The Fugees Album

Chorus: Lauryn Hill 

Ready or not, Here I come, You can't hide 
Gonna find you, and take it slowly 
Ready or not, Here I come, You can't hide 
Gonna find you, and make you want me 

Verse One: Wyclef 

Now that I escape sleep walk away 
those who convolate knows the world they hate 
Jails bars ain't golden gates 
those who fake they brake when they meet they four hundred pound mate if i could rule the
world
Everyone who have a gun and together of course we'd get the up in our their horse 
I kick a rhyme drinking moon shine 
I poor sip on the concrete, for the deceased 
but no don't weep, Wyclef in a state of sleep 
thinking about the robbe-RY that I did last WEEK 
Money in the bag, bank a look like a drag 
I wanna play with pelicans from here to Bagdad 
Gun blast, think fast I think I'm hit 
My girl pinch's my hips to see if I still exist 
I think not, I send a letter to my friends 
A born again, hooligan only to be king again 

Chorus 

Verse Two: Lauryn Hill 

yo, I play my enemies like a game of chess 
where I rest no stress if you don't smoke cess, less 
i must confess my destany's manifest 
to some gortex and sweats I make tracks like I'm homeless Rap orgies with Porgie and Bess 
capture your bounty like Eliot Ness YES! 
Bless you if you represent the FU 
but I hex you, with some witches vu if you do-do 
Voodo, I could what you do, EASY! 
Believe me, frontin' niggaz 
gives me heebe-geebes 
so why you imitatin' Al Capone 
I be Nina Symone and defacating on your microphone 

chorus 

Interlude: Lauryn Hill 

You can't run away from these styles I got 
Oh baby, hey baby cause I got a lot oh yeah... 
Anywhere you go, my whole crew gonna know 
Oh baby, hey baby you can't hide from the black gold no... 

Verse Three: Pras 

Ready or not, refugees taking over 
The buffalo soldier, dread like rasta 
On the twelve hour flyby in my bomber 
crews went for cover now they under pushin' up flowers 
Superfly, true lies do or dies 
toss me high only profile with my crew from Lacaille 
I refugee from Guatanamo Bay, 
dance around the border like I'm Cassius Clay 
Chorus

[Wyclef]
Why am I trapped in a cage? (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
Barber can I get a fade? (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
Teacher teacher check my grades (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
I grab the mic in a RAGE...

You maintain to put a negro in pain you used to diss me
"You sure you wanna hang with old Eddie Kane?" (+The Five Heartbeats+)
Ain't nuttin wrong, so snap your head to the song
Word is bond, you get wrong, I'll have you sing like Louis Armstrong
And I say to myself, WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
But what the fuck was so wonderful bout pickin cotton -- on a farm?
The harder they come, the harder they fall, so come one come all
Don't stall or I'ma stick you like a voodoo doll
Doors locked stop draw for the count, who drops?
Ten-nine-eight-seven-six-five-four-three-two-one-
-you-slept-on-a-kid-from-the-boondocks
Out of Hooterville land of the ill kill
Bellsburg Viking so you know I'm top ranking Phil
Some say newcomer like the yuma but save the rumor
Cause I've been rockin ever since eighty-three
when I used to rock my Pumas
Rap, narcotic psychotic so hear the sentencin
One out of ten, I'm passin the mic next time I'll get WICKED
Heard the man who went before, got intimated
You tried to gas me up, too much gas, you got intoxicated
You wasn't ready for the real'n, dealin, chillin
Wyclef, no competition when I'm bringin pure death
I'm jumpin like a monkey to get mines off
a-from a caterpillar, to the mic moth

(THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
Teacher teacher check my grades (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
I coulda sworn I had an A (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
I grab the mic in a RAGE...

