[Black Thought] *Background* Is this fast or normal speed? Yea, knawsayin?, yea, Table of Contents Fuckin wit it, one two, it's the Table of Contents, come on (2x) Uh yea, uh huh, yo
Check it out, you're now intuned to the sounds of the R to the, double-O to the, T-S and I stretch limit to this profession My voice physically fit, tracks I'm bench-pressing The mic chord is an extension of my intestine Delicate MC's sliced in my delicatessan My mind state is that of the S-P Connection, Pennsy a part of me, South Philly through my arteries Thought the dark one, fearsome, slump son My vocal just a knuckle that sucker punched the drum Hip-hop yo that's my hustle and it kill a kingdom That Fall Apart to drastic propor-tion Lost ones out there, you better stand clear The Fifth Dynasty, it be a world premier Cuttin through like attorneys at law that's car chasin You star gazing, the force y'all facin is the R-to the, double-O to the, T-S an' Y'all niggaz in the mix, keep guessin The world traveller in the flesh without question Last seven years on tour without restin Yo the kind of rapper you should reconsider testin Supreme simply, o-fficial Dundee What I bring'll motivate to move your whole country Throw your hands up if y'all want me to proceed wit And carry out strategic plans to leave wit The title that I'm watchin, Roots we run-ting My Dundee atire for MC hunting Step up and out the ring Y'all niggaz on some other, y'all loud as Don King But wine drink within the danger zone lounging You need to be more aware of your surroundings Reality at times is astounding enough to get your heart pounding It's safe to assume, in all confidence That I'm one of the illest in the seven continents Yo, you on my dick, thanks for the compliments You be fucked up by my Table of Contents *begins fading* Bad Lieutanent, you I been rhymin since The fuckin past tense, fuck no delayin Or playin taking your wing way back in the day of yo Motherfuckin mind
[Part Two]
[Malik B] It' the R-to the, double-O to the, T-S an' Yo yo, it's the R to the, double-O to the, T-S an' yo When I strike to excite, I just aim, I never miss Embrace you wit a hug of death, give your ass a slight kiss Toxic words that spill over pages, for ages Impacts like M-16's to twelve gauges The rage is still in me, never act too friendly Scully down creepin while you tilted off Henny Many man begin pure but in this world of sin your Holdin tight my mor-al by in-jure We scramble, because this game life is the gamble Vandalize your terrain, go against the grain Invade your brain wit the collision causing division Sweep your sector, leavin you niggaz for stool-pigeons Sweep your sector, leavin you niggaz for stool-pigeons Sweep your sector, leavin you niggaz for stool-pigeons My religion is a way of life, but the trife replays Cuz niggaz actin shiest these days Wagin wars, usin dynamics cuz I'ma slam it You talkin all this out out your mouth, you satanic Roam the planet, always takin bullshit for granted Just a cool type of cat but you still can't understand it You told to sit back, stand still and chill Niggaz bound to clap shots cuz they all act ill Wit a sour-ass taste smilin up in your face I'm like trust, never leavin no trial or no trace Disappear wit the wind, ? shows the discipline Twenty-five years of my life I learned to ?miss amend? Peep the structure of a whole empire Smuggled sealed tai, pack lyrics like Kya Verbal messiah, when I cross I set a fire Wacker MC went in doubt cuz I'm for hire *echoes
[Black Thought] C'mon.. and yes y'all You are now in tune to the sounds.. of the legendary.. foundation
Yeah, you go Hey you listeners, stop what you're doin and set it in motion, it's the next movement You listeners, stop what you're doin and set it in motion, it's the next movement
Word up, we got the HOT-HOT music, The HOT MUSIC (1X) The HOT-HOT music, the HOT music (3X)
Yo, one, two, one-two one-two That's how we usually start, once again it's the Thought The Dalai Lama of the mic, the prime minister Thought This directed to whoever in listening range Yo the whole state of things in the world bout to change Black rain fallin from the sky look strange The ghetto is red hot, we steppin on flames Yo, it's infliction on a price for fame and it was all the same, but then the antidote came The Black Thought, ill syllablist, out the Fifth This heavyweight rap shit I'm about to lift LIKE, a phyllum lift up it's seed to sunlight I plug in the mic, draw like a gunfight I never use a cordless, or stand applaudless Sippin cholorophyll out of ill silver gauntlet I'm like a faucet, monopoly's the object There ain't no way to cut this tap, you got ta get wet Your head is throbbin and I ain't said shit yet The Roots crew, the next movement, c'mon!
