Push

Recognize your right to push back...
 Suffocated by the pressure to perform
 And the pressure to produce and the pressure to conform to the norms
 Animated by the pressure to succeed
 And the pressure to succumb and the pressure to believe in a cause
 Predicated on the pressure to accept
 And the pressure to explain and the pressure to perfect
 What is inherently flawless, in all this
 Recognize your right to push back...
 I already told you – I am not deterred by fear
 See accountability to me is a whole 'nother theory
 So my obedience is not to ever be mistaken
 For faith in the creation, but in the fact I am conscious
 Of my reliance on the inability of science
 To justify sound on the grounds of profound silence
 Why then is the molecular configuration labeled 'secular'
 When it's relegated to a genre?
 That which is from the mortal order's not built to last
 Irrespective of the measure of skilled craft
 So what Jah bless let no one curse
 I coerce the clergy, showin' no mercy to the pontiff
 Yes – and the muezzin's understandably upset by the clamor
 I climbed and tied the banner to the minaret
 Don't forget the pact, and
 Recognize your right to push back...
 Overwhelmed by the pressure to defer
 And the pressure to concede and the pressure to concur with the words
 Illustrated by the pressure to comply
 And the pressure to appease and the pressure to apply more pressure to your
 Peers 'til the pressure puts them
 Under pressure to defend why they choose not to amend
 What is inherently gorgeous, in all this
 Recognize your right to push back...
 Lest ye judge and deem the position extremely biased
 Identify me as 'self righteous' and 'pious'
 I assail even the stale efforts of the Baha'is
 Endeavors have failed to make available Hiphop
 To the youth at large, when in truth it's hard to refute God
 Music is conducive to producin' art
 Between you and me, I'm through with stringin' beads
 And singin' of flowers and waves and leaves – it's not
 That I'm a separatist, my suggestion is: we address the risk
 Of giving the impression we missed the point
 To progress with the kids – not in spite of 'em
 By request, invited 'em to bless this spot
 So when it must be justice, we clutch this (mic)
 Clingin' to the cord – they cannot afford to ignore the value
 And when they doubt you
 Recognize your right to push back...
 Aggravated by the pressure to mature
 And the pressure to endow and the pressure to endure criticism
 Generated by the pressure to be numb
 To the pressure of the thumb of the one holdin' you down not allowin' you to
 Run from the pressure to be fine
 With the pressure to align with the pressure to abide by the rules
 Of the lawless, in all this
 Recognize your right to push back...