[Hook]
I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T do you know what that means?
I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T it's Talib Kweli Greene
I write my own rhymes, I write my own checks
And if you're looking for that good I got it on deck
I'm my own man, I'm my own boss
I'm my own man, I'm my own boss
(This is the Amadeus Remix)

[Talib Kweli]
Came with the, rawness on Rawkus
LP had official recordings
Corey Smyth had a Blacksmith office
I was, writing books of poetry like Bert Padell
I saw the wisdom when the curtain fell
Wanna sell like Jay Z, E-40 and Master P?
I respect labels like Stones Throw, ABB
Who stay independent as fuck
Like Def Jux
Nature Sounds, BBE, Babygrande n***a [?]
Duck Down my n***a what?
Drew How what's up
I'm from Brooklyn all day put your lighters up
I saw J Grand at Asylum
We take it back to makin' records days, 'cause he's a vet like I am
I am legend like Mister Cee
What you callin' for is victory
Blacksmith makin' history
And the music influenced by Hieroglyphics
My n***as from the bay stay so sick with it
[Hook]

[Talib Kweli]
(Ay) Keep it live for ya'll n***as
Kweli in the -house like Suave or Swisha-
Flow so vivid
Ain't no gimmicks
Go everywhere cause I know No Limit
So So Def, my life is like a movie
This the storyboard
Down in H-Town with Cory Mo
No I'm not from Houston but I Rap-A-Lot
Bun B holdin' me down I'm goin' back a lot
Word, major label product steady sinkin' like a bag of rocks
Stinkin' like a bag of socks on laundry day
Kweli stay away from the corporate rap
That's a corporate trap
Real n***as don't fall for that
Word, we in the building now there's nothing they can tell us
Bad Boys, the Ruff Ryders and the Roc-A-Fellas
The Slip-N-Slides, the Cash Money and G-Units
Keep movin' the music we love to see you do it

[Hook]