And yes y'all You are now in tune to the sounds of the legendary, foundation, check it out, uh
Testin, yo, you go Hey you listeners, stop what you're doin and set it in motion, it's the next movement You listeners, stop what you're doin and set it in motion, it's the next movement
Word up, we got the HOT-HOT music, the HOT music (1X) The HOT-HOT music, the HOT music (3X)
Word up, the formation of words to fit That's what I usually disturb you with A lot of rappers never heard of this, or know half the time it is You doubt the Illa-Fifth, what could you accomplish? Whether they skywriting your name, or you anonymous You be speechless, with stinging sinuses The Roots royal highnesses through your monitors I tilt my crown, then blow down a dime a kiss You need to buy a CD and stop rewindin this I'm the finalist, shinin like a rugged amethyst And at your music conference, I'm the panelist Listen close to my poetry, I examine this like an analyst, to see if you can handle this Check it out You, got the groove, emcees freeze, stand still, nobody move unless you dealin with The Next Movement The P-Phi-D we be the mon-u-ment I live my life nice, but I'm not choopid You theatrical as a Broadway play, this ain't Rent One hundred percent, straight out the Basement Spreading this across a planet on some next shit How many people feelin this love music? C'mon
Yo, you go Hey you listeners, stop what you're doin and set it in motion, it's the next movement You listeners, stop what you're doin and set it in motion, it's the next movement
Yo, we got the HOT-HOT music, the HOT music (1X) The HOT-HOT music, the HOT music (7X)
[Chorus - 4X] Step into the realm, you're bound to get caught And from this worldly life, you'll soon depart
[Malik B] Yo, I walk a-cross this, world that's deceptive Beats are perfected, the ghetto's infested with more destruction, my vocal eruption was speakin bout corruption with no introduction Approach me with caution cause I spark losses M-Illitant the rap arson, marchin Leavin niggaz stiff like I'm starchin, departin Hollywood Sambos and jokes just like Martin I'm the type of nigga that belongs in a ward with a mic and a cord, to hold your head with a sword Some proclaim lames, callin theyselves bold They shall be flawed, when the claps applaud If this a point of life, one I can't afford Then I have to get sheist and I deal in fraud Now back to the topic of, the rap philosopher With more drama than a soap opera Who stops the propoganda, the hot block commander Puttin a halt to all the backtalk and slander Warn every challenger, about the silencer Muzzle in your mouth for the days that's on the calendar
[Chorus] Step into the realm, you're bound to get caught And from this worldly life, you'll soon depart
[Black Thought] I'm from the valley of the heavyheads, watch the ghetto pre-medical undergrads, and steady red faces of stone Eyes are crevices, life like a double negative Philly crimin-al, I rhyme my, dirt Tariq already did Buildin this, Fifth foundation in the wilderness Thought-less, trespass and enter Thought's fortress Limitless entrance, paid, to the order of the cypher slaughterer, my mic slappin you senseless Defenseless, niggaz never movin me inches The beat Fifth, invisi-ble in the trenches Afficiando, awesome hip-hop drug problem Fuck stardom, and chickens up in Gotham Poltergeist, slit or choke the mic, til it scream to me STOP THAT, cash we conveniently got that I stroll through your scenery cocked back Me and Hot Mack, the nine-eight, El Dorado Cadillac Jacks
[Chorus] Step into the realm, you're bound to get caught And from this worldly life, you'll soon depart
("You'll soon depart.." *echoes from the last track*)
Chorus: Malik B (2X)
Yo, the feet that I walk with The ears that I hear with, the eyes that I see with The mouth that I talk with, the terror that I stalk with Now it's time to spark shit
[Malik B] Look God, I walk around a little edgy already Y'all MC's come into my face, but my aim's steady M-illitant is skilled in most strategic plan I float across seas and, breezed across land Standin, in these thoughts of murder within The structure of this world that's corrupted with sin I'm always hittin, to leave MC's guessin For any transgression, in my perimeter there will be a blessing, and your explicit intoxicated buddha session, to stop stressin me with the madness, puttin niggaz on my had list No sadness is felt, you shuffled and your cards get dealt Jim Carrey ass niggaz start to melt Impact like a buckle bein swung from off a belt Any help for shelter, when in the realms of a welter My weight will tilt ya, hold alignments and change your filter My attitude a product of society So sometimes for gratitude, you know you can't rely on me Niggaz eyein me, with looks of they anxiety Wonderin what's in my heart, velocity or piety Yo, it depends on which one, you bring to surface At times I get trife, but what to worship is my purpose Malik B blend with the tree, to spot an enemy You cloggin me up cat, now vacant the vicinity
Chorus
[Malik B] I'm symbolic to a ballot, it's Abdul Malik Don't approach with bullshit, I'm quick to call it invalid Route through your district, we keep it simplistic No need for the rapper to talk, put it on halt Show me the vault, or the safe, cause I'm on the paper chase Wade through route states for bout thirty down my waist I'm tryin to get it, these rain bottlin thoughts become acidic With one in the chamber, ready to aim and spit it A girlfriend and team made nigga cash just splintered I take what you got to give, cause I got to live The last hour, I bet your ass ? Might act up, but I still can pass dowa I'm usin new ways to try to reach these better days Instead of tryin to take you under I just make you wonder I still fast, make salaat, and pay zakaat I didn't make Haj yet, but that's my next project Livin two lives, one of turn and one with true lies Keepin a hoe, knowin these hands into my du'a In the quarters livin modest with my nigga Trotter I circle my foes, like tawaf around the kaba I used to live life, like there was no manana Now I'm treatin every breath, like it was your honor I'm Mill-itill-itant with the Fifth that stand firm like a pillar, I'm I and T-L like Manilla
[Black Thought] Uh uh, come on, S-P in the Up north into the NYC and the out West And to niggas in Cali and the Down South type dynamite What, yo yo come on dynamite dynamite Uh check it out, uh uh Yo yo yo yo yo check it out
[Chorus] Eve-ry bo-dy, touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite C'mon, touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite C'mon, touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite Check it out, eve-ry bo-dy Touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite C'mon, touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite C'mon, touch this Illa-Fith Dynamite
