Foundation

Intro/Chorus: Shelene

Too late, too late baby, bye-bye
I'll be there tonight
You'll get left behind
Now's my time to shine

Verse One: Grand Puba

Now I got the best birthday present when my ass born
It was my mama, old dad plant the seed like a farmer
Life was kind of hard livin in hell's backyard
Didin't have a job, honey fronted on the GOD
Shorty racing, only hollering at cats who be lacin
She had some shit with her, she was caught up in the glitter
"Brother come see me when you get five digits bigger"
Oh that's the way you tryin to doo-doo on a nigga
She likes the lavish, no time for a brother livin average
Play the knees for the cheese like a savage
Now she lost and turned out, rotten teeth in her mouth
cos she ran the wrong route
Shorty 'member me, now I'm seven digits bigger
Platinum artist status, mad cheese from Hilfiger
Now ya feelin me because you're smoked out and high
but too late baby, bye-bye

Chorus

Verse Two: Lord Jamar

I wish you could have been there when I had my first fight
The other kid said he was gonna get his father
I didn't bother to respond cos I knew that you was gone
Forced to carry on and teach myself right from wrong
As far back as I can remember you was never around
In September it was back to school
The eldest member of my family so I packed the tool
It made a nigga feel manly when I smacked a fool
with it, could've schooled me on pussy before I hit it
Or took me to a park with a ball and said "Hit it"
But we was all left in the dark, accepting the parts
of you we was able to get, affectin my heart
Nowadays you expecting to start, anew
when I lived my whole life apart from you
Too late you better check the due date
See there's no explanation for the expiration

Chorus

Bridge: Sherene

It's too late, bye-bye
Oh bye-bye-bye-bye-bye-byeeee, yeah
It's too late, bye-bye, oh babe
Bye-bye-bye-bye-byeeee-bye-bye
Bye-bye-bye-bye-byeeeee

Verse Three: Sadat X

Niggas disrespect my crib droppin ashes on the floor
Another half of beer I'm findin behind the chair
Let you meal like you wish but you can't even wash a dish
but you love to eat and rest them stink ass feet
And blow up my telephone line like you was home
Seen a nigga make five quick calls to the dome
Ride around all day, 'Dro-ed or hash
I ain't never heard once "Can I help you with gas?"
I ain't never heard "X, can I buy you a meal?"
But if we going downtown niggas is ready to wheel
Now if you broke you broke, you got five dollars, give me one
Cos most likely I'll give it back before the day is done
If I'm spendin and bending, you should do it pendin
That day when you break out and finally get your cake
But I don't let that stress me cos life is but a test, B
And every waken day, I'ma stay okay

Chorus to fade

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[Grand Puba]
Yeah, yeah yeah yeah
One time as we do it like this, yeah
Grand Puba, Common Sense

[Common]
Yeah, yeah, yeah
It's all love y'all (3X) what you say?

Intro/Chorus: all, Common

[all] Maybe one day we can work it out
Strive to understand what life's about
All it seems to be is sadness and pain
Blood like rain clogs urban drains
[Com] When we gonna realize and make the change
And take the blame, erase the shame
Cause new millenium is knockin at your door
The New World Order's what they got in store

[Grand Puba]
Now I can't stress this enough, life sure is rough
You gotta go through a whole lotta shit
Just for you to get a little bit
Born into existence where your existence is non-existant
but your persistance overcomes their resistance
Your daily mechanism is your defense, whether it be
past or present tense, don't be dense
I'm droppin this with Common Sense (true indeed)
As we linger on into the darkness
Poisoned by society where high-anxiety is just one variety
Hatin each other is another, brotha
I mean I'm really true to the shit, my spit ain't just spit
My duty is to save my people from all of this shit
And if I can get somethin for doin that then I'm gon' get
And I won't quit
My ways and action manifest in my way of thinkin
I just can't stand around and do nothin
while my people sinkin
I told you that I stay true
And I gotta do, what I can do, when I can do, so