[Pras]
You put, one and one together now you think you a rapper
Baseball cap backward, forearms swingin like a hip-hopper
You do the rhyme, thinkin no one can stop ya
I be the followin that chop ya down as I clock ya, hah
When I say five-oh, I mean fifty not guns or cops
Now here's the heavyweight knocker, the freedom fighter
Natural rhythm rock a mic I always rhyme I'm never drinkin vodka
Any old style, I throw it in a locker

[Lauryn Hill]
Well I'm a Gucci rocker, I never drank no vodka
Me got no bag of cheeba cause I never had a knocker
My cousin's name was Shaka, for short we called him 'Aka
I flip it on wack MC's because to me they flow like caca

[Pras]
You boogie move the groove, nothing to prove you lose
Your style remind of yesterday, old news
Sad sung blues who's, chose the one to feel the pain
or bring the cane, tick-tock I come to pick your lock
It's not for capital gain
So watch out for the remain, or cry from bloodstain
Bustin nuts, bustin style
Gettin buckwild some think I'm the descendant of a wilder child
Comin on the mic, from a higher level
Broke is no joke/choke the hell out of the devil

[Wyclef]
(THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
What about Martin? (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
What about Malcolm? (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
Rosa Parks? (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
You hung a man after dark (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
Cease the violence! (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)

Yo who got the power, to make a man raise from the dead?
Some said that it was Jesus, they said he was a notty dread
But I don't mean to confuse a world that's confused
Mind's atomic, so like a bomb, let me drop it
Can't get too deep, cause some sleep while I wake
in a dream that's made of wine but let me bring it back to grapes
Teacher, explain the parable, it's simple:
It's easier for the camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for you to enter the kingdom, or battle
and walk away, with the title when I get, brutal
Feelings are mutual so sign your life, to Prudential
Don't even flinch, the other becomin spiritual
There's six million ways to die but choose four
cause I can still be in the desert buttnaked and be HARDCORE!

[Lauryn Hill]
When ? checks that means pump your fist
Remember Moses people, this is Exodus
Don't try to stop this, the force comes from Genesis
Them who did us wrong, ask the Lord for forgiveness
The man got a drum, made the land of the dumb
We droppin the bass drum, then we ??
You can't kill the battle with a ?? .. feeling Joshua
So march to St. Lawrence
Yo march I got your back, march!

[Wyclef]
Crown Heights (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
Cease the violence (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
A moment of silence (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
for those who died (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
Public Enemy (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
number one (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
Fredric Douglass (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
Harriet Tubman (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
?? (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
Bob Marley (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
Prazwell (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)
To my man Khalid (THE NAPPY HEADS ARE COMIN OUT)

[Lauryn Hill]
Now, speak of resistance, we're nappy heads
Rhymes, kinks, braids and dreads
The mother of creation, epitome of creativity, yeah

[(Wyclef) Lauryn in parentheses]
Yes, Refugee Camp (Yeah, Yeah Refugee Camp unh! Ahh!)
Yo...It never stops, what?!
We comin' back! (Murder dat buoy!)
Ninety seven to two thousand, check it! (Ha! Ha! La!)

[Wyclef]
Jericho sound...
No Woman No Cry (We 'bout to set it!)
Yes! Yes! (We 'bout to set it!)
Yo! We 'bout to set it! (L-Boogie, yes yo, what?!)
We 'bout to set it! (We'bout to set it!)
Yes! We 'bout to set it! (We 'bout to set it!)

[Lauryn "L-Boogie" Hill - Verse One]
Yo, L won't take the mark though I swim with sharks
I make the dark see the light
Board the ark for forty nights
Times reveal a broken seal, like a (pause) fiend steal
You for fake, I'm for real, like Jesus Christ's last meal
You make deals with devils
The soul descends infinite levels
Pray to God I see the next, rescripture in Holy text then
ask to be forgiven for premarital sex
In the same breath I speak with death about the times
and how many joined his army over bullshit rhymes
You see L change the topic, clear as fiber-optics
Make talk about your clothes become microscopic decisions
Young bitches in prison, messing 'round with that life
Thug, drug dealer wife
Consequence cut like a knife, then we learned that
only Jah and God can protect
You know the story, housing projects is purgatory
So, teach the youths they got more rights than Miranda
Tell 'em this whole shit is propaganda! Word!

[Wyclef]
Yo, sound system, you know what I'm sayin'?!
Jericho Sound...System!
Turn up your sound...Systems!