Yo, check it out In in tro tro duc ducing The sole missin link, what could MC's who listen think It's Black Thought, open your eyes and don't blink Yo, to rock this mic is like a basic instinct But yo in-in-tro-tro-duc-ducing
[Elo] Behind thee, the mic champ-ion More than a step-ion Mothafuckers sweatin me, beggin me just to get me on Macro-cosmic, micro-master
[Black Thought] Aiyyo I'm all the way way, Phil Phil-lay-lay People wanna see the way the Illadel play Yo, look in the mirror, watch what yourself say I'm from S-P, no mortal man can test me Thought, I keep a lin-e in, upper eschulone-in Heineken, hold the rhymin in, flows remindin em Cats that hear me up, some shit from back in the past Your half-steppin ass, could never fathom a grasp because
[Elo] Yo we got a doctrine, in cold-rockin it Bringin this apocalype, nigga you mad topical *Bitch* my raps trick your optical Mister superficial, I'm rippin apart your heart tissue This is your official, dismissal I don't study the artificial, who fuckin wit the dark crystal Yo where are is you? I'm movin like a smart missle Aimed and guaranteed to hit you
[Black Thought] Word up, but when the Fifth do get on and perform, you in for it It ain't no way to cen-sor it, my style metaphoric To bricks and ten tons stacks hard to lift The artist, comin out the Fifth darkness
[Elo] We go back like ancients, while you ain't shit Sub-terrainean, never against the grain-ean Afro-American slash half-blade-ean In your universe, my star's the most radiant
[Chorus] Eve-ry bo-dy, touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite C'mon, touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite C'mon, touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite Check it out, eve-ry bo-dy Touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite C'mon, touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite C'mon, touch this Illa-Fith Dynamite
[Black Thought] Aiyyo it's all the way live, from 2-1-5 Plus admission is denied so just wait outside Two extremes collide like Jekyl and Hyde And I provie you wit the swerve you need, but take heed You travellin like speed Iller than adventures you might read O-fficial original breed, the just-ice league, yo it's the P-5-D Style fashionist, other MC's they actresses
[Elo] Yo it's the high-opposed, you bout to get shot down Tryin to fly above this Illa-Fifth compound You've known since the get-go, I rock your disco Ain't nobody badder, but yo you get my gist so I represent so you gotta squint As far as how I do it you ain't compen-sate We causin nui-sance and get in-decent so save your two cents Don't come in my district, kickin that *bullshit*
[Black Thought] Yo it's all simplistic, limited click get Lyrically lifted, touchin the Fifth shit Trenches of the mentally twisted, you enlisted 5 was the emblem on the mic you got hit wit
[Elo] And I stomp ya, till you call me conqueror Back-slappin all the niggas that slept Thinkin that Elo could ever disappear I'm strippin they vi near Wit this non ether reefer, quiet frequent premiere
[Chorus - 2X] Eve-ry bo-dy, touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite C'mon, touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite C'mon, touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite Check it out, eve-ry bo-dy Touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite C'mon, touch this Illa-Fifth Dynamite C'mon, touch this Illa-Fith Dynamite
[Black Thought - amidst ad libbing voices] What the fuck, what what what? Nuttin new, nuttin new.. What? Nuttin new.. check Nuttin new, nuttin new, y'all not sayin nuttin new I represent the legendary Fifth Dynasty crew Nuttin new, nuttin new, y'all not sayin nuttin new Nuttin new, nuttin new, y'all not sayin, check shit out It's nuttin new, nuttin new, y'all not sayin nuttin new Nuttin new, nuttin new...
Ghetto related with this hit the whole world awaited Y'all Dorito-head cats that yak and stagnated Black Thought, The Doug E. Most war vete-ran Crown ruler, soul controller of this lyrical land Spliff wizard kid, who is it? Fifth Dinosaur Ghetto, beat detonator Apex my level, NEXT, my complex pattern of speech is like sex I mastered the art of makin you snap the necks And Chase Manhattan endorse my mic checks Upset, poet threat Just collectin my debt, yo I'm overpaid in dues blood tears and sweat, when you fuckin with The Roots that's as good as it get, Ultramagnet We pull you in a Drag-net then brainwash your click and extort your assets, then roadie all your homies on some old school shit, Roots crew represent
[Dice Raw] Life's a gamble, step up and place your bets I drift through space, then make my escape on through the 'net With CD's, cassettes, no C.O.D.'s or checks Straight from the old school, aiyyo Raw's in full effect I'm like, Lex Luthor with rifles filled with kryptonite When you grip the mic it's like -- c'mon kids, let's say goodnight! You don't like me?! But don't even know why should you hate me You scared to face these so I still remain safely confidin, North Phil' where I'm residin Never let an outside nigga slide in This ain't home plate, I dunk on you once inside the paint Flow like this you cain't, take me you out, you ain't!
[Black Thought] Nuttin new, nuttin new, y'all not sayin nuttin new Nuttin new, nuttin new, y'all not sayin nuttin new Nuttin new, nuttin new, tell me what you could do Yo we drop the funk, and do the shit
Yo, head lost, slip in this land, ?big framboix? Spittin it for like whoever demand the answer What's the cure for this hip-hop cancer? Equivalent to this avalanche of black snow, rap flow to get my people thinkin mo', we at the brink of war What does it all mean? What's it all for? With knowledge of yourself, then you're through the first door My people hungry and thirst for more next music explore It's heavenly to your ebony daughter next door So what you think The Roots get the world respect for? The splendid authentic hip-hop that's raw core Severe, world premier, a superior sophomore No doubt, wherever you dwell, that's where the bomb fell Explodin from the imperial en-sem-ble, for real From the ven-ue to the avenue We truly only got respect for a few, y'all ain't sayin nuttin new
[Black Thought] Nuttin new, nuttin new, y'all not sayin nuttin new Represent the legendary Fifth Dynasty crew Roots crew comin through, tell me what you could do Yo you lookin for me? Nah we lookin for you Nuttin new, nuttin new, y'all not sayin nuttin new Represent the legendary.. with nuttin to do For you.. yo, lyrical one two Blow up y'all, it's nuttin new, nuttin new
[Dice Raw] Look at y'all you just a army ant, I'm a gi-ant, arm fist King of my city, runnin this shit, just like a ty-rant Y'all clowns know what I meant, that's if we at war Then my henchmen, will be at your back door, uhh WAITIN, wise at debatin; trippin over Legos Runnin up the steps and lookin for a weapon But you come out wavin a white flag; that's why I just backslap that ass like Shaq did Ostertag Either take me or be taken, you think I'm goin down? PSYCH, the jury, they're still deliberatin I got half of they kids, tied up in a basement Nah I'm just playin yo but that's how I'm playin doe Dig what I'm sayin yo? D-I-C-E Shove a mic in your mouth, like Ted DiBiase When you come sloppy, fuck is y'all tryin to do? Y'all into, some wack shit, and ain't sayin nuttin new
