No sense of delf, needed daily affirmations of self help
Yo, it's right in front of yo' grill! Stop lookin' everywhere else
Speakin' of plannin'
Hustlin' and schemin' or lookin' for hookups
Took up too much time
You like a fiend for rocks that got cooked up
God bless the child that got his own shit!
I got my team's, so the fiends now become opponents
They the opposition, stronger from competition
Shinin' like a golden shower, your face I'm pissin' in
Completin' a genocide mission like The Warren commission
Like fathers who's supposed to be missin'
While our sisters was supposed to be whorin'
Save it for a rainy day, money is pourin'
Under grey clouds, black butterflies still be soarin'
Flyin' in the friendly skies, we classifyin' our highs
Blood be flowin' through the streets like crimson tide in my eyes
Thai be havin' me drowsy, but I get mellow with the chronic
Intellectuals embarrassed 'cause we discussin' Ebonics
I'm on a roll like Sonic
In a age that the plague got bubonic proportions
Yo, I call it reparations, but they call it extortion
Whatever! Just give me mine, but caution
You've been warned for the very last time
I'm not tellin' you again
So relay it to your crew, you gotta actually to do
Forget the drive-in, drive-by and drive thru
You've gotta get out the car
Humble yourself, tilt your head back and look at the stars
Shinin' over someplace very far from where you standin'
When the night is clear
You understanding just who put them there
What you know about the space you get lost in?
Your peoples can't hear you in the distortion
The desert is absorption
You sucked and you stuck in off American freezin'
For like 2000 seasons
And upon your return from rapin' and crossbreedin'
Your own people accuse you of deceivin' and misleadin'
And causin' mass confusion, drug abusin'
Now you all caught up in institutions
At this time, you've got to break it down
And be showin' and provin'
An A&R told me that I use too many catchphrases
True! I'm tryin' to catch all my people in all different stages...
All different phases...
[Outro]
It's like that, y'all
It's like this, y'all
You don't stop!
Keep it goin', y'all
Reflection, yo!
We freak it like this
You don't stop
Here we go, y'all
2000 Seasons was written by Dave West & Hi-Tek & Talib Kweli.
Reflection Eternal released 2000 Seasons on Tue Jul 21 2015.