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The Roots - Phrenology Album Lyrics



The Roots - Phrenology Lyrics






Phrentrow

[ Featuring Ursula Rucker ]

(Ursula Rucker:)

I the beginning
It was me
I was rhythm
I was life
Two turntables
And one m-...
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: AHMIR THOMPSON, OMAR EDWARDS, URSULA DESIRE RUCKER
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group






Rock You

[Chorus]
Rock you [repeat 6X]
Come on [repeat 2X]

Aiyyo y'all rappers less play, what I'm about to say
Will probably hit y'all niggas in a real strange way
Shmucks, ducks and half hearted prankster crews
Willie dank Langston Hughes, put shanks in crews
I debut to make the news and I've been killing it since
Still in the trench, buzzin off the killin dispense
I want my niggas out that barbwire still in the fence
Verbal assassin I'm a killer still in a sense
Rhymes is graphic
Aimin straight at your minds and blast that weak shit
The pieces and particles of fragments mad vocabulist
Yes I must confess
I'm like Diddy tryin to sink a slug in Elliots chest
Just taste on that it's Black you can tally up that
You never knew that fate cut you until your belly was wet
New Delian cat the Fraggle Rock skully is split it's Black comin
You can tell it's a hit, comin to drop you nigga

[Chorus]
We will Rock you [repeat 6X]

Yo yall savages is primitive
I'm true penmanship
Here come the neuro-linguistic rhyme hypnotist
Making sound waves
Prisoners outta the listeners
Legendary magnificent Pope distributors
Man I remain lives ahead of the game
Slang play off the meter cause its never the same
Niggas tell me how they never comin better then frame
They love what I say
Here come the rebel breaking the frame and it's all true
My earning bars arts is martial
I'm comin to off you
I ain't tryin to argue
When you least expect it I'm gonna step out the
darkroom pull out the hardware tools the particles will spark you
My niggas wraps give a slice
I spit nice f*cking around this twice
As much as rhythm is rolling a dice
To choose one the noose or the gun
Cause you're getting banged or hanged
Thought second to none nigga

[Chorus]

Yo check it out whether you ballin or just one the
wall and groovin groovin
We've come to get it kickin and get the movement movin
For Tracey and Tamika and for Shelly and Susan
Styles make you wonder what the hell he was usin
Remember your development with out any music
Spit so many spears it's becoming a nuisance to some
But to whoever want to know who the truth is
You never heard another on the mic as ruthless
I drink a little liquor a lot of water and juices
It make money ain't no need for makin excuses
Burn you f*ckin with a South Philly exclusive
Them long dick niggas with real short fuses that go off
Chick likes Riq, you such a show off
You cut your locks down to a fro than cut your fro off
I been at your show there ain't no way to cut your flow off
You got to be the illest emcee that people know of word

I will rock you [repeat 2X]

[Chorus]
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: AHMIR K. THOMPSON, GEORGE L. SPIVEY, TARIK L. COLLINS
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management






!!!!!!! (exclamation marks)

Saw you at the crack house
Didn't want you to come back out
Stand behind me physical
Lady love you, love me too
Meanwhile you don't understand
How hard it is to be a man
Take goodbye and never look back again
We only scratched the surface of this shit
You make me look like a jerk
I can't afford to go to work
Meanwhile being man of the week
Here today, gone today
You're such a f*cking hypocrite
You have no soul to steal this shit
"Sign the check I need new shoes"
Hey f*ck you!
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher






Sacrifice

[Black Thought and Scratch ad-libbing for a minute or so]

[Verse One: Black Thought]
Check it out yo
Before we go for this like we was arachnids
Drastic, it ain't plastic it's Pro-Blackness
Grown man tactics, no pediatrics
the kind of track that make the comeback miraculous
the catalyst, Thought with the knack for splashin'
I'm dashin' I mastered the craft of mashin'
The level-headed throughbred, the female's passion
Magnetic attraction, keepin' 'em askin'
The crews in the Cadillacs with the Pendergrassin'
Swerve half-naked, won't come near crashin'
But if I go to heaven, would y'all know my name
or would it be the same for you like I was Eric Clapton, huh?
Clap for you freedom dog, that's what's happening
My spit's critical political action
The hustle is a puzzle each piece is a fraction
And every word that's understood is a transaction
I'm a, S.P. soldier, microphone holder
Rep Philly set from Bolivia to Boulder
Paris, France to Tip and Tioga
How we gonna make it through the dark, I show ya