Chorus

[Common]
Grand Pu...I'ma do....what I gotta do....what I can do
It's one for all like Brand Nu-bian, feedin the multitudes
Of five loads, dead men walkin with lost souls
Some say the games are strange, our ways have been tribal
Since the days of Kemet, now displayed on Bennett
Revolution's like a pussy, I'm tryin to stay up in it
And our music is a message, though some is afraid to send it
I don't know much about the New World Order; I know I
Got a new daughter, direction and protection I must provide for her
The moral of the story I'm building...
Like ODB say, "We for the children"
Nike make a killin off us, we kill each other, it kills me to see that
You take a life for gold, nigga did you really need that?
We try to escape the mixtapes, rims and weed sack
And to the new age, they say the women's gonna lead that, so

Chorus

[Pub] Oh say it ain't so
[Com] It ain't so
[Pub] My peoples at a all time low
[Com] Double oh Pu'
[Pub] Nowadays we doin anything for dough
[Com] For the dough doe
[Pub] Don't you know that knowledge is the note
[Com] What?
[Pub] Know the ledge, don't hit the edge
The negativity pulls us down like gravity
[Com] Yup
[Pub] Devilish ways and actions poisons us like a cavity
[Com] Yessir
[Pub] As we send this one throughout our whole proximity
[all] Grand Pu' and Common strive to come together

[Common]
In this era of prepaid calling cards
I roll with squads called the Gods
Ignorance is at large, struggles in our backyard
I slapbox with life and see we wasn't that hard
Long as you got God, even got Gramps off lah
It's stray lies and bullets directed, to lead the village
of lies disconnected like ghetto phones
Fuck a search through a magazine for Better Homes
It ain't gonna happen
Til the devil's gone with the breeze
and niggas get off they knees so...

Chorus

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Intro: Grand Puba

Uhh, uh huh, yeah, yeah, yeah
Uh huh, come on, check it out, check it out, what?
Brand Nubian "I'm black and I'm proud"
Uh, like that, like that, what? "Say it loud" "I'm black and I'm proud"
Come on, come on, come on, come on "Say it loud"

Verse One: Sadat X

We made men in this world, digging for bones
The untraceable ones come with no clones
100 years from now y'all can still get this bomb
on the Brand Nubian dot com
My name should be mentioned with the Portier, not the Gualtier
although it smell good, I still get mad at Rosewood
A Nubian card member since that faithful December
In the 80 years, from tears to cheers, things we did should be listed in a
pyramid, studied by a little kid
Talked about by old jacks with slacks
Can I move the black is my first and foremost
Can I get a little land for me and mine?
Grow vegetables, maybe make a little wine
Build with the Gods and the bright sunshine
Before we save others we gotta save our own kind

Chorus: *variations with Jamar and Puba's shoutouts*

"I'm black and I'm proud" "Say it loud" "I'm black and I'm proud"
"Say it loud" "I'm black and I'm proud" "Say it loud" "I'm black and
I'm proud"
"Say it loud"

Verse Two: Lord Jamar

Now did you know it was you who was first to walk the Earth
Gave birth to the Universe, uh
Afflicted with the curse of the slave
Predicted to inherit the earth in the last days
Now as we take you home, what we make our own
It's written in stone like Commandments
Read them every now and then or when you get the chance
Catch a glance through the power lens, see if you could see us advance
G-O-D in the dance, reporting freelance
Fought for a chance, got you hanging by the seat of your pants
Our immediate stance when we came to the game
was completely advanced so no one sounds the same
7 and one-half ounces of brain
When we around make sure you bow down to the king
Brand Nubian style is how we do our thing
So if you feel good, real good
scream it out loud if you black and you proud

Chorus

Verse Three: Grand Puba

Feel me now, check my style
A brother's resume run longer than the Nile
Justice cipher born to teach man, woman and child
in the land of the lost where my people went foul
Do the knowledge, black, look at the way that we act
Smoking crack or each other with the gat
The only race of people who kill self like that
I deal with actual facts to keep my mind on track
I love y'all that's why I say these things
Watch me transform chickenheads to queens
Rhymes full of protein like rice and beans
Brand Nubian cats here to change all that
The maker, the owner, the cream of the Earth
Proud to be black because the black man's first
My flow frequency is at a million megahertz
So when I spit my verbals I'm heard around the Universe (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
So don't front, say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud

