[ VERSE 1: G ] Remedies for house stayed simple and plain wine, little music, little Mary Jane Gotta keep the dim, so when the people walk in The vibe stays and mellow, everybody fits in And everybody hey and ho, are they groove on The record only when the lights came on Then they went off, we continued to groove Then somebody grabbed the mic like they had to prove It was just the spirit got em, it wouldn't let There right before our hip-hop was produced The fire kept on burnin like a doggie in You help to feel the flavor as you walked through the streets Everybody had a crew on every block for This seemed to be insurance that the beat stop So one day ring and it was no one to blame All you thought was would it ever all be the But if you got the love, baby, won't a thing change As long as you it always remains
[ CHORUS: The Holmes ] I we used to play shoot-em-up, bang-bang I When we used to shoot-em-up, bang-bang MC's and (2x)
[ VERSE 2: Baby Bam ] Block parties jam-packed, the time I heard rap And deejays breakbeats back These were the good days of the ghetto It wasn't all bein jiggy, so save that rap for Jell-O Down on my knees in the street playin Rushin upstairs to see _Graffiti Rock_ on the With one eye on the droppin I knew that one day come when I'd be on the mic rockin Every day after practisin I mixed blues smarts with street smarts, and then battle rappin But for me it happenin So I changed up my style, to the been mackin I wrote a about 'Roxanne, Roxanne' I to bust it out when I went to a jam My mother the dirty rap She said, "You ain't gon' go too far yourself like that Disrespectin women And gon' happen when you turn around and try to have your own children?" So I changed up my once again So me and my could still be friends My daddy wasn't out so far Watchin me pretend to be another rap Through my eyes he saw a changin Growin up to be a man and leave the shootin, bangin
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[ VERSE 3: Baby Bam ] Now this one out to the ones who set it off And all the that made it what it was Cause we been doin this for 25 years So we gotta represent and keep strong JBeez, we on a plateau, ain't stoppin us Will with the spirit of God, now watch it in us Cause when you cut the roots off the tree All you leave behind is the sweet Right from the start, we did it in the It for the money, and it came from the heart But in days and times, when rappers write rhymes All we think about is signin on the dotted Me, I been thinkin about the way it to be When before you was a rapper, you an MC I'm proud of my heritage, and glad we made it I still bust rhymes without player-hated Standin on the same stage, rockin the JBeez Was a dream come true for a brother me Before rap was consumed, and was doomed I was on tables, rhymin in the lunchroom I used to walk the street with my ghetto My on the block was startin Zulu chapters You know I'm talkin about if you go way back And yo, big ups to all my sisters, in the of rap Cause when it comes to hip-hop, you know you gotta it true Take from the old, mix it the new I used to go by the of MC Shazaam But now you me as Afrika Baby Bam
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