[00:00.279][Intro: Kanye West]
[00:01.278]Uh, we got the Black elite in the house tonight
[00:05.776]Rosewood
[00:07.854]I feel like I'm at the NAACP or something right now
[00:12.031]The Essence Festival
[00:15.472]Q-Tip on the beat too, uh, uh
[00:20.466]
[00:20.702][Chorus: Kanye West]
[00:20.880]My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
[00:23.388]My chain heavy, my chain too heavy
[00:25.903]My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
[00:28.550]My chain heavy, my chain too heavy
[00:30.590]
[00:30.761][Verse 1: Kanye West]
[00:31.128]They try to tell me my chain broke the levee
[00:34.923]Maybe 'cause it's flooded
[00:36.240]Why you walk around with a baby cross's cousin?
[00:38.756]My teeth already white, y'all gon' make me floss for nothing
[00:41.461]My teeth real diamonds, what's the cause of the frontin'?
[00:45.009]Why y'all got all caps on?
[00:46.717]Don Cheadle time, get extra Black on 'em
[00:50.357]"Burn, Hollywood, burn" –
[00:52.018]Take too long for niggas to get they turn
[00:54.622]Probably be cremated before I get my earn
[00:57.470]They try to tell me that aliens built the pyramids
[01:00.029]I swear life's a bitch on her period
[01:02.652]For every inch they cut the nose off the Sphinx
[01:05.230]I make my jeweler add a few more links
[01:07.359]You can look at me, tell I ain't **** what nobody think
[01:10.079]And my face always lookin' like somebody stinks
[01:12.513]
[01:12.779][Chorus: Kanye West]
[01:13.077]My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
[01:15.701]My chain heavy, my chain too heavy
[01:18.298]My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
[01:20.909]My chain heavy, my chain too heavy
[01:22.768]
[01:22.922][Post-Chorus: Kanye West]
[01:23.174]Here we go, like we should
[01:25.823]Feel the sweat, on your face
[01:28.428]Here we go, like we should
[01:31.107]Feel the sweat, on your face
[01:33.653]Alright, okay
[01:36.304]Here we go, like we should
[01:38.981]Like we should, like we should
[01:41.559]Like we should
[01:42.343]
[01:42.524][Verse 2: Kanye West]
[01:42.801]Question, what color was the skin of the man who beared the cross?
[01:46.967]No matter how many lashes, they couldn't beat it off
[01:49.788]How many Cassius's will we see in one lifetime?
[01:52.420]That's why it's Miles Davis, Kobe, it's Mike time
[01:55.481]I keep that GOAT book on the ottoman
[01:57.329]And wrote hooks about slaves that was slaughtered in the 1800s
[02:01.139]Y'all forget that –
[02:01.865]I got called "nigga" on Twitter so many times, yo, I lived that
[02:05.396]Now I'm just tryna find where to raise my kids at
[02:07.993]'Cause they don't want niggas next to where they crib at
[02:10.624]Hey, realtor, I'm lookin' for a nice park
[02:12.958]Twelve noon, she said my family gon' make it too dark
[02:16.003]This is the flow that solar eclipses
[02:18.256]So hopefully one day that real soul will eclipse
[02:20.903]The bullshit they got us listenin' to, in this existence
[02:23.704]Don't give up now, just a little more persistence
[02:26.293]I am the day Ice Cube met Michael Jackson
[02:28.971]Keep 'em away, hanh! Something might happen
[02:31.718]This is the makin' of a masterpiece
[02:33.793]So we broke out the chains and told the master, "Peace!"
[02:36.309]
[02:36.498][Chorus: Kanye West]
[02:36.830]My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
[02:39.497]My chain heavy, my chain too heavy
[02:42.203]My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
[02:44.806]My chain heavy, my chain too heavy