Chorus

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Yeah yeah, uhh, uh-huh
Brand Nubian, yeah yeah, check it

Intro/Chorus:

You don't have to drive a fancy car
Just for you to be a shinin' star
No matter who you are, no matter who you are

Verse One: Grand Puba

Uhh, now it started it off for me in apartment 6C
Project style, ate government cheese for a while
Pop Duke wasn't there cos he had to do a bid
so momma love stuck with these bad ass kids
She used to say keep your head up, always think positive
and never be ashamed of who you are or where you live
Teenage years I had to struggle doing that
Shorty say "Don't talk to him, girlfriend, look where he live at
Crib probably crawlin with roaches and rats
plus cats be in his hallways with the drugs and the gats"
I used to try and honeys used to walk on by
Now I'm damn near 20 and still ain't got no ride
Caught a record deal, now them same old chicks that used to walk on by
go out their way to say hi
But they gets none
That's why I'm with the same girl from the same projects that I come from
because.......

Chorus (x2)

Verse Two: Sadat X

Well this is that time that you've waited for
Three linked from what was said to be extinct
You say take my weed-smellin ass home, I'm grown
More thirst than if I swallowed sand bags
Not fiending enough to go out and grab bags from women
I swear if we don't hear this on the air
I'll be down at the station
Your broadcast from Monday has now been switched to no day
With the class team that I'm with, we stay fit
Just like the calm before the twister hit
Brand Nubian name is gonna blister shit
We raise the flags in three places
employ black faces from midnight blacks to light tan
Brand Nubian straight rate policy for the world
For your little man, for your little girl, from Cheryl to Earl
Watch how it all go down and unfurl
Mark this print, I feel like we've all been sent
It's more than gettin money and gettin bent
(Word life, cos you're a shinin' star)
No matter who you are, no matter who you are

Chorus

Brand Nubian cats spread

Verse Three: Lord Jamar

A four-letter word seldom heard amongst my nation
Understandings highest elevation, the foundation
of creation of motivation, in my family there's no relation
They got us willing to be killing off our population, full-time occupation
We need to turn it around like oscillation
or watch it all burn to the ground from frustration
Lord Jamar, I'ma show love to all my people who show
To me that's how it's gotta be
Peace to Prodigy and Mobb Deep
God's working hard on the streets for the love of the peeps
Niggas bring their ass in the clubs every week
Walk right past the brothers and they can't speak
All hands meet to shake, for Pete's sake
Let's break the ice, life livin love, love livin life (Yeah)

Chorus (x2)

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[Grand Puba]
Uhh.. yeah.. then they say
Probable cause (uh-huh) probable cause (yeah)
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause (probable cause)
Probable cause (yeah) probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause (word)

Now who's this nigga in the 4.6?
About twenty to five, got a truck full of chicks
Just leavin the disco, me and my man from the Knicks
Oak Dog, later on because they live in the Bricks
Jumped on the George Washington and Now Jeru' turnpike
Head feelin right from a long-ass night
Whoa, I see Jake, so I let off the gas
So I was doin fifty-five when I passed his ass
I looked over, caught the shine from the rim of the Rover
You know his next move (*police siren*) pull it over
I pulls over to the right-hand shoulder
Look through the rearview he got his hand on his holster
He had this look, "How this black nigga get this car?"
You know these cracker state troopers don't know rap stars
He asked me for license and my registration
Seen my New York tags and he asked me my destination
I said, "Vacation," handed him my registration
Papers were straight so I didn't wet the situation
Got my shit back, and that was that, but that wasn't that
Cause in fact, I got stopped two more times black

Probable cause (uh-huh) probable cause (yeah)
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause
Probable cause (uh) probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause
Probable cause (yeah) probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause (say what)
Probable cause (uh) probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause

[Sadat X]
It feel like my hands, stay tied
cause New York state, and they child care rate
Miss Judge Lady in a courtroom can dictate
A fee for me, to pay monthly
Even suggested, that I be arrested, they don't count
the time invested or the bond beyond the money
They'll hit you with arrears, bad enough to bring tears
They been on my back for years, fuckin with my license
And everytime I'm stopped by Dick I see the Booking
That making me violent in this wilderness land
Now can we talk for a minute? Cause we both made this child
Can we leave support alone, please take me offa that file
Cause everytime I see the court my blood pressure rise
And the heart attack is a killer of black guys, I stay civilized
Maintain, sometime restrain myself
A court officer is near me, but I think he fear me, cause it's

[Grand Puba]
Probable cause (uh-huh) probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They just say probable cause
Probable cause (yeah) probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause (word up)
Probable cause, probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause (true indeed God)
Probable cause (yeah) probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause

[Lord Jamar]
Yo, on October 22nd we wore black
for all my niggaz Po-Po shot in the back
Robocops with the crack, they'll never get props
from the black folks, lock us up while they crack jokes
and stack notes, when we payin the bail
Knowin damn well a nigga's gonna stay in the jail
It's all made for us to fail, the dog is smarter
than the tail, but if the tail was smarter it would Wag the Dog
I can't wait til we bag the hogg
New York State of Mind doesn't mind, murderin my kind
We even got our own converting across the line
He turned swine, guess his ass'll learn when he burn
They say "Protect and to Serve" and never give the people
the respect they deserve, as if they wasn't equal
These is man-made laws, selectively applied
All they need is probable cause for me to fry

[Grand Puba]
Probable cause (uh-huh) probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They just say probable cause (yeah yeah yeah)
Probable cause, probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause
Probable cause, probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause (uh-huh)
Probable cause, probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause (yeah, yeah)

[?? Alamo ??]
I ain't do shit! Jakes lock a nigga with a weed clip
Couldn't believe it when he took me in
Threw me and my man up in the van, a seven hour stand
ridin around watchin them arouse the black man
I had the afghan I just copped from the record shop
Took it up the block my usual spot, when I
rolled the L, I never expected to go to jail
I wish they'd all go to hell
Now Guiliani wanna talk about the "Quality of Life"
Think he got the right to follow me at night
with no probable cause, other than my skin is black like yours
Now they got me in the beast, sittin right in his jaws
Up in Central Booking, yo people looking knowing that
I'm in the rap game, and I got trapped the same way they did
You know these motherfuckers don't play kid
A little smoke caught me for a three day bid, cause it's

[Grand Puba]
Probable cause (uh-huh) probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They just say probable cause (yeah yeah yeah)
Probable cause, probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause
Probable cause, probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause (uh-huh)
Probable cause, probable cause
You don't have to break no laws
They say probable cause (yeah, yeah)

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[Grand Puba]
Now a lot of people think this is easy as it looks
Books and books of rhyme concepts and hooks
Session to session to get thoughts manifested
Stressin and stressin to hit the world with a blessin
Lot of people often ask, "Puba how you givin back?"
The way I give back is through the knowledge of my raps
like a gem, for all my people caught out on a limb
who be givin in, caught out on a stem, who don't wanna win
"I'm feelin you I know you gettin down like that
but what I'm sayin Dog is let me hold a little somethin black!
I'll hit you back!" C'mon dead that, that's the tenth time
I heard that -- all you know is gimme I work hard for every penny
that I make -- video and tape
LP and CD, if I fall, you feedin me?
No dough to spread, always keep a level head
Long as my seeds get fed, it won't go to my head, so..