[Chorus: Black Thought w/ Scratch ad-libs]
I tell you one lesson I learned
If you want to be something in life
You ain't gonna get it unless
You give a little bit of sacrifice
Ooohh, sometimes before you smile you got to cry
You need a heart that's filled with music
If you use it you can fly

[Verse Two: Black Thought]
Check it out, look
You kick off your shoes, jump off the jock
I fly higher than them dudes, from off your block
My name, Black, the styles is unorthodox
It tap chins, in your mens 'til you thought could box
A couple of people wanted Thought to stop, but guess what?
My man grab the missile, plug for the gut
Now next time beatty stop being such a glut
I'm precise with it like Faheim with haircuts
We up close on 'em with toast but no crust
It's fructose on 'em they froze and won't bust
Choke on your face you jewels is lacklust
Got to put it to you straight, y'all fools is jacked up
Came close to the upmost but no cigar
Nose to the grindstone, head to the stars
The number one runner, number one drummer
Number one squad be the joy for this
Come on

[Chorus: w/ minor variations]

[Verse Three: Black Thought]
Check it out, yo
Your first impression might be I'm a asshole
Say I'm sometimey and give people a hassle
Or try to suntouch and put the heat in the capsule
Yo, see I'm deeper than that though; I get in the zone
Recognize I'm a rolling stone
No time to lollygag or lounge with scaliwag
Give me the disco, I put it where your body at
I got the Smith flow, I lay it over Charlie tracks
With no apology fraud or trick-knowledgy
Just trust, what I see and I say and follow me my way
I read an open book, look inside me
The star of the story that groove teller got me
Through all the dark times, part of the business
The light be contingent on, small forensics
My mic'll make a man a newborn infant
That, true so the crew gon' sense it
I get in the zone

[Chorus x2: w/minor variations]

[Black Thought and Scratch ad-libbing to end]
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: AHMIR K. THOMPSON, LEONARD N. HUBBARD, TARIK L. COLLINS, JIMMY GRAY
Copyright: Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group






Rolling With Heat

[Chorus: Kweli & Dice Raw]
Downtown everybody move to the beat
Uptown everybody moving the heat
Cross-town the party where both sides meet
Eastside, westside, there's always beef [X2]

[Kweli]
I tattoo the page with the permanent ink
Mr. Rourke on your Fantasy Island
The umbrella in your tropical drinks
Still run it up it, liquor in your cup
F*cking you up
Hang over the banister
You feel the rush of the blood going straight to your brain
Ain't no love, you only love bringing hate to the game
Taking my name in vain, mistaking license for freedom
He make music for the people, people dying to meet him
People!
We still abuse it, while the rich is made of music
He probably driving a Buick and be rocking van-- ?
G-U-E relevant, see how his man do it
F*cking with niggas from illa fifth, see how we ran through it
The river in the valley
The nigga in the alley
Rolling with the heat from BK to killer Cali
The hands will fake the clapping
You'll be collasping
You softer than the land on legs
Transforming the landscape
Like a sandstorm in the Sahara
I am the truest nigga
I do more shows than The Roots to Carol Lewis
Creative artist, never play the targets of game hunters
You may want to test this product like cane smugglers
Dis disco shit
Popping like Crisco
Hitting your face
Spit in your face like pistol shit
My style, wild like wipple whip
I go back like a pistol grip
It's pro-black, Kweli!

[Chorus w/o Kweli]

[Black Thought]
I'm a FED like Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
Willy gank, spit the killer dank dialogue
Pyro-maniac like Dr. Molotov
I knock the bottle off
And knock the model off
Gots some non-believers here
Some how I'll save y'all
Or stop y'all worries, you makin me vexed
Hit up gekko, this ain't got gold correct
I'll f*cking bounty hunt your body like I'm Boba Fett
Cause you a toy not a soldier yet
You better hold your neck
You dick smokers get no respect
With the blood, ice your watch, rock your rocks
Better rock it on the screen and not the blocks
Cuz them crews don't stop them shots
It's so many that fly, they chase down, I just stop and watch
I'm from the south side of philly, it's known to get gruesome
Heavy hitter villians these alleyways produce them
Heavy hitter on a pocket we find a way to juice them
They may as well pay, schmuck
Introducing the B-to L-A see me the king splitter
Then analyze this dime, the main thing glitter
Then analyze the taste in your mouth, it seem bitter
Ganster, valid dick torian, graduate of I dare you
If you are paper thin I'm a tear you
I'm a come take care of you put a part in your hairdo
You barking like I'm a starting to scare you
But speak up like a man nigga so your body guards can hear you

[Chorus w/o Kweli]
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: AHMIR THOMPSON, JAMES GRAY, KARL JENKINS, TALIB KWELI, TERIK TROTTER
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management






WAOK (Ay) Rollcall

We currently do not have these lyrics. If you would like to submit them, please use the form below.

