The Crown

People of the world wherever you be
welcome to Cosmic YOUniversity.
Where life is the journey and love is the trip
And the study of them will make you hip.
I'm professor of the rap and when I speak
I guarantee that my lines will not be weak.
They say a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
That's why I'm here and on the case.
Rapping up every mind with a special degree
In socio-psycholo-G.B.E.
The Gary Byrd Experience is my course.
When you take my class you will feel the force.
'Cause I know the roots that the rap is from.
When I speak to you I am not dumb.
Hear my rap and begin to dance
and I promise you this: you will advance.
You may have seen the Raiders of the Lost Ark
But you still left the theatre in the dark.
So clap your hands to the beat as the Wondersound
And the G.B.E. shine on the crown.
You wear the crown, I wear the crown.
So proud to say that we all wear the crown,
The crown.
I said once upon a time in Alkebu
Lived the kings and queens who looked like you.
It was a land of sun with a golden shine,
A place that once was yours and mine.
Home of a many great dynasties
Who created science and astronomy.
Where the Romans came to study math
And the Greeks found out about the path.
In case you wonder what else they did
The Alkebulans created the pyramids.
And before Napoleon could even blink
In Alkebu there stood a giant sphinx.
Some say they came from outer space
But they are a part of the human race.
If you know the place where they can be found
You may be the one who can wear the crown.
You wear the crown, I wear the crown.
So proud to say that we all wear the crown,
The crown.
I wear the crown, you wear the crown.
So proud to say that we all wear the crown,
Get down!
We wear the crown - we wear the crown.
Not the greatest dancer with the baddest shoe,
Not the slickest rapper that you ever knew
Have worn the crown though they wanted to
And they'll want to until they die.
Not a man of science with a PHD.,
Not a lady of law master's degree
Will wear the crown unless they can see
A unique reality.
You see, when you say you wear the crown
You make sure you know it is profound.
In case it sounds like a mystery
I'm talking about our story.
It can make Agamemnon nodd to you,
It can make Neffertiti beckon you.
With the crown you will begin to glow
When its secret you begin to know.
Next time you feel like you're in a rut
Go see the mighty kingdom of King Tut.
It will blow your mind, no doubt, it's true
'Cause, guess what, King Tut looks just like you.
You were Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile.
The sun would wink when it saw your smile.
You were the Hannibal of the history book
And the earth would tremble at your very look.
You were the builders of the pyramids,
You were the face upon the sphinx.
You rode on the Nile in grace and style.
Look at yourself today and think.
See the hieroglyphics upon the wall
Like the dancers on the floor they will not fall.
If you take one look it will astound
And then you will see who wears the crown.
You wear the crown, I wear the crown.
So proud to say that we all wear the crown,
The crown.
I wear the crown, you wear the crown.
So proud to say that we all wear the crown,
Get down! [repeat]
I do recall so very well, when I was just a little boy.
I used to hurry home from school, I used to always feel so blue
Because there was no mention in the books we read about my heritage.
So therefore any information that I got was education.
Bums hobos at depot stations I would listen with much patience
Or to relatives who told the tales that they were told to pass ahead.
But then one day from someone old I heard a story never told
Of all the kingdoms of my people and then how we fought for freedom.
All about the many things we have unto the world contributed.
You wear the crown.
We wear the crown - we wear the crown.
It's not Star Wars, it's not Superman,
It's not the story of the Ku-Klux-Klan.
The crown will appear in the G.B.E.
But it's never seen on your TV.
It's in black and white in your gold mind,
A picture so old it defies time.
Alex Haley drew it in his book
It's what Kunta kept in his other foot.
Ghana Songhay and old Mali,
They are the roots of your own family tree.
Kingdom so vast and knowledge wise
They removed cataracts from human eyes.
And yet today some refuse to see
and live in fear of their discovery.
Now in fourteen-hundred and ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean - true.
But years before in Alkebu
A ship set sail with a chocolate crew.
2000 years before Columbo came
The Olmecs built tributes to their fame.
Stone heads with faces eight feet high
that the Hulk could not lift to his thigh.
Though the facts historians avoid
First to arrive was the Africoid.
It may shock the House and Shockley too
And if you're not prepared it may shock you.
While some had doubts that the world was round
In America guess who wore the crown.
You wear the crown, I wear the crown.
So proud to say that we all wear the crown,
Get down!
When you wear the crown you will not need
to smoke, to coke, to dust, or speed.
With the crown you can become the high
And you will make it if you try.
But don't you ever forget what it will take!
To wear the crown you cannot fake.
If you're gonna lead you gotta be a king
And give the world your everything.
Or be a man like Malcolm X
And demand for all the very best.
Or conduct a railroad like Harriet.
We all owe her a lifetime debt.
If you're gonna fight, don't do it free,
make 'em pay to see just like Ali.
Or sing like Ella and make them guess
Is it you or is it Memorex?
If you play a sport, become number one
like Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson.
Make Dr. J. your shining star
Shoot with magic, dunk with Jabbar.
Or if you can write then write some books
like Langston Hughes or our Ms. Brooks.
If you think you're smart, don't deceive us,
Be an Imhotep, be a genius.
And don't let anybody confuse the fact.
You don't wear the crown just because you're black.
Everybody in the world has a crown in place
That becomes their culture and their face.
And so it is, we will not deny
Our history or buy the lie.
We have no claim to be renowned
When we were first to wear the crown.
You wear the crown, I wear the crown.
So proud to say that we all wear the crown,
The crown.
I wear the crown, you wear the crown.
So proud to say that we all wear the crown,
Get down! [repeat to fade]