Black on Both Sides

Mathematics

Mos Def

Lyrics & Rhyme Analysis

End

217

Internal

113

Multi

277

Slant

Chain

Rhyme Groups — hover to spotlight

Booka-booka-booka-booka-booka-booka

Ha-hah

You know the deal

It's just me yo

Beats by Su-Primo for all of my peoples, negroes and latinos

And even^✦ the gringos

Yo, check it one for Charlie Hustle, two for Steady^✦ Rock

Three for the fourth comin'^✦ live, future^✦ shock

It's five dimensions,^✦ six senses^✦

Seven^✦ firmaments of heaven^✦ to hell, eight million^✦ stories to tell

Nine planets faithfully keep in orbit^✦

With the probable tenth, the universe expands length

The body^✦ of my text poses^✦ extra^✦ strength

Power-liftin' powerless up, out of this, towerin' inferno

My ink so hot it burn through the journal

I'm blacker than midnight on Broadway and Myrtle

Hip-Hop past all your tall social^✦ hurdles

Like the nationwide projects, prison-industry complex

Broken^✦ glass wall better^✦ keep your alarm set

Streets too loud to ever^✦ hear freedom ring

Say evacuate your sleep, it's dangerous to dream

But you chain cats get they cha-pow,^✦ who dead now?

Killin'^✦ fields need blood to graze the cash cow

It's a number^✦ game, but shit don't add up somehow

Like I got, 16 to 32 bars to rock it

But only^✦ 15 percent of profits, ever^✦ see my pockets like

69 billion^✦ in the last twenty^✦ years spent on national defense

But folks still live in fear like

Nearly^✦ half of America's largest cities^✦ is one-quarter black

That's why they gave Ricky^✦ Ross all the crack

16 ounces^✦ to a pound, twenty^✦ more to a ki

A five-minute sentence^✦ hearing and you no longer^✦ free

40% of Americans own a cell phone

So they can hear everything that you say when you ain't home

I guess, Michael Jackson was right, "You Are Not Alone"^✦

Rock your hardhat black 'cause you in the Terrordome

Full of hard niggas,^✦ large niggas,^✦ dice tumblers

Young teens and prison^✦ greens facin'^✦ life numbers^✦

Crack mothers, crack babies^✦ and AIDS patients

Young bloods can't spell, but they could rock you in PlayStation^✦

This new math is whippin' motherfuckers ass

You wanna^✦ know how to rhyme you better^✦ learn how to add

It's mathematics^✦

The Mighty^✦ Mos Def

It's simple mathematics^✦

Check it out!

I revolve^✦ around^✦ science

What are we talking^✦ about^✦ here?

The Mighty^✦ Mos Def

It's simple mathematics^✦

Check it out!

I revolve^✦ around^✦ science

What are we talking^✦ about^✦ here?

Do your math

One, t-t-two. three, four

What are we talking^✦ about^✦ here?

Yo, it's one universal law but two sides^✦ to every^✦ story^✦

Three strikes and you be in for life, manditory

Four MCs murdered in the last four years

I ain't tryin' to be the fifth one, the millennium is here

Yo it's six million^✦ ways to die, from the seven^✦ deadly^✦ thrills

Eight-year olds gettin'^✦ found with nine mill's

It's 10 p.m., where your seeds at? What's the deal

He on the hill puffin'^✦ krill to keep they belly^✦ filled^✦

Light in the ass with heavy^✦ steel, sights on the pretty^✦ shit in life

Young soldiers tryin' to earn they next stripe

When the average minimum wage is $5.15

You best believe you gotta^✦ find a new grind to get cream

The white unemployment rate, is nearly^✦ more than triple for black

So frontliners got they gun in your back

Bubblin' crack, jewel^✦ theft and robbery to combat^✦ poverty

And end up in the global^✦ jail economy

Stiffer stipulations^✦ attached to each sentence^✦

Budget^✦ cutbacks but increased police^✦ presence^✦

And even^✦ if you get out of prison^✦ still livin'^✦

Join the other^✦ five million^✦ under^✦ state supervision^✦

This is business, no faces^✦ just lines^✦ and statistics

From your phone, your zip code, to S-S-I digits^✦

The system break man child and women^✦ into^✦ figures

Two columns for who is, and who ain't niggaz

Numbers^✦ is hardly^✦ real and they never^✦ have feelings

But you push too hard, even^✦ numbers^✦ got limits^✦

Why did one straw break the camel's back? Here's^✦ the secret^✦

The million^✦ other^✦ straws underneath it, it's all mathematics^✦

The Mighty^✦ Mos Def

It's simple mathematics^✦

Check it out!

I revolve^✦ around^✦ science

What are we talking^✦ about^✦ here?

The Mighty^✦ Mos Def

It's simple mathematics^✦

Check it out!

I revolve^✦ around^✦ science

What are we talking^✦ about^✦ here?

Technical Breakdown

9.4

Multisyllabic Rhymes8.5

Complexity of rhyme schemes (data-driven)

Internal Rhymes9.5

Rhymes within a line (data-driven)

Wordplay / Double Entendres9.0

Clever language, metaphors, punchlines

Cadence / Rhythm10.0

Flow variation and timing (data-driven)

Vocabulary Complexity8.0

Range and depth of words used (data-driven)

Delivery / Breath Control9.5

Performance and control

Computed Score9.36

Production

— DJ Premier

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Critic Analysis

RAPLEDGER BAROMETER™

Mos Def utilizes a mathematical countdown structure to bridge the gap between street-level sociopolitical commentary and cosmic existentialism, anchoring complex structural conceits in a high-energy, percussive delivery.

A+

8.5

Multisyllabic

9.5

Internal Rhymes

Cadence / Flow

Vocabulary

Wordplay

9.5

Delivery

Incremental countdown sequenceMultisyllabic internal rhyme chainsSociopolitical allegoryPerpetual motion meterAnaphora

Rhyme Architecture: The verse employs a progressive numerical scheme (one through ten) that serves as the rhythmic backbone, allowing for fluid transitions between dense internal multisyllabics and thematic storytelling.

Verified Doubles & Entendres

"The body of my text poses extra strength"

① The physical written lyrics have substantial lyrical weight and impact.② A play on 'body' and 'text' as a physical entity performing a literal physical feat (power-lifting).

"Killin' fields need blood to graze the cash cow"

① Reference to geopolitical conflict and urban violence as profit-generating engines.② The metaphorical 'cash cow' (capitalist system) requires the 'blood' of victims to sustain its growth.

"It's a number game, but shit don't add up somehow"

① Reference to the pervasive influence of statistics and economics in social policy.② A cynical observation that despite the veneer of order (mathematics), the systemic outcomes are fundamentally illogical or unjust.

Exceptional structural cohesion via the numerical count

High-level integration of political critique with abstract philosophical concepts

Dynamic vocal projection that mirrors the urgency of the subject matter

Masterful use of syncopation to highlight the percussive elements of the beat

Density of information occasionally risks obscuring the central thesis for casual listeners

The rapid-fire delivery demands high focus to parse the transition from cosmology to prison-industrial critique

User Scores

Notes

DJ Premier's sparse loop and Mos Def's rapid-fire statistics about Black life in America. A political masterpiece