[ VERSE 1: G ] Remedies for parties stayed simple and plain Little wine, little music, little Mary Gotta keep the lights dim, so when the walk in The vibe stays nice and mellow, fits in And hey and ho, are gettin they groove on The record stops when the lights came on Then they went back off, we to groove Then somebody grabbed the mic like had somethin to prove It was just the got em, it wouldn't let loose There right our eyes hip-hop was produced The fire kept on burnin a doggie in heat You couldn't help to feel the flavor as you through the streets had a crew on every block for blocks This seemed to be insurance that the beat stop So one day shots ring and it was no one to All you thought was would it ever all be the But if you got the love, baby, won't a damn thing As as you remember it always remains
[ The Holmes Brothers ] I we used to play shoot-em-up, bang-bang I When we used to shoot-em-up, bang-bang and DJ's (2x)
[ 2: Afrika Baby Bam ] Block jam-packed, the first time I heard rap And deejays spinnin back These the last good days of the ghetto It wasn't all about bein jiggy, so save that rap for Down on my knees in the playin skelly Rushin to see _Graffiti Rock_ on the telly With one eye on the beats I knew that one day would when I'd be on the mic rockin Every day after school I mixed blues smarts with street smarts, and started battle rappin But for me it happenin So I changed up my style, to the ladies been I a rhyme about 'Roxanne, Roxanne' I used to bust it out when I to a jam My read the dirty rap She said, "You gon' go too far expressin yourself like that Disrespectin black And what's happen when you turn around and try to have your own children?" So I changed up my style once So me and my moms could still be My daddy buggin out so far me pretend to be another rap star Through my eyes he saw a changin up to be a man and leave behind the shootin, bangin
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[ VERSE 3: Baby Bam ] Now one goes out to the ones who set it off And all the pioneers that it what it was we been doin this for 25 years long So we gotta represent and hip-hop strong JBeez, we on a plateau, ain't stoppin us Will with the of God, now watch it jump in us Cause you cut the roots off the family tree All you leave behind is the sweet from the start, we did it in the park It for the money, and it came from the heart But in these days and times, when write rhymes All we think about is on the dotted line Me, I been thinkin about the way it to be before you was a rapper, you became an MC I'm proud of my heritage, and glad that we it I bust rhymes without bein player-hated Standin on the same stage, rockin with the Was a come true for a brother like me rap was consumed, and hip-hop was doomed I was bangin on tables, in the lunchroom I to walk the street with my ghetto blaster My brothers on the block was Zulu chapters You know what I'm 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 keep it Take from the old, mix it the new I to go by the name of MC Shazaam But now you me as Afrika Baby Bam
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