"Don't let it go your head, no!"
Everybody love a star, when he on top
"Don't don't let it go your head, no!"
Nobody comes around when the star start to drop
"Don't let it go your head, no!"
Strive to help others who help themselves
"Don't let it go your head, no no no no no!"
Knowledge of self, and good health and wealth

[Sadat X]
The ladies are datin, no question but you can't tell her that
Cause subconciously, we put our hand out
Like I'm that ATM cat, drop me off at Chase
Earring in the navel like you sex-u-al
Royalty, while the whole loyalty means [shit]
Get wreck in the kitchen like she were on the cooking channel
and didn't have a [nigga] in the car do'
Got ??? she's a mother to be, I hope they're twins
Give me a whole tribe
and be as sexy as Janet was on the cover of Vibe
She slick talk, playin you
well she got a girlfriend that used to tap
back when, so she always worryin with you
Tell her hold it down ma, I give you high ranks
Sometimes you wild but I guess that's your style
If you lay up in my high rise, will you stay wise?
Will the slave thighs open your eyes, girl..

"Don't let it go your head, no!"
Don't believe those jealous type cats
"Don't don't let it go your head, no!"
Cause I'm the one makin some late night cash
"Don't let it go your head, no!"
I told you girl my home is my castle
"Don't let it go your head, no no no no no!"
Understand it won't be no hassle

[Lord Jamar]
I heard your single on the battle of the beats
It won five nights, I bet you had the time of your life
Workin so hard, and so long, to make a record
Finally to make a song people respected
Collect the dough at a show as you sip the Mo'
Now you hittin the flo', you never hit befo'
Got you trippin, how much better could it get?
Got the leather with the work check, all up in the whip
They're all legitimate, callin it what it's really not
This is just one single you got, that's really hot
Tomorrow it could bust just like a blood clot
Leave you in the dust with your body to rot
Another party to rock, if it's you or if it's me
it doesn't matter cause it just won't stop
Don't let your gray matter pop
Cause when you release the album
If they don't cop, you gonna get dropped, so..

"Don't let it go your head, no!"
Cause one single don't make you a hit
"Don't don't let it go your head, no!"
Stay true to who you are don't never forget
"Don't let it go your head, no!"
Keep your feet on solid ground
"Don't let it go your head, no no no no no!"
Cause what goes up, must come down, uhh

"Don't let it go your head, no!"
"Don't don't let it go your head, no!"
"Don't let it go your head, no!"
"Don't let it go your head, no no no no no!"

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Intro/Chorus: Lord Jamar, Grand Puba

Straight outta Now Rule, Brand Nu keepin cool
We drop a jewel and never stoppin what we do
Always do what we must, everything that we touch
is going platinum plus, comin thru in a clutch
*repeat*

Verse One: Lord Jamar, Grand Puba

A lot of y'all niggas is 85th, on some shady shit
Bark is much worse than your bite like a baby pit
In the pitch dark of the night you's afraid to get exposed
like the sunlight which rose in the morning
Froze in a gunfight, forcing those who run with you to reevaluate
affiliations
We salivate from hunger, placed in fucked up situations
and wonder when retaliation will occur
Build destroy H-he or her
It's time to fill the void, niggas kill the noise
To the young boys, you fuckin with a grown-ass man
Watch your tone or get acquainted with the back of my hand
Nubian Brand steadily influencin fans
For other rappers we gon' ruin your plans
What we doin stands as a motto
Like Grace Jones' nipple to the bottle
We pioneer and never follow
We're out for the lion's share now watch me take it there

Yeah, my verbal clarity speaks for my popularity
Sell 5 million CDs and give the proceeds to my favorite charity
Son, I ain't gonna super splash you with no Fantasy Island shit
I mean I work hard for what I got and I be thankful for what I get
And if you practice, spit your verbs properly, not sloppily
Like monopoly, you can end up with cheese, whips and property
Oh damn, silly of me, I forgot to let y'all know
it's one thing you should never do in this game and that's sell your soul
I make a lot of sense then I go and make the dollars
Work hard like blue collars, ghetto scholars is hard to follow
Niggas say it's real rough today and I say what you say
They promised me 40 acres and a mule and all I got was a project and a
subway
I stay positive, niggas mistake that for not hard
Nigga I'm GOD, walk thru North America like Master Farrad
Me and my squad, separating the peas from the pod
No bodyguard, fuck around and roll a tank thru your yard