[Black Thought] Nuttin new, nuttin new, y'all not sayin nuttin new Represent the legendary Fifth Dynasty crew Roots crew comin through, tell me what you could do One two, one two, yo.. we lookin for you One two, nuttin new, y'all not sayin nuttin new Represent, Fifty Dynasty crew Check it out, what? Well one-two one-two, one-two Knahmsayin yo? It's nuttin new Nuttin new, nuttin new, y'all not sayin nuttin new Represent the legendary.. Fifth Dynasty crew Roots crew, tell me what you could do You lookin for me.. we're lookin for.. one-two, one-two Ha hah HAH! Y'all ain't sayin nuttin new Wha-wha-one-two, one-two Represent the legendary Fifth.. knahmsayin? Blowin your vent, yo, content yo, it's like that
[Black Thought] We go wow, ba-da-da-dow-da-dah-ow Either stand tall, just sit the fuck down All the way from the 2-1-5th to Bucktown Brace yourself, it's about to go down
[Mos Def] Runnin one on one and only hip-hop bound Yo Tariq (whassup) how your micraphone sound (It sound tight) well aight, show em what it's about
[Black Thought] We got to blow up the spot, because they must have forget We double (trouble) bubble (bubble) bubble (bubblin hot)
Well it's like smack the track up and leave dents in it The vocalist, bustin this blunt, instrument spit The magnificent, rapper's run from it All fly girls, nipples and toes, numb from it MC's in my circumference, is confronted son Get your growth stunted from this, you don't want it (What nigga?) The Black Thought and M-O-S Def done it Who the ultimate? Yo my man speak up on it
[Mos Def] Aiyyo I stop fools and drop jewels but never run it Rock mics so nice I make you stock price plummet All you high noon riders better rally at the summit It's me and Tariq and your fleet outnumbered Cross the membrane barkin big game and get hunted Eyewitness account, say it happened so sudden Just slid off to the side, didn't really say nuttin Then BLAOW, blew away the 1900th
[Black Thought] You better get your rest cause the next day comin Oh yes, and MC's they scared to say sum'tin Stop frontin, I'm in the cut just onlookin Your get your kings, your rooks, rings and pawns tooken
[Mos Def] Aiyyo, keep your tape on us so you catch the revolve of the Black Thought and the black man from Black Star Illadelph and Vietnam we conference, accomplish Even with stakes inclined, I get mine, regardless
[Black Thought] Yo, a lot of Smurfette MC's carry purses And rock, uniforms, that's made for nurses I burst your verses, your words is worthless Only touchin surface, the FUCK's the purpose?
[Mos Def] I shot the sherriff, the deputy, and head of bank treasury So mounties in the county got a BIG bounty stressin me But tell 'em to hold off, they too short to measure me Mos and Black Thought blast forth with the weaponry
[both interwined] Like blaow-ba-dow-da-da-dow-da-dah-ow Either stand tall or sit the fuck down All the way from the 2-1-5th to Bucktown Brace yourself, it's about to go down
[Mos Def] Yo Tariq (whassup) how your micraphone sound (It sound tight) well aight, show em what it's about
[both intertwined] We got to blow up the spot, because they must have forget We double (trouble) bubble (bubble) bubble (bubblin hot)
[Mos Def] Yeah, now check your stove top before you take a listen And make sure beans don't burn in the kitchen These gased up niggas just ain't fuel efficient I play the winter breeze then choke hold your prisoner Now you niggaz can't make pole position Classy, chasis, can't hold the transmission Crew pit, useless, they got they tools missin Watch me, grand prix, champy for wealth driven
[Black Thought] Yo, you go one for my hustle (hustle) Two to rock rhyme (two to rock rhyme) From the muscle kid I'm one of the illets of all time I swing from chandeliers and wall climb And specialize in warfares of all kind A lot of MC's said I'm a run it down rhyme But half the time, they run it down one of mine Thought suffocatin em with yet another stunnin line You dumb and blind kid, it's enlarged and underlined
[Mos Def] What I memorized leave your whole staff pressurized Melt down all of your artificial lies Y'all niggaz is faker than Yellow No. 5 Swine like mono and diglyceride My vocals got texture, you just texturized I'm nicer than your writtens even when I'm improvised Step into my zone get flown like fly by the b-boy Lazarus who just won't die
[Black Thought] Yo, me and Kamal and Leanord Hubbard, ?uestlove and Malik We go back to dollar holdings and Tahitian Treat Or like toast in the oven with government cheese bubblin Me and Dante like Marvin, The Troublemen travellin Give me the mic, we on that again b-boy business, off the top actin and battlin Servin them cats that forgot But don't get too close, because you might get shot
[both interwined] Like blaow-ba-dow-da-da-dow-da-dah-ow Either stand tall or sit the fuck down All the way from the 2-1-5th to Bucktown Brace yourself, it's about to go down
[Mos Def] Yo Tariq (whassup) how your micraphone sound (It sound tight) well aight, show em what it's about
[both intertwined] We bout to blow up the spot, because y'all must have forget We double (trouble) bubble (bubble) bubble (bubblin hot)
We go blaow-ba-dow-da-da-dow-da-dah-ow Either stand tall or sit the fuck down All the way from the 2-1-5th to Bucktown Went from _Do You Want More?!??!!_ to what you want now?
[Mos Def] Yo Tariq (whassup) how your micraphone sound (It sound tight) well aight, show em what it's about
[both intertwined] We bout to blow up the spot, because y'all must have forget We double (trouble) bubble (bubble) bubble (bubblin hot)
[Mos Def] Say here's a little story that must be told About two young brothers who got so much soul They takin total control, of the body and brain Flyin high in the sky, on a lyrical plane It's just two bad brothers who will never quit Mos Def and Tariq from the 2-1-5th They rock beginnin to end, on a spiritual blend And everybody who forgot then baby tell em again It's just me and Tariq, with Ahmir on the beat The Roots crew baby yo we got to make it unique We got the soul-shockinest, body-rockinest Non-stoppinest, _Fortified Live_ survive the apocalypse Rhymes we say, the perfect blend Because we know how to rock when the beat come in Like zen-zen-zen-zen-zen Zen-zen-zen-zen-zen, zen-zen, zen-zen Zen zen-zen, ZEN zen zen ZEN zen zen Zen zen, ZEN zen zen-zen Zen-zen-zen, ZEN zen ZEN zen Here we go, here we here we here we go Zen zen-zen, ZEN zen zen ZEN zen zen Zen zen, ZEN zen zen-zen Zen-zen-zen-zen-zen, zen-zen, zen-zen Let the poppers pop, and the breakers break Then zen-zen-zen-zen-zen Zen-zen-zen-zen-zen, zen-zen, zen-zen Two years ago, a friend of mine Zen zen, ZEN zen, zen-zen zen-zen...