[Wyclef - Verse Two]
Yo, here he comes down the road
A black Maserati, what up Raheem? (Whatup?! Whatup?! Whatup?!)
He never fought unless necessary
You shot at? He shot back
The whole block felt the bang
Last man to fight with his fists his name was Jackie Chan
Not Charles Brownson
Once you hear the whistle, even Grandmas is stackin' up on old wooden pistols
Nobody's thinking by the time you're done blinking
Cold freezer, so your body won't be stinkin'
Read the will, he left the bills for his daughter Soleil
Last words written just before he got killed
Woman cry (Crying)
Why wasn't I the one?
Not knowing, the omen was her son DAMIEN! (Demonic voice in background)
Father forgive 'em, for they know not what they done
Their meaning of fun is who can draw the quicker gun
Easy with the fizi
Second rate the violence
Those who disagree hear your ashes blow in silence!

[Wyclef]
Yo! Turn up your sound system!
This is the Refugee Camp!
Jericho Sound System!
Know what I'm sayin'?!
Te Bass production!
Refugee Camp collaboration!
Turn up your sound system!
Come on! Turn up your boom system!
This is how we do, turn it up, come on!

[Prakazrel "Pras" - Verse Three]
From the heart of Kingston, to the streets of Brooklyn-Marcy
All the way to the highest peak of any frequency, unhh!
Illegal aliens, them all run invasions
Broadcasting all over your radio stations (Radio station!) - Lauryn
Mathematics, lead me to believe
there's mysteries in numbers
Lightning and thunder
Enough, ribbons in the sky (Ribbon In The Sky!)
To make Stevie Wonder
and man it works, to say I come from down under (Come from down under!)
The wiz kid got no ride
You frontin' at the bar (You frontin' at the bar!)
You ain't a star
You rolled up in somebody else's car (You rolled up in somebody else's car!)
You know the deal! BMW, Black Man Walking, came home your
Timberlands was talkin'! (Uh huh)
(Addressing Jeru) Niggas jealous 'cause the truth I said in Zealots
Well let me tell it...Without Premier you couldn't sell it!!!

[Lauryn]
Murder dat buoy!!!

[Wyclef - outro]
We 'bout to set it, Yes! Yes!
Jericho Sound!
L-Boogie you know what I'm sayin?
We gonna come like Star Wars, you know what I'm saying?
We 'bout to set it!
Nineteen ninety seven to the year two thousand and one!
Ichi-Bang! Even in Japan!
Yo, L you know the flavor!
Battle star galactical!
Who wanna battle?! Battle star galactical!
Come on! You know the flavor!
Jericho Allstars
(Something in Creole)
You know what I'm saying? You know, like the V
Remember V, the old show we used to watch that?
Yo...You know what I mean?! We 'bout to set it!
Know what I'm sayin'! We 'bout to take y'all, you know what I'm sayin'?!
Remember Mork & Mindy? We used to sit back, Happy Days
you know what I'm saying? We 'bout to set it, but yo!
Kids ain't playin' that no more, know what I'm sayin'?
Niggas packin' pistols, once you hear the whistle, we 'bout to set it!
You know what I mean? Yo! You know the flavor! You know what I mean?!
Yo man! You know what I'm saying?!
Good Times, J.J....

[Fades Out]

[Wyclef]
Uh-Huh, Uh-Huh...

[(Wyclef - Singing) {Wyclef in brackets} Lauryn Singing in parentheses]
Vocab, on your mind! {We used to rock the mics in the park!} (Vocab)
Vocab, in your mind! {We used to rock the mic after dark} (Vocab)
The Vocab we bring is Blunted On Reality! {We used to rock the mics in the
park!}
(Vocab)
So kick back, relax, with a crew called Refugees {We used to rock the mic
after dark} (Vocab)

[Wyclef - Verse One]
Uh to my, people who pass 
I pass gas, to light my incense
I do a sundance, for those who died in the ambulance
A simple stick-up, 'cause affects on the wrong lad
Wrong vocab, he fell into the gap, no coming back
Your hurry is he gets buried, the streets are empty
Mom cry "misery"
Little Bill waits for the adversary
'Cause if it's my brother, I gotta get revenge
Action brings reaction, provoked by the street gem
That's when, oh help me, please Zsa Zsa
My niggas come to the dance, gun salute, with the revolver! (BLAOW!!)
Out of respect, you catch wreck, they blast the tech!
If your shit is wack, don't turn your back, you'll get pussy-smacked!
I don't matter the year, tears for fears, I rule the world
And in my vision, the world is science fiction
Roxanne!!! You don't have to work for money no more!!!!
And...I'm not smiling at no fake M.C.'s
'Cause is it me, or do you work for the K.G.B. ?
A-Schiscka Bob, he drives a Dodge, he's a nobody
Nobody's a somebody
This nobody's a spy, kid
He's the rap trader, I'm the battle fulfiller
And if I was Magilla Gorilla, the mic's my Ban-ana
So Coca-Cabana, who Anna on my scanner?
My Grandma slam-a-any crews
Ban, or surrender, Anna!
Refugee Camp, grab him! Bag him!
Throw him in the swamp, and let the swamp monsters have him!

