[ VERSE 1: G ] for house parties stayed simple and plain Little wine, little music, little Mary Gotta keep the lights dim, so the people walk in The stays nice and mellow, everybody 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 continued to Then somebody grabbed the mic like had somethin to prove It was the spirit got em, it wouldn't let loose There right before our eyes was produced The fire on burnin like a doggie in heat You couldn't to feel the flavor as you walked through the streets Everybody had a crew on every for blocks seemed to be insurance that the beat won't stop So one day ring and it was no one to blame All you was would it ever all be the same But if you got the love, baby, won't a damn thing As long as you remember it remains
[ CHORUS: The Holmes ] I we used to play shoot-em-up, bang-bang I we used to play shoot-em-up, bang-bang MC's and (2x)
[ 2: Afrika Baby Bam ] Block parties jam-packed, the time I heard rap And deejays breakbeats back These were the last good days of the It all about bein jiggy, so save that rap for Jell-O Down on my knees in the street skelly Rushin upstairs to see Rock_ on the telly With one eye on the beats I that one day would come when I'd be on the mic rockin day after school practisin I mixed blues smarts street smarts, and then started battle rappin But for me it happenin So I changed up my style, to the been mackin I a rhyme about 'Roxanne, Roxanne' I used to bust it out I went to a jam My read the dirty rap She said, "You ain't gon' go too far expressin yourself like Disrespectin women And what's gon' 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 me pretend to be another rap star Through my he saw a child changin up to be a man and leave behind the shootin, bangin
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[ 3: Afrika Baby Bam ] Now this one out to the ones who set it off And all the pioneers that it what it was Cause we been doin for 25 years long So we gotta and keep hip-hop 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 family All you leave is the sweet memory 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, rappers write rhymes All we about is signin on the dotted line Me, I been about the way it used to be When before you was a rapper, you an MC I'm proud of my heritage, and that we made it I still rhymes without bein player-hated Standin on the same stage, rockin with the Was a come true for a brother like me Before rap was consumed, and was doomed I was bangin on tables, in the lunchroom I used to walk the street with my ghetto My brothers on the block was startin Zulu You know what I'm talkin 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 the old, mix it with the new I to go by the name of MC Shazaam But now you know me as Afrika Bam
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