Adam is saying that being honest with someone you can really bring big problems sometimes. But keeping secrets from them hurts too so you never know what to do sometimes but being honest is the best way to make yourself feel better.

He’s saying that he really feels embarrassed because he and his girl are standing in the middle of Hollywood Boulevard and screaming at each other in public. They’re both shouting out their private problems in the public.

Mos Def is saluting some legends who passed away too early.

Aaliyah was dancer and a beautiful singer. She sung “Rock The Boat”
and a lot of other great songs.
She died in a plane crash on a return trip from shooting a music video in the Bahamas.

Legendary hip-hop DJ Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC was shot and killed in Queens.

Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, the most flamboyant and outspoken member of the multiplatinum trio TLC, has died, according to a spokesperson for the group’s label, Arista Records. Lopes was 30.
The rapper/singer perished in a car accident late night while she was vacationing in Honduras.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was known as “The Great Emancipator” for passing the Emancipation Proclamation Act, which freed all slaves in states that were in rebellion. He was a supporter of the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery throughout the United States. He served from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865.

Abe Lincoln Quote:

This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.

He’s saying that they just want to brainwash you. They don’t want you to work, they want to send you money and then ask you to pay it back knowing that you don’t have a job.

He’s saying that they’ll treat you like shit until you find yourself a good job. It’s also a quick reference to his song “Work Everyday” which is also in this album.

A lot of interesting wordplay going on here…

Ali is a professional artist, meaning making music is his job. A con(fidence) artist’s job is literally to make you look stupid. This is somebody who attempts to defraud a person, exposing negative characteristics such as naïvety, irresponsibility, etc.

Ali sets these two up against each other, as pros and cons (pro et contra) are opposites, meaning “for and against”. Ali thus states his opinion, saying he is trying to make you look intelligent, helping you so you won’t fall for a scam.

Seeing as the rest of the verse is “firing shots” towards right wing politicians, we can draw a connection between “con artists” and and conservatives. Ali compares these, and further goes on to explaining why he considers conservative politics a “fraud”.

This sample was taken from one of Amir Sulaiman’s poetry work Def Poetry Jam named Danger. In it, Amir is telling us what justice and freedom is in our world but should be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WczGIhmaJ_M

As written on HipHopDX:

Amir Sulaiman is best known for his work on Def Poetry Jam. With his most famous piece being Danger garnering a lot of attention, one might consider him to be an artist filled with anger. Some may consider him an artist who focuses more on oppressive or political themes within his work. The Rochester, New York native is just a man interested in exploring all that is human and love within. Exploring the boundaries of art and what it is to be Muslim, black, Hip Hop, a lyricist, activist, writer and the list continues.