[Chorus 1x] add "Vocab baby, vocab!" -Lauryn

[Prakazrel "Pras"]
Then cast off from here to Mexico!
You see my 4-5-6-a-be my cee-lo!
And when I rest my head it's on a peee-low!
B-D-B-D-B-D-B-B-D-B-BO!
You see the skills I manifest, is very thorough!
And if you don't believe me ask Freres Jacques, hunhh!
A-Freres Jacques! A-Freres Jacques! A dorme vous? A dorme vous?
Say our father, who art in Heaven
Forgive the foolish rapper
For he not know how which he be steppin'
Correctin'
Stopped and kept and, nuff respect to the D.J.
That be selecting, that type of record
Watch out now!!! When I choose to speak
I'm forming the cipher fly east to the five percenter
Knowledge is born, to all beginners
Cast the first stone if you feel you ain't a sinner
After eight stays, we resorted to rebell
I'm packin' up my Nine
To remedy my stale (?)
Ask your local mechanic, he'll tell you my esophagus is very profane!
I'm even locking Stephen King in his own ending!
God damn it! You got static?! Drop your automatic!!!
Niggas fabricating lyrics with cheap fabrics!
All originale damn man is originale, oh! Bah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah!

[Wyclef]
Ahh, look at the youths, sick of the violence

[Chorus 1x]

[Lauryn "L-Boogie" Hill]
The gorey got you hot 'cause you coop what you are!
But I've been rockin' mic's since the days of Babylon! 
My pen was eucalyptus, and my rappin' was the scroll
I walked for many moons, and let the sandels jist to my control
You're swole 'cause you couldn't cross the burnin' sands
You never had no mercy when my people was in Egypt's land
Say, "Yes I can!" With the force of Elijah
Steppin' to you, they get irrigated like the Niger
So hide the cattle
Fugees come to battle
We'll take all your bounty, then we'll eat your vittles
I'm used to the type of poetics that mesmerize
I caught you checkin' with them Bette Davis eyes!
Surprise, surprise! You never knew a girl could stylize!
It's from the soul! I ain't freakin' with white lies
Yo, hey guys! Remember the summer of '92?
Battle after battle! Crew after crew!
So, hachoo! Fugees coming with a brand new style!
I'm rollin' with them hoodies from the H-A-I!
It takes awhile for them average niggas to get it
But once they understand they won't want to freak with this, see...
I'm like the phantom
That's flying like the bird
Doin' shit you never heard
Plus I come from the suburbs
Word to God!
I heard ya had it kinda hard
and you got your skin scarred when they was shootin' on the boulevard!

[Chorus 2x]

Chorus: Lauryn Hill 

Ready or not, Here I come, You can't hide 
Gonna find you, and take it slowly 
Ready or not, Here I come, You can't hide 
Gonna find you, and make you want me 

Verse One: Wyclef 

Now that I escape sleep walk away 
those who convolate knows the world they hate 
Jails bars ain't golden gates 
those who fake they brake when they meet they four hundred pound mate if i could rule the
world
Everyone who have a gun and together of course we'd get the up in our their horse 
I kick a rhyme drinking moon shine 
I poor sip on the concrete, for the deceased 
but no don't weep, Wyclef in a state of sleep 
thinking about the robbe-RY that I did last WEEK 
Money in the bag, bank a look like a drag 
I wanna play with pelicans from here to Bagdad 
Gun blast, think fast I think I'm hit 
My girl pinch's my hips to see if I still exist 
I think not, I send a letter to my friends 
A born again, hooligan only to be king again 

