"Gladiator" lyrics - COMMON

COMMON

"Gladiator"

(Chad Hugo / Lonnie Rashid Lynn / Pharrell Williams)

[Pre-Hook: Pharrell & Common]
Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing
Nothing you could do (straight up)
There's nothing you could do (you know the boy is serious)
There's nothing you could do
I don't even know why you wanna play with it
There's nothing you could do

[Hook: Common]
They say he's a radical, he don't fit the game
A heart full of glory and a fist of pain
A couple of battle scars but shit's the same
Are you not entertained?
So all the onlookers and the bystanders
Wait 'til intermission, run, buy your cameras
Record the moment, 'cause it'll be platinum
And you could say you seen Common rock the stadium
The gladiator

[Verse 1: Common]
I was told by a wise old to come from the heart
Though I might've did "The Light", I don't run from the dark
The dark knight to spark mics and start fights
The warrior archetype like Kimbo Slice
It's strength in the beard, am I loved or feared?
A beast amongst boys, like Paul I'm revered
Vroof, vroof-vroof vroof-vroof-vroof, well
Like Jacob Jewel, I keep clientele
You frail on the mic like you might break a nail
I might smoke a joint but I won't take the L
I knew a fat broad that broke the scale
Still touched down 'cause I was off Martell
Had dreams of breaking Mike Vick out of jail
Took the underground rail to the NFL
I rebel in YSL
Here to leave a trail like Nelson Mandel'

[Pre-Hook: Pharrell & Common]
There's nothing you could do
Man, why you wanna go against me?
There's nothing you could do (you've seen where I'm from)
There's nothing you could do (you've seen what I do)
There's nothing you could do

[Verse 2: Common]
My words is the sword, my skill is the shield
My life is the style, I stay dressed to kill
A legend like Will, Smith with the steel
I could save the world when shit get for real
The skinny George Foreman, all in your grill
My rhyme style is blind, it's all in the feel
Touch it and watch the blood fall with the steel
The weak raps you wrote you could call that your will
My drive (VROOM!) is how I stay the livest
Your guys got you gassed, my flow is a hybrid
Crashed I survived it, gashes over eyelids
You easy to take out 'cause you hot garbage
I'm amped like wattage-the truth, nigga, honest
Any moment opponents drop out like college
Kneel and pay homage to the rap Ziggy Stardust
Stadium, hands in the air, fists balled up

[Hook: Pharrell & Common]
There's nothing you could do (you know what it is)
There's nothing you could do (the boy is raw)
There's nothing you could do (so who next?)
There's nothing you could do

[Verse 3: Common]
Feet in the dirt, blood on the shirt
Scars over bars, symbols of the work
Tight clothes the armor, center of the drama
Defeat your whole army like this is Sparta
So don't violate or you'll get violated
Some of you model bitches is so overrated
Don't mean to underrate it but damn it, I made it
In the water I waded, on the corner I painted
Draw blood like we related
MCs get de-decapitated
Syncopated is the style that I fight with, write with
Mr. Excitement, change your face up like a white chick
Then light shit, up like a dread with the herbs
Get sex in the city and head in the burbs
These are the words of a radical
The crowd applaud, I'm bowed, I'm proud
To be the gladiator

[Pre-Hook: Pharrell & Common]
There's nothing you could do
How could you even question this?
There's nothing you could do
There's nothing you could do (now you know)
There's nothing you could do (the future)

Universal Mind Control (2008)