What? Hip-Hop y'all, to the top y'all Hip-Hop check it out It's like that, and it sounds so nice Hip-Hop, you the love of my life We bout to take it to the to the to the To the to the to the to the To the to the to the to the To the to the to the to the check it out Yo, what? And it sounds so nice Hip-Hop, you the love of my life I'm bout to take it to the top, what? Hip-Hop (hip-hop love) To the top (to the top) hip-hop, check it out It's like, word up, and it sounds so nice Hip-Hop, you the love of my life (of my life)
[Black Thought] The anticipation arose as time froze I stared off the stage with my eyes closed and dove into the deep cosmos The impact pushed back, the first five rows But before the raw live shows I remember I'se a little snot-nosed Rockin Gazelle, goggles and Izod clothes Learnin the ropes of ghetto survival Peepin out the situation I had to slide through Had to watch my back my front plus my sides too When it came to gettin mine I ain't tryin, to argue Sometimes I wouldn'ta made it if it wasn't for you Hip-Hop, you the love of my life and that's true When I was handlin the shit I had to do It was all for you, from the door for you Speak through you, gettin paper on tour for you From the start, Thought was down by law for you Used to hit up every corner store wall for you We ripped shit, and kept it hardcore for you I remember late nights, steady rockin the mic Hip-Hop, you the love of my life
So tell the people like that y'all (that y'all) And it sounds so nice Hip-Hop, you the love of my life We bout to take it to the top..
[Common] Yo, yo I was speakin, to my guy 'Riq and How she was desperately seekin to Organize in a Konfusion Usin, no protection, told H.E.R. on _Resurrection_ Caught in the Hype Williams, and lost H.E.R. direction Gettin eight/ate in sections where I wouldn't eat H.E.R. An under the counter love, so _Silent_-ly I _Treat_ H.E.R. Her Daddy'll beat H.E.R., eyes all Puff-ed In the mix on tape, niggaz had her in the buff When we touch, it was more than just a fuck The Police, in her I found peace (like who?) Like Malcolm in the East Seen H.E.R. on the streets of New York, trickin off Tried to make a hit with H.E.R. but my dick went soft Movin weight, losin weight, not picky - with who she choose to date To confuse the hate, with her struggle I relate Close to thirty, most of the niggaz she know is dirty Havin more babies than Lauryn, she started showin early As of late I realized, that this is H.E.R. fate Or destiny that brings the best of me It's like God is testin me In _Retrospect_ I see she brought _Life_ and death to me Peace to us collectively, live and direct when we perform It's just coffee shop chicks and white dudes Over H.E.R. I got into it with that nigga Ice Cube Now the fight moved to in life, makin the right moves Besides God and family, you my life's jewel Like that y'all Hip-Hop.. *echoes*
[whispered] Take it to the top, what? Hip-Hop (hip-hip) To the top, hip-hop (hip-hop) check it out
[Black Thought - louder] It's like, word up, and it sounds nice Hip-Hop, you the love of my life, what? Bout to take you to the to the to the To the to the to the to the To the to the to the to the To the to the to the to the, yo Fifth Dynamite, and it sounds so nice Hip-Hop, you the love of my life I'm bout to take you to the top love Hip-Hop, word up, to the top (to the top) Hip-Hop, check it out It's like that, what? And it sounds alright Hey, cause you the love of my life I'm bout to take you to the to the to the To the to the to the to the To the to the to the to the To the to the to the to the, check it out What? Yeah, and it sounds so nice Hip-Hop, you the love of my life Bout to take you to the top love Hip-Hop (hip-hop) to the top (to the top) hip-hop (hip-hop) Fifth Dynamite, and it sounds alright Hey, cause you the love of my life I'm bout to take you to the to the to the To the to the to the to the To the to the to the to the To the to the to the to the, check it out, yo Ye-yeh-yo, yo, and it sounds so nice Hip-Hop, you the love of my life We bout to take you to the top love, hip-hop (hip-hop) To the top (to the top) hip-hop (hip-hop) Check it out, it's like, yeah, and it's sounds alright Hip-Hop, you the love of my life We bout, take it to the to the to the *vocals fade*
One one one one two P-P-5-D Yeah, yeah, P-P-5-D I'm sayin, yo Touch this yo, knahmsayin what? Yo-yo, yo, 100%..
[Black Thought] Yo! On these seventy-three keys, of ivory and ebony I swear solemnly that I'll forever rock steadily People wanna know where Malik? He right next to me The weaponry, the secret recipe Hard to peep this, deep shit, shows I eat with Contaminated thoughts I walk the street with I bayonnet cassettes and chop beats with this olympic lyricism you can't, compete with Globe travellin, throwin your verse like a javelin Things Fall Apart and MC's unravellin Backstage whisperin to management like "change the order, it's no way that we can rock after them" My man sport the 'fro like _What's Happenin?_ From the latest hi-atus, The Roots back again Your crew practicin to catch this natural blend They packages read "care when handlin" It's all soft shit, batteries not included with Matter of fact, your whole front's a re-enactment I blow your ba-tty ass into fragments, P-5-D The new testament, mic specialist, what?
