Released on January 1, 2004

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[Intro: Talib Kweli]

Ain't no half-stepping

'Bout to bring it to you

'Bout to give it to you

Yo, Talib Kweli in the place to be

You now rocking with the best BK MC

This is how we put it down '04


[Verse 1: Talib Kweli]

Kweli the great, I be the first out this gate

I get cake – stop that, you making a mistake

I gives a fuck if the label can't get straight

I get paid with this mixtape like I flip weight

Yo, stay away from those state paid vacations

Nigga raw like Kane when he played Jason

From the generation of crack babies and AIDS patients

I go hard, you niggas soft like Clay Aiken

Plus you only hard when the camera on

Soft like the foundation you standing on

Rhyme marathon – sort of like when Diddy ran the city

Fuck with us and guns pop out like Janet's titty

Yo, I got niggas ready for the main event

That's why I'm still around and all those corny niggas came and went

Top shotter, rocking with Trotter and got The Game on deck

Stroll through any hood and get the same respect


[Verse 2: The Game]

Compton's Kool G Rap

Black All-Stars, tan khakis, and a red Blue Jay hat

I’m lowridin' on 100 spoke Daytons

Nigga with an attitude, like Nas buying jewelry from Jacob

I don’t play that mixtape shit

Say my name and I buck 50 ya face like Miami Haitian

I’m gangsta, homie, check my verse

I’m lyrically Big Daddy Kane in Converse

And niggas think we just Boyz N The Hood

And the City of Angels got poisoned by Suge

I take the drama, roll it up in a Swisher

Let Kweli hit it, then lower the switches

I’m 3 wheelin’, through the Wilshire District

Thinking how Big and Pac both died by pistols

L.A. Times called it the Death Row conspiracy

Run up on my '6-4, I’ll take out ya misery


[Verse 3: Black Thought]

Straight out the frying pan into the game

If ya'll attention is paid, no need to mention the name

I breathe the fire that can fire back, drenching your brain

Velvet rope or gold chain, it's all a lynching the same

You in tuned to a world of pain

It hurt like new shoes – with nothing to lose, the world to gain

To ya'll fools to brainiacs high IQ's

If you feel it ain't banging, then it's not my music

Can't stagnate the haters, can't stop my movement

Play this at high volume and get you shocked off stupid

Ya kiddin' me, here come a taste of escapism

Tell your people there will be something left to take with 'em

You see me lifting mics, I be steady weightlifting

I'm zoning out, silhouettes get to shapeshifting

Watch me force perpetrating like they ain't slippin

Kwe', we about to hit 'em up, catch another victim


[Outro: Xzibit]

Yeah, check this out

Let me tell ya'll niggas something about shit

'Cause motherfuckers try and do it to you everyday

Try and shit on you, right?

Check this out

Don't shake the shit off

'Cause when you shake the shit off

You never know where the shit is going to land

Could land on your girl, could land in your food, could land on your car

Man, let the shit slide off you, homie, and hit the ground

'Cause when you shake it off, you have no idea where it lands

Hehe a little Public Service Announcement

From your boy, X To Tha motherfuckin' Z

The Left Coast is the best coast – keep going, ya'll

The Best of Talib , turn your fucking radio up!

“Thinking how Big and Pac both died by pistols L.A. Times called it the Death Row conspiracy”
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No one knows for certain who killed Tupac and Biggie. A lot of mixed conspiracies had been around the killing of them.

L.A. Times published a long and detailed article in 2002 about the killing of Tupac.

“Let Kweli hit it, then lower the switches”
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In the song when Game raps this, the instrumentals are turned down – meaning that Talib Kweli lowered the switches on the production machine, thereby lowering the volume of the instrumental.

“I’m 3 wheelin’, through the Wilshire District”
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He’s stunting and riding on 3 wheels. Probably in the ‘64 Impala he mentioned in the last line. This is also a tribute to The Notorious B.I.G., who was shot and killed in Wilshere Blv in Los Angeles.

“The Left Coast is the best coast – keep going, ya’ll”
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This line is a provocation to the East-west Coast Beef. In the famous beef of where rap’s biggest legends died like 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G..

“Nigga raw like Kane when he played Jason”
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Kane Hodder is the actor who played Jason Voorhees in four of the Friday the 13th films.

“Run up on my ’6-4, I’ll take out ya misery”
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He’s talking about his ‘64 Chevrolet Impala while Reference to Tupac and Biggies killings as both died by drive-by shootings.

(Game and his 64' Impala)

“Fuck with us and guns pop out like Janet’s titty”
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Reference to the Janet Jackson Super bowl halftime controversy

“Plus you only hard when the camera on”
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Talib is talking about the rappers who are acting like Bad Boys in front of the camera but they aren’t as hard as they are acting. Also, they don’t care about the game and are just after money and fame.

“Nigga with an attitude, like Nas buying jewelry from Jacob”
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A reference to two icons, New York legend, Nas and the classic Cali rap group, Niggaz Wit Attitudes or N.W.A:

Game will always have an attitude, just like Nas always buys his jewelry from Jacob the Jeweler, so don’t mess with him.

Above: Nas rocking a Jesus Piece made for him by Jacob.

“I’m lyrically Big Daddy Kane in Converse”
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The Game loves Converse. He’s comparing himself to the lyrical master Big Daddy Kane who is known to have ghost wrote for Biz Markie and Roxanne Shante.

“I go hard, you niggas soft like Clay Aiken”
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Clay Aiken was an American Idol winner. Not sure if Kweli is making a joke about him being gay or just his music being soft or both. This track came out in 2004, Clay Aiken came out in 2008.

“Ain’t no half-stepping”
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The song title B.D.K. refers to the rapper Big Daddy Kane. “Ain’t No Half Steppin” was Big Daddy Kane’s biggest hit.
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=2l2O-JOXG_I

“From your boy, X To Tha motherfuckin’ Z”
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Xzibit name begins with X and the following letter is Z.

“And the City of Angels got poisoned by Suge”
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Back then (‘03-'08/09), Game had an beef with Suge Knight. Many (still) believed Suge Knight had something to do with Tupac’s death.

Things are more cool right now between Game and Suge Knight, he attended at Game’s birthday party in late 2013.