Chorus

Verse Two: Sadat X

Yeah
Man, these dick-in-the-butt rappers could get shot in the face
Dragged thru the streets and probably left some place
I seem shootouts in the park
Ball games turned tragic, bitch niggas gettin smacked and smacked again
in front of they girl, and she's throwing away that ass
And I ain't really asked for it cos a lot of niggas tore it
And yes, my man Hav had bought me something from VA
I was gonna hit him with doe but he ain't reall want no shorts
Cos we had worked together and he knew I was true blue
Man, I swore I would never go to VA again
until I found out who killed my best friend
I can tell by the wind somebody's gettin ready to bend
They lifestyle's bout to end
I'm in these African cabs on stores run by the Arabs
with pictures of yen, seem like they schemin
Herculoid cats get flattened and reduced to pitchin
That girl gave you crabs but I can't explain those scabs

[Grand Puba] Ha ha, where we at? Flash one-time

Chorus (x2)

Ha, '98, too soon
Brand Nubian, what?

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No, Flagro
Uh, what!!
Yeah, Brand Nu' comin' through
Long Island, Harlem World, all out, all out
Let's talk abou tit
What, yeah, now put ya hands up
Uh, what, now put ya hands up
Put ya hands up
Now get ya back up off the wall

[Sadat X]
I'm better feeling than running raw
Chain gang link I need a shrink
What y'all niggaz think I'ma do when I get real money
Iano keys played in series
Peace to Lil' Cease
Microphone track board, loose chord, oh Lord
Promo number one Sadat X had a grenade
And the have next day I smashed the shit Allie played
Now we delayed by ninety days
You better find me anyways
You better return to the Terrordome, ain't nobody home
Non-haters play the corner in the elevator
Crash crews smack the open palm so you don't bruise
You push a button and what happens nothing
I push one and there's a man with a gun in the doorway
I'm in 4A, I been in there all day
I had some smokes, some bitches and chicken on a slab
There's enough for everybody so y'all niggaz don't grab

Chorus: Loon

Come on, come on, come on, yo
So get your back up off the wall
What, I said dance, come on, come on
So put your hands up
Stop frontin and pop somethin
Cornball niggaz stay frontin ain't got nothin
Mad cause the life I lead, twice ya speed
Brown-skinned mami, that's the wife I need
Light that weed, front nigga might just bleed
Tryin to ball with y'all but I might just flee

[Lord Jamar]
The second coming of Christ
I'll make you run for your life
It's like a gun up against a knife
You can never win, when we fight to the end
I'm tight with the pen
Don't be going off the head, cause they be blown off the head
And showin off the skills of the mentally dead
I do the knowledge before any words get said
Herbs get me red, hold on, Simply Red
Pimps be dead in rap, everybody's fed with that
Y'all could go ahead with that
I'm trying to show you where my head is at
Dread be the positive black
Drop the B, you get lack
See you when you get back
Lyrical three-pack, spiritual miracle
Uhh, Lord Jamar the imperial
Microphone serial killer, urban guerilla
You acting mysterious, we out to take this rap shit seriosu
Slap the taste out of your mouth, then break out

Chorus

[Grand Puba]
Now I'ma put a rush up on molasses
Breeze on through like easy passes
Wiggle more asses than aerobic classes
El kabong, my people blaze them trees up like Cheech and Chong
Get that ass open like a pair of butt cheeks in thong
For sure dog, I don't mean to come off pushy
Blaze your party hot, and have it smelling like D'bussy
Spit my phlegm and drop my gem
Collect my wins and copy the Benz with the icy rims
I be dramatical, mathematical, radical thriller
The mic killa wreckin more shit than Godzilla
Matter of fact I'm more iller, knock your shit off the pillar
The four-wheeler touched every flava but vanilla
You know my name, my game, so shorty shake that thang
I get you open like them ball-head niggaz on Rogaine
Spit my flow all the way from New Ro'
to Acapulco, white poos brown like cocoa
Flip flows def like so so

Chorus

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