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Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher






Thought @ Work

[Black Thought]
Yo, where the freaks at? Lookin' at me
You wanna see Black? Then jump on it
And to the chumps who think they might want it
I might spot your ride and dump on it
And send a couple of boys to that corner of yours
And role out with a nigga slumped on it
You see Black fall back son
Me and Shock up in a black Regal no insurance
We like DEA serving warrants
So tell the freaks you know to stop whorin
We gon' grab the mics and get 'em off the wall
so e'rybody in here can stop snorin
Yo where the safe Money unlock it, pull it out your pocket
Ben Banniker Bay with the Al Morrocan
Black Thought on capitals like the sovereign
Girls get your eyes back up out the sockets
Focus, flawless. New York to Europe
To lands where my feet ain't even touch the soil yet
What a movement, the rap solution
It thumps so hard we got 'em world wide usin them
Tracks from Black for satisfaction
The role of captain played by Samuel L. Jackson
Yo ill insanity that's cold and morbid
but when I'm in your orbit you soul absorb it
A real raw nigga wont fold or forfeit
A thorough bred gonna enforce it
Tariq's where the beats at
And where the people out their seats at
For what? Cause y'all on it
I'm like Aqua man and Brown Hornet
I'm like Imhotep but don't flaunt it
Dog, reintroducing master thespian
Ho-telling-est, elin-est, emceein
F*ck getting money for real, get freedom
Black on the grind from AM to the PM
Splash up crash up the X-5 B.M.
Motive entertainment the philly mob we in
Weak hearts, yo we not them
Waddup nigga T3 nigga bahtem
When the M-Ill get home we're gonna win
First one to fall cats with no chin
The mic the black hold remain smokin'
And ladies up in the place is wide open
For real you know what I'm talking about
Pull it out your pocket [x3]

[Chorus]
You feel this shit soon as they throw it on
You feel this joint this is your new favorite song
You at the dancehall, you got it going on
It's time to show it off so throw your hands up
Check it out yo
You feel this shit soon as they throw it on
You feel this joint this is your new favorite song
You at the dancehall, you got it going on
It's time to show it off yall niggas know whats up

[Black Thought]
Yo here go the rapper of the year, year of the rap
Come from South Philly where the hammers are clapped huh?
Violate and you will answer to Black
You a thug not really there's the answer to that
Lee ya, boxed silly with the hands skill attack
Cancel your check flip, dismantle your trap huh?
Wanna pack can't handle your strap
You a schmuck type, shoot your man in the back
Meanwhile I'm outstanding and I'm outspoken
Wild out take fools out without joking
If I run out of shots I'm going out poking
On a date with sis we going out stroking
And the shot is fantastic
The fantastic is the romantic
And to the freaks in the house if you're ready to bounce
we can go to the flat then get tantric
Yeah. you pronounce the name Tariq, any questions?
Street hip-hop I bring forth the essence
You see pulling up five deep
with nothing but dimes inside of my jeep
I'm not arguing to get in VIP cocksucker prick
Suck a dick I'ma floss for the f*ck of it
Girls say the baw Black be on some other shit
Nigga talk like you work for the government
My words worth like Barnes & Noble
Spit hot flames that'll harm your vocal
Spit thought name I'm a bomb your local
neighborness, for a ten mile radius
Well every ghetto craving this new anthem
My brain unstable and I'm just too handsome
I bang with the best around
Who can test the ground when I finesse the sound
Here come the controller

[Chorus]
You feel this shit soon as they throw it on
You feel this joint this is your new favorite song
You at the dancehall, you got it going on
It's time to show it off so throw your hands up
Check it out yo
You feel this shit soon as they throw it on
You feel this joint this is your new favorite song
You at the dancehall, it's time to show it off you got it going on
Y'all niggas know what's up
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: RALPH MAC DONALD, MARK MORALES, WILLIAM SALTER, AHMIR K THOMPSON, TARIK TROTTER, DAMON YUL WIMBLEY
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management