Yeah Check it out, yo (3X) Yo yo, Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
[Malik B] Malik B, I represent the P-5-D Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
[Black Thought] Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
[Malik B] Malik B, I represent the P-5-D Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
The Milli-illitant-tant, 'pon cock, ready to rock Power out, in the clout, it seems out, all through your block Posse don't play the cut, but what, you get sheist Got the personality named trife, ready to heist Smashin 'graphs, snatch the ice, crush your mental device Thought twice, shoulda thought once, got played for the dunce Dialogues I moderate, cool out, we outta state Just blendin in the great, give me room to ventilate Most niggaz is fraudulent, the rap seargeant Bargin, through your regiment, call your president Hittin all targets cuz it's a cause that's lost Between the killers when they probably Teddy Ruxpin talk Droppin tears of steel, two drops up in the bucket Facin three ? and a cop so yo fuck it If I get abducted, trapped up in the belly Wacked up my celly, get known like Dawn Stanley You know the deally on the daily in the ? If I sense you got a bend to your kite, then send it up We press up on your corner with windows they're tinted up Lay our props face down on the ground and get it up, what? Face on the ground and get it up
[Black Thought] Yo yo, Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
[Malik B] Malik B, I represent the P-5-D Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
[Black Thought] Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
[Malik B] Malik B, I represent the P-5-D Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
[Black Thought] Check it out While you pose for pictures, I'm the invisible enigma Down low, scope you off the roof like the fiddler Cage you up in the vocal booth, you're held prisoner Watch, while I'm bangin out this hot shit from Sigma Illa-del-P-A, live without a DJ And it's been that way, since Sergio Vallente Yo, The Roots holdin it down, is all you can say Plus the Black Thought em-cey, professional-lay Push pen to paper like Chinua Achebe Thumpin, what was your assumption I lace your function, make it a Black Thought production Word up I'm on somethin, stellar hold off course I'm gone bluntin, travel light and broadcast via satellite, Illa-Fifth Dynamite Lyrically calculus in this arithametic hip-hop metropolis But loyal fiends coppin this hot shit Yaknahmsayin? Hot shit, word up Illa-Fifth hot shit y'all
Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
[Malik B] Malik B, I represent the P-5-D Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
[Black Thought] Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
[Malik B] Malik B, I represent the P-5-D Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
Chorus [Black Thought and Scratch] 2x Once again 'gain Once again 'gain Once again 'gain 'gain ladies and gentlemen Once again 'gain Once again 'gain Once again 'gain 'gain Yo, Adrenaline
[Black Thought] Yo I'm in the eye of the storm, where the pressure's on And MC's is dressed funny like a leprechuan I chop rappers up like chicken seczuan Sells a squads off like a slave auction Aiyyo my zodiac sign read caution On stage, I make your seed to an or-phan Yo, my age an algebraic equation Niggas want some? I hit em wit a portion Son, The Fifth foursome, armed at the door son M-illi-tilla, Dice Raw, quick draw son You don't want no more son? That's when more come And drag a nigga Eerie Avenue to Oregon, you're all done Ladies and gentlemen Select the weapon at the gate upon entering, The Roots instrumentaling Spark shit, them niggas try to talk shit We hit em like the L at 60th and Market South Philly clip a hold into a nigga park it Take sneaks, chains and rings and bracelets Split back this like we the therapist Adrenaline, Fifth mic terrorist, once again
Chorus
[Malik B] Zigga zigga zigga tryin to get a grip but still slip, so lift me up Ever since I was a pup I was designed to errupt You get to know me, you poke me slowly, when caught puzzin Some niggas thought they was, when of course they wasn't Punked em wit a dozen of pellets all in they skelet Transform, from the norm, start to brainstorm Yeah Malik B from The Roots, he ain't gone I took the wrong exit, the sign said Langhorne I'm trapped up in about five worlds wit live pearls Shouts to Armour Akquan who's name is Jalil The moat is deep water so let your hand expand it Demandin, takin you back like Knotts Landing I'm Ralph Cramdon, we out, you'll see in Hampton Yo what the what the what the, what the what the what the Pivot on this concrete earth until I rot Didn't figure how to conquer it yet but still I plot, once again
Chorus
[Dice Raw] Beans passed the mack and we held em, like hostages Rappers see me, hide they face like ostriches Dice'll grind your brain into little sausages Underwater rap, you know who the bosses is North Philly baby, that's where that Raw shit is You'll get blown out the sky once you get talkative A-D devise rise, I fathered it So when you see me on the street, don't bother kid Just be on your merry way, or you might get slit Ask around, wonderin what Dice Raw did Lay you on floors like ya gettin carpeted You need a special kind of mic for retarded kids Me against you's like Kane verse the Partridges You wanna battle, change your name to The Forfeiters Cuz that's what you do, face to face wit raw niggas I give you a bad case of the fucked-up jitters, once again
Chorus
[Beanie Siegal] They used to talk shit, but I'ma quiet them Kick in the door wit my boys stick to riotin First nigga that flinch, I'ma fire em Tape em up, grip his hands, and plyer em Know the bricks is in here, where you hidin em? Don't die in the shit that you lyin in Used to get fronted bricks, now I'm buyin em Used to cop off my man, now I'm supplyin him Paid the front row seat watchin Iverson First class air crafts what I'm flyin in To L.A., Shaq, Eddie, Kobe Bryant and them Save the jokes for Chris Tucker, Richard Pryor and them Used to shotgun in cars, now I'm drivin em Used to hustle 'round bars, y'all was robbin them Ran up in y'all spot wit Rob and them Grew up, two-four, wit Pie and em But do my dirt, 21st, wit Kyle and them Nigga Pop, nigga Buzz, little Mark and them Brother news, nigga schooled Marley Park and them Nigga jump, pull a pump, low sparkin em I know shit right now gettin dark to them Tore they body all up, ain't no chalkin em Too sharp for them, move out in the dark on em These Illadel foul streets what I'm stompin in once again
[Black Thought] C'mon.. and yes y'all You are now in tune to the sounds.. of the legendary.. foundation
Yeah, you go Hey you listeners, stop what you're doin and set it in motion, it's the next movement You listeners, stop what you're doin and set it in motion, it's the next movement
Word up, we got the HOT-HOT music, The HOT MUSIC (1X) The HOT-HOT music, the HOT music (3X)
Yo, one, two, one-two one-two That's how we usually start, once again it's the Thought The Dalai Lama of the mic, the prime minister Thought This directed to whoever in listening range Yo the whole state of things in the world bout to change Black rain fallin from the sky look strange The ghetto is red hot, we steppin on flames Yo, it's infliction on a price for fame and it was all the same, but then the antidote came The Black Thought, ill syllablist, out the Fifth This heavyweight rap shit I'm about to lift LIKE, a phyllum lift up it's seed to sunlight I plug in the mic, draw like a gunfight I never use a cordless, or stand applaudless Sippin cholorophyll out of ill silver gauntlet I'm like a faucet, monopoly's the object There ain't no way to cut this tap, you got ta get wet Your head is throbbin and I ain't said shit yet The Roots crew, the next movement, c'mon!