[02:46.584]
[02:46.745][Post-Chorus: Kanye West]
[02:47.035]Here we go, like we should
[02:49.682]Feel the sweat, on your face
[02:52.368]Here we go, like we should
[02:54.945]Feel the sweat, on your face
[02:57.561]Alright, okay
[03:00.227]Here we go, like we should
[03:02.754]Like we should, like we should
[03:05.382]Like we should
[03:06.962]
[03:07.395][Verse 3: Talib Kweli]
[03:07.979]Some wear a suit and tie, they don't wanna remain average
[03:10.665]Some wear a suit and tie like a chain and a straitjacket
[03:13.376]My chain heavy, stop in that traffic, coppers harass us
[03:16.001]Then D.A. attack us, want us in chains like B. A. Baracus
[03:18.416]So no major factor in my decision to be a rapper
[03:20.940]Was rebellion; being anti-establishment was attractive
[03:23.628]To a Black kid from Brooklyn, flames got the thangs cooking
[03:26.589]Land of the juks, where them lames get them chains tooken
[03:29.409]It ain't lookin' good for you if you're a tourist here
[03:31.687]Sometimes I rhymes the sort of frequency that only purists hear
[03:34.606]A couple rappers tried to beef with me, nobody's scared
[03:37.346]Niggas was so ****ing corny that nobody cared
[03:39.905]Why I gotta battle rappers? I debate scholars
[03:42.350]Question: do it gotta make sense if it make dollars?
[03:45.231]Sick visions is living inside of brains
[03:47.167]It's like we sadomasochistic, addicted to whips and chains
[03:50.236]Figuratively, quite literally, clinically insane
[03:53.200]Spit flames and then visit the higher plane
[03:55.232]Try in vain to ignore it, don't buy the chain if you can't afford it
[03:58.293]'Ye, them lonely idled whores by the boards, trust
[04:00.418][Verse 4: Consequence]
[04:00.589]That old ball-and-chain had me chained up for weeks
[04:02.889]So, of course I'm off the chain as soon as I hit the streets
[04:05.833]And now when we link, she saying the game's over
[04:08.630]I drove her crazy, and she became a chain smoker
[04:11.401]Now the new dude she's saying that can stay over
[04:13.896]Should be a chain, who goes by the name of Choker
[04:16.526]That's what he did when she told him he should play the sofa
[04:19.247]So the chain's on the door, I'm on the way over
[04:21.762]Now when I came over, his only response
[04:24.089]Was, "You must be the owner of a chain of restaurants
[04:26.597]'Cause I'ma eat your food for that chain that I want
[04:29.368]'Cause you be running 'round like the chain make the man"
[04:31.772]So it's obvious that he don't know the chain of command
[04:34.415]'Cause my chain commands that kind of respect
[04:37.236]And it's so chunky that it's a pain in the neck
[04:39.635]But it came with a check, I remember on chaining day
[04:42.661]It spoke for itself and this is what the chain would say
[04:45.285]"Them chain snatchers are hoping that you ain't ready
[04:48.347]So don't get distracted, keep your aim steady
[04:50.623]Or there'll be a chain reaction, since my chain's heavy"
[04:52.543]
[04:52.748][Chorus: Kanye West]
[04:53.127]My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
[04:55.716]My chain heavy, my chain too heavy
[04:58.394]My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
[05:01.072]My chain heavy, my chain too heavy
[05:03.012]
[05:03.167][Post-Chorus: Kanye West]
[05:03.309]Here we go, like we should
[05:05.921]Feel the sweat, on your face
[05:08.545]Here we go, like we should
[05:11.195]Feel the sweat, on your face
[05:13.826]Alright, okay
[05:16.377]Here we go, like we should
[05:21.578]Like we should, like we should

