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