And yes y'all You are now in tune to the sounds of the legendary, foundation, check it out, uh
Testin, yo, you go Hey you listeners, stop what you're doin and set it in motion, it's the next movement You listeners, stop what you're doin and set it in motion, it's the next movement
Word up, we got the HOT-HOT music, the HOT music (1X) The HOT-HOT music, the HOT music (3X)
Word up, the formation of words to fit That's what I usually disturb you with A lot of rappers never heard of this, or know half the time it is You doubt the Illa-Fifth, what could you accomplish? Whether they skywriting your name, or you anonymous You be speechless, with stinging sinuses The Roots royal highnesses through your monitors I tilt my crown, then blow down a dime a kiss You need to buy a CD and stop rewindin this I'm the finalist, shinin like a rugged amethyst And at your music conference, I'm the panelist Listen close to my poetry, I examine this like an analyst, to see if you can handle this Check it out You, got the groove, emcees freeze, stand still, nobody move unless you dealin with The Next Movement The P-Phi-D we be the mon-u-ment I live my life nice, but I'm not choopid You theatrical as a Broadway play, this ain't Rent One hundred percent, straight out the Basement Spreading this across a planet on some next shit How many people feelin this love music? C'mon
Yo, you go Hey you listeners, stop what you're doin and set it in motion, it's the next movement You listeners, stop what you're doin and set it in motion, it's the next movement
Yo, we got the HOT-HOT music, the HOT music (1X) The HOT-HOT music, the HOT music (7X)
Yo my definition is a lyricist for hire My vocal's a passport that never expire Crowd loud like fifty rounds of gun fire Screamin out "The Roots" while I balance wit the wire Yo, expert in this profession, the session In 1987, I linked up wit the ?uestion Eleven years later we shared crop wit Geffen In musical hell, but hip-hop forever heaven My thoughts, interwoven and deep like Beethoven This foul world so filled of shit it like a clogged up colon Swollen wit minds that got stolen Fake-ass cops, uncontrollable patrolmen Torture, blood flow like bodies of water Fathers sexually assaultin they own daughter Out of sync, outta order like a puzzle In the land of the unseen hand that hold juggle In a Game of Life, yo it's hard to roll a double Tryin times, take lives and separate couples Kids thinkin they grown, tellin they moms "Fuck you" Under they breath, livin in the last times left Peep the imagery ?strep?, across the sky like a canvas And we're the artists beneath vigorous rough strokes of darkness Time to set it off, let's spark this Switzerland, LET'S SPARK THIS!! We are the ULTIMATE (rock-rockin it) We are the ULTIMATE (rock-rockin it) We are the ULTIMATE, rock-rockin it, rock-rockin it, rock-rockin it We are the ULTIMATE (rock-rockin it) We are the ULTIMATE LOUDER! (rock-rockin it) We are the ULTIMATE (Rock-rockin it) C'mon (Rock-rockin it) C'mon (Rock-rockin it) Yo my definition is a lyricist for hire You couldn't have a clue, it's about to transpire The books I buy live arms ?I wire? The Fifth, similar to ghetto gospel choir We ex-plore the whole states plus record In flight buds, trip that was a prisoner in war Four-four the corridor, seal it, no floor But I could see the drop was a mile aboard To the bottom, electrical shock for rhymes I said "I don't got em", guess it kinda presented a problem When I understood, they said "Let him go" I woke, during a center to London ? And now wit a past, fuckin wit border patrol I'm findin it out, I'm leakin wit my people Hit the studio, spread this information In daze of frustration fogged the education >From Illa-Fifth to Switzerland destination The Roots du journ, go check the translation The dictionary of devout topics, far from ebonics The Fifth Dynast, they can't stop it Yo Zurlich y'all keep it tight heed While The Roots Crew smoke weed Yo, we are the ULTIMATE (rock-rockin it) We are the ULTIMATE, say what? (rock-rockin it) We are the ULTIMATE, c'mon (Rock-rockin it) C'mon c'mon rock-rockin it, rock-rockin it We are the ULTIMATE (rock-rockin it) We are the ULTIMATE LOUDER (rock-rockin it) We are the ULTIMATE LOUDER (Rock-rockin it) C'mon rock-rockin it, rock-rockin it They go *Thought starts humming and Scratch does his thing* *Crowd cheers
One one one one two P-P-5-D Yeah, yeah, P-P-5-D I'm sayin, yo Touch this yo, knahmsayin what? Yo-yo, yo, 100%..
[Black Thought] Yo! On these seventy-three keys, of ivory and ebony I swear solemnly that I'll forever rock steadily People wanna know where Malik? He right next to me The weaponry, the secret recipe Hard to peep this, deep shit, shows I eat with Contaminated thoughts I walk the street with I bayonnet cassettes and chop beats with this olympic lyricism you can't, compete with Globe travellin, throwin your verse like a javelin Things Fall Apart and MC's unravellin Backstage whisperin to management like "change the order, it's no way that we can rock after them" My man sport the 'fro like _What's Happenin?_ From the latest hi-atus, The Roots back again Your crew practicin to catch this natural blend They packages read "care when handlin" It's all soft shit, batteries not included with Matter of fact, your whole front's a re-enactment I blow your ba-tty ass into fragments, P-5-D The new testament, mic specialist, what?