Chorus 

Verse Two: Lauryn Hill 

yo, I play my enemies like a game of chess 
where I rest no stress if you don't smoke cess, less 
i must confess my destany's manifest 
to some gortex and sweats I make tracks like I'm homeless Rap orgies with Porgie and Bess 
capture your bounty like Eliot Ness YES! 
Bless you if you represent the FU 
but I hex you, with some witches vu if you do-do 
Voodo, I could what you do, EASY! 
Believe me, frontin' niggaz 
gives me heebe-geebes 
so why you imitatin' Al Capone 
I be Nina Symone and defacating on your microphone 

chorus 

Interlude: Lauryn Hill 

You can't run away from these styles I got 
Oh baby, hey baby cause I got a lot oh yeah... 
Anywhere you go, my whole crew gonna know 
Oh baby, hey baby you can't hide from the black gold no... 

Verse Three: Pras 

Ready or not, refugees taking over 
The buffalo soldier, dread like rasta 
On the twelve hour flyby in my bomber 
crews went for cover now they under pushin' up flowers 
Superfly, true lies do or dies 
toss me high only profile with my crew from Lacaille 
I refugee from Guatanamo Bay, 
dance around the border like I'm Cassius Clay 
Chorus

Strumming dub plates with our fingers, 
Eliminate sounds with our song, 
Killing a sound boy with this sound, 
Killing a sound boy with this sound, 
Taking sound boys' lives with this dub, 
Killing him softly with this sound. 
Strumming my pain with his fingers, 
Singing my life with his words, 
Killing me softly with his song, 
killing me softly with his song, 
Telling my whole life with his words, 
Killing me softly with his song. 

[LAURYN] 
I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style, 
And so I came to see him and listen for a while. 
And there he was this young bwoy, stranger to my eyes, 
Strumming my pain with his fingers, 
Singing my life with his words, 
Killing me softly with his song, 
killing me softly with his song, 
Telling my whole life with his words, 
Killing me softly with his song. 
I felt all flushed with fever, 
Embarrassed by the crowd, 
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud. 
I prayed that he would finish, 
But he just kept right on strumming my pain with his fingers, Singing my life with his words, 
Killing me softly with his song, 
Killing me softly with his song, 
Telling my whole life with his words, 
Killing me softly with his song 

[CLEF] 
Yo L-Boogie, take it to the bridge 

[LAURYN] 
(Bust it) 
Strumming my pain with his fingers, 
Singing my life with his words, 
killing me softly with his song, 
Killing me softly with his song, 
Telling my whole life with his words, 
Killing me softly with his song. 
Strumming my pain with his finger, yeah he was . . . 

[CLEF] 
A dedication to all the refugees worldwide 
One time say, say, say 
I remember when we used to sit in the government yard in Brooklyn. Observing the crookedness as it mingled with the good people we meet. Good friends we had, 
Good friends we've lost along the way. 
In this great future you can't forget your past, So dry your tears I say And to my peeps who passed away, 
No woman, no cry, no woman no cry, say say say. 
Hey little sister don't shed no tears 
No woman no cry say say say. 
I remember when we used to rock in a project yard in Jersey, And little Georgie would make the firelight, 
As stolen cars passed through the night 
And then we'd hit the corner store for Roots, paper, and brew. My drink's my only remedy 
For pain of losing family, but while I'm gone Shorty, 
Everything's gonna be alright, everything's gonna be alright, Fugees come to the dance tonight, everything's gonna be alright, O everything's gonna be alright, The gun man's in the house tonight, 
But everything's gonna be alright. 

[CHORUS] 
Oh ah oh ah 
Oh ah oh ah 
Oh ah oh ah 
Oh ah oh ah 
Oh ah oh ah 
Oh ah oh ah 
Oh ah oh ah 

[CLEF] 
No woman no cry, no woman no cry. 
Hey, little sister, don't shed no tears 
No woman no cry say say say. 
I remember when we used to sit in a government yard in Trenchtown. 
The hypocrites as they mingled with the good people we meet. Good friends we had Oh good friends we've lost 
Along the way hey. 
In this great future, 
You can't forget your past so dry your tears I say 
And no woman no cry. No woman no cry say say say. Hey, little sistser, don't shed no tears 
No woman no cry and to my peeps who passed away 

[CHORUS] 
Oh ah oh ah 
Oh ah oh ah 
Oh ah oh ah 
Oh ah oh ah 

Intro: Lauryn Hill

Yo, this is the Fugees
Refugees
About to take you on a journey
Into the dimensions of the Booka basement
The basement, word
Uhh

