Common – “When We Move” (ft. Seun Kuti, Black Thought) [Audio, Lyrics]

Common features Seun Kuti and Black Thought on His new “When We Move” track. Get the song and read the lyrics.

Common When We Move

Veteran MC Common is back with a new revolutionary anthem. The funk-inspired single, “When We Move” features lyricist Black Thought and Nigerian singer Seun Kuti. Kuti is the son of legendary afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Kuti’s cadence and saxophone riffs add a distinct layer of diasporic-influenced sounds to the track.

While celebrating Black people, Common is intentional about being inclusive by negating any notions of respectability politics. “I’ma just give Black power its flowers/Whether in the projects or the palace,” he raps.

Common and Black Thought previously teamed up on “Say Peace” for his 2020 release of A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 1. The Chicago native recently announced its follow-up, A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2, which is set to be released on September 10th. The album will also include collaborations with Jessica Care Moore, PJ, Marcus King, Isaiah Sharkey, Brittany Howard, and Morgan Parker.

Common – When We Move (ft. Black Thought)

Lyrics

[Verse 1: Common]
Bouncin’, mystic, realistic
And simplistic, spirits visit
How we live it, it’s intrinsic
Kismet kissed it, it’s smeared like lipstick
Colorful on our souls
A mouth full of gold or a drummer’s roll
Stories get told about us
That’s why things so blah without us
Wherever we are you can feel the prowess
Whenever we move, yo, we turn the style up
I’ma just give Black power its flowers
Whether in the projects or the palace
Even when the pale horse tried to gallop
And stir, stir it up, we kept the balance
We move in silence, we move the loudest
Ancestors in my dreams, they move the wildest
They prayed about us, praised and shouted
Picture this country bein’ brave without us
A slave’s nostalgia, move through the woods with vigor
When we got free, the world moved with us
Now they wanna change their bodies, go figure
Used to call us, now they wanna be niggas
We the rivers that move through the jungle, yo
When we move, we make the world wonderful

[Chorus: Seun Kuti]
When we move
The whole world follows in our path
When we move
The whole world follows in our path

[Verse 2: Black Thought]
And who can move like this?
Let me see what I can do right quick
My people were made in whose likeness?
Boy, fly niggas ain’t never flew like this
Pitch black butterfly from the other side
Somebody’s style was lost, it wasn’t mine
I’m in a small demographic
Of real ones dealin’ with all things classic
King’s fabric, linen and silk
From the home of the solid gold honey and milk
The ones who built it from the mud, soil and sand
A Black man, the world in the skin of his hand
Pop, then I stop when I shine beyond stellar
Fela, Kwame Nkrumah, Mandela
Leader, truth-teller, the inkwell dweller
My pen signs a New York Times best-seller
When I move, y’all move in my wake
B-D energy I generate
How to never move weak, I demonstrate
Celebratin’ my peeps when I innovate
For my dons and divas weighin’ odds and evens
To the non-believers, vagabonds and heathens
Achievers, we ain’t satisfied with dreamin’
Long as I’m still breathin’, watch how I move

[Chorus: Seun Kuti]
When we move
The whole world follows in our path
When we move
The whole world follows in our path

[Instrumental Bridge]

[Chorus: Seun Kuti]
When we move (Move)
The whole world follows in our path
When we move (Move)
The whole world follows in our path

[Post-Chorus]
Would they feel the pain like we do?
Would they hear a cry like we do?
No one cares, no one cares

[Chorus: Seun Kuti]
But when we move (Move)
The whole world follows in our path
When we move (Move)
The whole world follows in our path
But when we move (Move)
The whole world follows in our path
When we move (Move)
The whole world follows in our path