Yeah Check it out, yo (3X) Yo yo, Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
[Malik B] Malik B, I represent the P-5-D Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
[Black Thought] Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
[Malik B] Malik B, I represent the P-5-D Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
The Milli-illitant-tant, 'pon cock, ready to rock Power out, in the clout, it seems out, all through your block Posse don't play the cut, but what, you get sheist Got the personality named trife, ready to heist Smashin 'graphs, snatch the ice, crush your mental device Thought twice, shoulda thought once, got played for the dunce Dialogues I moderate, cool out, we outta state Just blendin in the great, give me room to ventilate Most niggaz is fraudulent, the rap seargeant Bargin, through your regiment, call your president Hittin all targets cuz it's a cause that's lost Between the killers when they probably Teddy Ruxpin talk Droppin tears of steel, two drops up in the bucket Facin three ? and a cop so yo fuck it If I get abducted, trapped up in the belly Wacked up my celly, get known like Dawn Stanley You know the deally on the daily in the ? If I sense you got a bend to your kite, then send it up We press up on your corner with windows they're tinted up Lay our props face down on the ground and get it up, what? Face on the ground and get it up
[Black Thought] Yo yo, Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
[Malik B] Malik B, I represent the P-5-D Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
[Black Thought] Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
[Malik B] Malik B, I represent the P-5-D Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
[Black Thought] Check it out While you pose for pictures, I'm the invisible enigma Down low, scope you off the roof like the fiddler Cage you up in the vocal booth, you're held prisoner Watch, while I'm bangin out this hot shit from Sigma Illa-del-P-A, live without a DJ And it's been that way, since Sergio Vallente Yo, The Roots holdin it down, is all you can say Plus the Black Thought em-cey, professional-lay Push pen to paper like Chinua Achebe Thumpin, what was your assumption I lace your function, make it a Black Thought production Word up I'm on somethin, stellar hold off course I'm gone bluntin, travel light and broadcast via satellite, Illa-Fifth Dynamite Lyrically calculus in this arithametic hip-hop metropolis But loyal fiends coppin this hot shit Yaknahmsayin? Hot shit, word up Illa-Fifth hot shit y'all
Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
[Malik B] Malik B, I represent the P-5-D Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
[Black Thought] Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
[Malik B] Malik B, I represent the P-5-D Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
Chorus [Black Thought and Scratch] 2x Once again 'gain Once again 'gain Once again 'gain 'gain ladies and gentlemen Once again 'gain Once again 'gain Once again 'gain 'gain Yo, Adrenaline
[Black Thought] Yo I'm in the eye of the storm, where the pressure's on And MC's is dressed funny like a leprechuan I chop rappers up like chicken seczuan Sells a squads off like a slave auction Aiyyo my zodiac sign read caution On stage, I make your seed to an or-phan Yo, my age an algebraic equation Niggas want some? I hit em wit a portion Son, The Fifth foursome, armed at the door son M-illi-tilla, Dice Raw, quick draw son You don't want no more son? That's when more come And drag a nigga Eerie Avenue to Oregon, you're all done Ladies and gentlemen Select the weapon at the gate upon entering, The Roots instrumentaling Spark shit, them niggas try to talk shit We hit em like the L at 60th and Market South Philly clip a hold into a nigga park it Take sneaks, chains and rings and bracelets Split back this like we the therapist Adrenaline, Fifth mic terrorist, once again
Chorus
[Malik B] Zigga zigga zigga tryin to get a grip but still slip, so lift me up Ever since I was a pup I was designed to errupt You get to know me, you poke me slowly, when caught puzzin Some niggas thought they was, when of course they wasn't Punked em wit a dozen of pellets all in they skelet Transform, from the norm, start to brainstorm Yeah Malik B from The Roots, he ain't gone I took the wrong exit, the sign said Langhorne I'm trapped up in about five worlds wit live pearls Shouts to Armour Akquan who's name is Jalil The moat is deep water so let your hand expand it Demandin, takin you back like Knotts Landing I'm Ralph Cramdon, we out, you'll see in Hampton Yo what the what the what the, what the what the what the Pivot on this concrete earth until I rot Didn't figure how to conquer it yet but still I plot, once again
Chorus
[Dice Raw] Beans passed the mack and we held em, like hostages Rappers see me, hide they face like ostriches Dice'll grind your brain into little sausages Underwater rap, you know who the bosses is North Philly baby, that's where that Raw shit is You'll get blown out the sky once you get talkative A-D devise rise, I fathered it So when you see me on the street, don't bother kid Just be on your merry way, or you might get slit Ask around, wonderin what Dice Raw did Lay you on floors like ya gettin carpeted You need a special kind of mic for retarded kids Me against you's like Kane verse the Partridges You wanna battle, change your name to The Forfeiters Cuz that's what you do, face to face wit raw niggas I give you a bad case of the fucked-up jitters, once again
Chorus
[Beanie Siegal] They used to talk shit, but I'ma quiet them Kick in the door wit my boys stick to riotin First nigga that flinch, I'ma fire em Tape em up, grip his hands, and plyer em Know the bricks is in here, where you hidin em? Don't die in the shit that you lyin in Used to get fronted bricks, now I'm buyin em Used to cop off my man, now I'm supplyin him Paid the front row seat watchin Iverson First class air crafts what I'm flyin in To L.A., Shaq, Eddie, Kobe Bryant and them Save the jokes for Chris Tucker, Richard Pryor and them Used to shotgun in cars, now I'm drivin em Used to hustle 'round bars, y'all was robbin them Ran up in y'all spot wit Rob and them Grew up, two-four, wit Pie and em But do my dirt, 21st, wit Kyle and them Nigga Pop, nigga Buzz, little Mark and them Brother news, nigga schooled Marley Park and them Nigga jump, pull a pump, low sparkin em I know shit right now gettin dark to them Tore they body all up, ain't no chalkin em Too sharp for them, move out in the dark on em These Illadel foul streets what I'm stompin in once again
