Dissertation Part 1: The Introduction Lyrics

Intro [Yes, yes

And so the journey begins

You know how it feels
And I’m pretty sure you understand, too…

Yeah…

Ha!

Good looking out, Truth!

I finally made my move
And I figured I’d give you an update
On where I’m at right now.]

[MALCOLM X (as portrayed by Denzel Washington):
“What would you call an educated Negro with a BA, or an MA, or a BS or a PhD?
I’ll tell you. You call him a Nigga! That’s what.”]
[Verse 1: A.D. Carson]
They say History is written by the victors
So when you see my picture
In the book it’ll be consistent with my memory
My victories, my tendencies that tempered me and wintered me
Cold, like those Chi City winds, ‘cause they’re blistering

It’s in my DNA
It’s in my bloodline
What I do is much deeper than a punchline

Where I’m from crime
Is the norm
Bullets hail—we stay calm amidst the storm

I say ‘we’ because
When I say ‘me’ it’s us
When I say ‘you’ it’s me, too, and vice versa
It’s not much that needs to be proven in nice verses
Write cursive—scribble out—print it like I meant it
My people closed minded—
Wear it if you fit it
Rarely niggas get it. If they did it would be critically acclaimed

But still the same A. Dot
Still focused on my vision at a rate they not
[Hook]
Still hoping for some healing from this place I got to
And knowing niggas feel it when I say ‘I got you.’

Is enough to keep me cool for the moment
School in the mornings
Teach in the evenings and be decent

No time to sleep in;
Just create these
Statements like a dissertation for a PhD

[“What would you call an educated Negro with a BA, or an MA, or a BS or a PhD?
I’ll tell you. You call him a Nigga! That’s what.”]

[Verse 2: A.D. Carson]
So, I finally made my move to the South, and as I’m moving about
I get a better understanding what my roots is about
Because my people from here, and though I can’t see ‘em from here
They’re reflected in my expressions
So you’re hearing ‘em clear

They ask me, “Why would leave?”
I ask ‘em, “How could I stay
And be limited on the shit I have the power to say?”
I’m thinking years in the future
They’re thinking now and today
Like getting showered with flowers
Not in the aisle at your grave

It’s hard to make it make sense
My momma proud as can be
But says, “I thought you left before to get a college degree?”
And as I tell her, “I did, but I’m going back in the summer.”
It kind of makes me wonder what the fuck I’ll do with another

It’s nothing more than a question—rhetorical one, at that
I mean, the fact is all of this shit started off with a rap
And if I’m still doing that
I think I’m doing okay
If it ain’t complimentary, then you ain’t got shit to say [to me]

[Hook]
Still hoping for some healing from this place I got to
And knowing niggas feel it when I say ‘I got you.’

Is enough to keep me cool for the moment
School in the mornings
Teach in the evenings and be decent

No time to sleep in;
Just create these
Statements like a dissertation for a PhD

[“What would you call an educated Negro with a BA, or an MA, or a BS or a PhD?
I’ll tell you. You call him a Nigga! That’s what.”]

[Verse 3: A.D. Carson]
Because you read it in a book
Thought that it was true;
Saw it on the television—thought that it was you
Self-fulfilling politics get taught to you at school
Brolic ‘cause you brought with it a positively rude
Mind state. I keep mine like a blind date:

I can be objective
I can be accepting
But I’d rather be selective
If I’m not respected I’m the wrong nigga to f’ with
If you saw my checklist
You knew this was next. It’s
Not a matter of simply rapping
I really happen to have a strategy being enacted

If you know, you know I ain’t afraid of spittin’
What I know is true ‘cause I’m south of the Mason-Dixon
If I know the Truth it’s my duty to make revisions;
Showing my peoples’ beauty and skewing what They envision

I make my living off the things that I think
Therefore, I am
I’ll give that a minute to sink [in]

[Hook]
Still hoping for some healing from this place I got to
And knowing niggas feel it when I say ‘I got you.’

Is enough to keep me cool for the moment
School in the mornings
Teach in the evenings and be decent

No time to sleep in;
Just create these
Statements like a dissertation for a PhD

[“What would you call an educated Negro with a BA, or an MA, or a BS or a PhD?
I’ll tell you. You call him a Nigga! That’s what.”]