Artist: Talib Kweli f/ Abby Dobson
Album:  Gravitas
Song:   State of Grace
Typed by: Nickolye16@aol.com 

[Intro: Talib Kweli]
From the top, from the top, from the top, from the top, uhh
From the top, from the top, from the top, from the top

[Talib Kweli]
In a state of grace, where the talent is surrounded by the pain and the violence so the sellin never safe
At the same time snitchin to the Jake is the quickest way to get found at the bottom of the lake
The problem we face, seems so great but 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's so fake
No different from a snake, nothin left to give cause you always wanna take
If you ain't usin all the talents God provided you with for the betterment of man understand you ain't nothin but a waste
Look into the face of a young girl, raisin up like a flag when it's unfurled
Got game listenin to her mother's pearls, and she love Beyoncé cause she +Run the World+
Her momma used to +Run This City+, way back before the nigga Puff was Diddy
When it came to her 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 them umbilical chords 'til 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 lovin hip-hop, now all her daughter got is "Love & Hip Hop"
Nowadays niggaz turn up for the sex, niggaz turn up for the money, never turn up for the movement
Ratchet reality stars that be lookin so stupid gettin into fights at reunions
She used to be inspired by the writers, now she tired of the biters, no desire for the lyin and the violence
that's inflicted on the body in a so-called party environment, her body is politics
Lost count how many whores she was called today, she won't do it no more, lost all her faith
They say she exaggerate when she holler "rape", but it's only so much she can tolerate

[Chorus: Abby Dobson]
Help me fiiiiind my way, to a staaaaate of grace
Stir my heart, touch my soul, feed me freedom sounds you made
Help me fiiiiind my way, to a staaaaate of grace
Lift me up, with your weight, pullllll me to the grace

[Talib Kweli]
She wanna 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 & My Bitch"
No objections bein an object, major label seein a profit
She ain't never been a bitch or a hoe 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've 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 the 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 love him, and the way that he lustin
a part of his sufferin, and this young man clearly not ready for the harder discussion
Female MC's, actin 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 takin cues from the radio playin that doo-doo
She on D'Angelo Pandora station playin that "Voodoo," who knew?

[Chorus]

[Talib Kweli]
In the face of hate, she'd be lucky for a balance cause the world is challengin 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 grindin 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 them 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 reppin it correctly?
When it's free online or in a cloud, ain't no need to touch the radio dial
You wonder why you don't hear those sounds on the air and it's clear that your sales go down
Down by law then you found the raw, on a message board and you soundin off
These niggaz gain the whole world but what's the cause? No wonder why these niggaz be soundin lost
Rhymin is a memory, the assembly line rap niggaz is designed by the enemy
Stop givin them your soul, gift wrap; pre-packaged, fabricated shit rap
Runnin through you like fast food, Big Mac's, you don't want no problems, fix that
All the time that you spent listenin to that bullshit, now you ain't never gon' get back

[Chorus]

[Outro: Talib Kweli]
She don't love it, no
She don't love it no more
She don't love it, no
She don't love it no more
She don't love it, no
She don't love it no more
She don't love it, no
She don't love it no more
No more {*14X*}
She don't love it no more