Hey yo, one two three! The crew is called Re-Fu-Ge-ee-es
An if yu come fa tes the rap stylee
Stop the violence and just bring it on, willld

Verse One: Lauryn Hill

Hey yo I, feel kind of melancholy people think they really know me
I keep a wrap about me while I'm driving daddy's Audi
I pay the toll fighting for my own soul
Cause the bourgeoise type of mental sucks like a flat comb
But I be baitin the rebel base to bass distort the EQ
The devil's wishin they could send me back to Mogadishu
Cause I've been wild since I was a juvenile
Afro-centric profile, back when righteous rap was your style
Now kids are whylin so I ask the bad black
Boogie bandit, what's the damage, gimme the estimate then
pray tell me when's the revolution will begin?
I turn on my TV I check out Farrakhan on CNN see
I'm like the phantom that's flying like the bird do
And things you never heard plus I come from the suburbs
Word to God, I heard you're acting kind of hard
And you got your skin scarred when they was shootin on the boulevard

[Lauryn Hill]

(You got the vocab) I got the vocab
(On the real got the vocab) You know we got the vocab
(All my peeps got the vocab) Yeah, we got the vocab
[Lauryn] Aiyyo Praz, grab the mic and show you got the gift of gab

Verse Two: Prazwell

Then cast off from here to Mexico
You see my four-five-six a-be my Celo
And when I rest my head is on a pillow
Be-ba-dee-be, be-dee-be, be-dee-be-bo
You see the skills I manifest is very tho-rough
And if you don't believe me ask Freres Ja-cques
Mmmm, Freres Jacques, Freres Jacques
A dorme vous? A dorme vous?
WATCH OUT NOW! When I choose to speak
I'm forming the cipher fly East to the Five Percenter
Knowledge is born, to all beginners
Cast the first stone, if you feel you ain't a sinner, ahh
Say o-ur father, who art in heaven
Forgive the foolish rapper for he not know how Fugee be steppin
Correct and, stopped and kept in, nuff respect to the
DJ, that be selectin, the type of record ahhh

[Prazwell]

(You got the vocab) I got the vocab
(The click's got the vocab) You know they got vocab
(Brooklyn got the vocab) We got the vocab
[Lauryn] Aiyyo Clef grab the mic and show you got the gift of gab

Verse Three: Wyclef

Check it out, here we go
Back in Eighty-TREE, no one wanted to be NAPPY
I turn on my TV, it's a dreadlock for FREE
Kill the gimmick
It's nonsense, it's no sense or value
a rapper, disaster, nobody ever told me that
"Roxanne, you don't got to work for money no more!!"... and...
Back in the days I used to listen to Kool G Rap
Way back when before guns became gats and
Run-D.M.C. used to ask Mary was she buggin?
I loved P.E., they kept me concious of what I was saying
Afrika Bambaata, Poor Righteous Teacher
Got within myself so it made me a Five Percenter
Say La-Di-Da-Di, UHH! we like to party but
my jam was BDP, with My Philosophy
Say Grandmaster Flash, MC Melle Mel
Then LL Cool J came with Rock the Bells!
See I'm the one for the crew, like a Jew is a Jew
Like Apollo got the moon, like the men who got the blue
Like the Fu got the Manchu, Chaka got the Zulu
Hawaii got the Honolulu
I got the rap lieu, so skippedy-de-bop-bop you don't stop
You do the rock-rock from hip-hop through be-bop
from be-bop to bee-bee

[Lauryn Hill]

(You got the vocab) I got the vocab
(Boogie Down got the vocab) You know they got the vocab
(Black people got the vocab) Word, we got the vocab
[Lauryn] Aiyyo peeps, grab the mic and show you got the gift of gab

(You got the vocab) Yeahh, we got the vocab
(Queens got the vocab) You know y'all got the vocab
(Uptown got the vocab) Yeahh, they got the vocab
[Lauryn] Aiyyo, bros grab the mic and show you got the gift of gab

(DC got the vocab) Word, y'all got the vocab
(Virginia got the vocab) Aiyy, I know y'all got the vocab
(Oakland got the vocab) Word, they got the vocab