Uh, we got the Black elite in the house tonight
Rosewood
I feel like I'm at the NAACP or something right now
The Essence Festival
Q-Tip on the beat too, uh, uh

My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
My chain heavy, my chain too heavy
My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
My chain heavy, my chain too heavy

They try to tell me my chain broke the levee
Maybe 'cause it's flooded
Why you walk around with a baby cross's cousin?
My teeth already white, y'all gon' make me floss for nothing
My teeth real diamonds, what's the cause of the frontin'?
Why y'all got all caps on?
Don Cheadle time, get extra Black on 'em
"Burn, Hollywood, burn" –
Take too long for niggas to get they turn
Probably be cremated before I get my earn
They try to tell me that aliens built the pyramids
I swear life's a bitch on her period
For every inch they cut the nose off the Sphinx
I make my jeweler add a few more links
You can look at me, tell I ain't **** what nobody think
And my face always lookin' like somebody stinks

My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
My chain heavy, my chain too heavy
My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
My chain heavy, my chain too heavy

Here we go, like we should
Feel the sweat, on your face
Here we go, like we should
Feel the sweat, on your face
Alright, okay
Here we go, like we should
Like we should, like we should
Like we should

Question, what color was the skin of the man who beared the cross?
No matter how many lashes, they couldn't beat it off
How many Cassius's will we see in one lifetime?
That's why it's Miles Davis, Kobe, it's Mike time
I keep that GOAT book on the ottoman
And wrote hooks about slaves that was slaughtered in the 1800s
Y'all forget that –
I got called "nigga" on Twitter so many times, yo, I lived that
Now I'm just tryna find where to raise my kids at
'Cause they don't want niggas next to where they crib at
Hey, realtor, I'm lookin' for a nice park
Twelve noon, she said my family gon' make it too dark
This is the flow that solar eclipses
So hopefully one day that real soul will eclipse
The bullshit they got us listenin' to, in this existence
Don't give up now, just a little more persistence
I am the day Ice Cube met Michael Jackson
Keep 'em away, hanh! Something might happen
This is the makin' of a masterpiece
So we broke out the chains and told the master, "Peace!"

My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
My chain heavy, my chain too heavy
My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
My chain heavy, my chain too heavy

Here we go, like we should
Feel the sweat, on your face
Here we go, like we should
Feel the sweat, on your face
Alright, okay
Here we go, like we should
Like we should, like we should
Like we should

Some wear a suit and tie, they don't wanna remain average
Some wear a suit and tie like a chain and a straitjacket
My chain heavy, stop in that traffic, coppers harass us
Then D.A. attack us, want us in chains like B. A. Baracus
So no major factor in my decision to be a rapper
Was rebellion; being anti-establishment was attractive
To a Black kid from Brooklyn, flames got the thangs cooking
Land of the juks, where them lames get them chains tooken
It ain't lookin' good for you if you're a tourist here
Sometimes I rhymes the sort of frequency that only purists hear
A couple rappers tried to beef with me, nobody's scared
Niggas was so ****ing corny that nobody cared
Why I gotta battle rappers? I debate scholars
Question: do it gotta make sense if it make dollars?
Sick visions is living inside of brains
It's like we sadomasochistic, addicted to whips and chains
Figuratively, quite literally, clinically insane
Spit flames and then visit the higher plane
Try in vain to ignore it, don't buy the chain if you can't afford it
'Ye, them lonely idled whores by the boards, trust
That old ball-and-chain had me chained up for weeks
So, of course I'm off the chain as soon as I hit the streets
And now when we link, she saying the game's over
I drove her crazy, and she became a chain smoker
Now the new dude she's saying that can stay over
Should be a chain, who goes by the name of Choker
That's what he did when she told him he should play the sofa
So the chain's on the door, I'm on the way over
Now when I came over, his only response
Was, "You must be the owner of a chain of restaurants
'Cause I'ma eat your food for that chain that I want
'Cause you be running 'round like the chain make the man"
So it's obvious that he don't know the chain of command
'Cause my chain commands that kind of respect
And it's so chunky that it's a pain in the neck
But it came with a check, I remember on chaining day
It spoke for itself and this is what the chain would say
"Them chain snatchers are hoping that you ain't ready
So don't get distracted, keep your aim steady
Or there'll be a chain reaction, since my chain's heavy"

My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
My chain heavy, my chain too heavy
My chain heavy, yeah, yeah, my chain heavy
My chain heavy, my chain too heavy

Here we go, like we should
Feel the sweat, on your face
Here we go, like we should
Feel the sweat, on your face
Alright, okay
Here we go, like we should
Like we should, like we should