The Seed 2.0

[Verse 1: Black Thought]
Knocked up 9 months ago
And what she finna have she don't know
She want neo-soul, this hip-hop is old
She don't want no rock-n-roll
She want platinum or ice or gold
She want a whole lotta somethin' to fold
If you a obstacle she just drop ya cold
Cuz one monkey don't stop the show
Little Mary is bad
In these streets she done ran
E'er since when the heat began
I told the girl look here
Calm down I'ma hold your hand
To enable you to peep the plan
Cuz you is quick to learn
And we can make money to burn
If you allow me the latest game
I don't ask for much, but enough room to spread my wings
And the world finna know my name

[Verse 2: Cody Chesnutt]
I don't ask, for much these days
And I don't bitch, and whine, if I don't get my way
I only wanna fertilize another behind my lover's back
I sit and watch it grow standin' where I'm at
Fertilize another behind my lover's back
And I'm keepin' my secrets mine
I push my seed in her push for life
Its gonna work because I'm pushin' it right
If Mary drops my baby girl tonight
I would name her Rock-N-Roll

[Verse 3: Black Thought]
Uh-huh
Cadillac need space to roam
Where we headin for she don't know
We in the city where the pros shake rattle and roll
And I'm a gaddang rollin' stone
I don't beg I can hold my own
I don't break I can hold the chrome
And this weighin' a ton and I'm a son of a gun
My code name is The Only One and Black Thought is bad
These streets he done ran ever since when the game began
I never played the fool
Matta fact I be keepin' it cool
Since money been changing hands
And I'm left to shine, but the legacy that I leave behind be the seed
that'll keep the flame
I don't ask for much but enough room to spread these wings
And the world finna know my name

[Verse 4: Cody Chesnutt]
I don't beg
For no rich man
And I don't scream, and kick, when his shit don't fall in my hands, man
Cuz I know how to still
Fertilize another against my lover's will
I lick the opposition cuz she don't take no pill
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-no dear
You'll be keeping my legend alive
I push my seed in her push for life
Its gonna work because I'm pushin' it right
If Mary drops my baby girl tonight
I would name her Rock-N-Roll
Oh-ooh break it down, break it down, break down beat

[break]
I push my seed somewhere deep in her chest
I push it naked cuz I've takin my test
Deliverin' Mary it don't matter the sex
I'm gon' name it rock and roll
I push my seed in my push for life
It's gonna work becuz I'm pushin it right
If Mary drop my baby girl, tonight
I would name her Rock-N-Roll
I would name her Rock-N-Roll
I would name her Rock-N-Roll yeah
I would name it Rock-N-Roll
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: BRADLEY JAMES NOWELL, ERIC JOHN WILSON, FLOYD I. GAUGH IV
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group






Break You Off

[Chorus 2X: Musiq]
I'm gone break you off (beat started.....start-started..)
I'm gone break you off (beat started.....start-started..)
I'm gone break you off (beat started.....start-started..)
Yeah Baby

[Verse One: Black Thought]
Bad Misses, Throwin raspberry kisses on me
You looking for directions?
Girl I feel your vision on me
Just dont let him see you sweat
and we aint spose to be involved
Knowing when we get it off, Girl I mean it off
Keeping you fiending 'til you taking it tossed
And when I'm breaking it off
Its no denying the fact it's wrong
'Cause you got a man who's probably playing his part
You probably breaking his heart
He trying to figure the reason, Uh
Is it because he's superficial
Or is he too submissive
Or did I come along and hit you with the futuristic
Or is it 'cause you really couldnt see a future with him
All he about is paper, never took the time with you to listen
You want it gripped up, flipped, and thrown
And get stripped and shown, the way the getting is on
The cost, dealing with this you only taking a loss
You need to leave him alone
And go with the one who breaking you off

[Chorus 2X: Musiq]
Off...
I'm gone break you off (beat started.....start-started..)
I'm gone break you off (beat started.....start-started..)
I'm gone break you off (beat started.....start-started..)
Yeah Baby

[Verse Two: Black Thought]
Rolling down the highway
Listening to Sade sing
"The way the smooth operator move my way"
You sitting beside me
Looking like Friday Foster
Pam Grier structure look at your body
Keep eachother thristy
Kisses like hershey
But lips is sealed
'Cause we dont need the controversy
I say I'm in town, You say you want it in the worst way
You probably told your man it was your it was ya lil's birthday
Meanwhile, Its champagne chilling in ice
You ready for the freakiest stage you done in ya life?
We breakin down like we grove dogs pulling a hike
You making sounds like a vive ;got you reaching your height
Prepare for flight, this is your captain
I'm getting strapped in
Theres no denying the strength
That its attraction girl
Workin with this you won't be taking a loss
So stop fooling your man and roll with the one
Who's breaking you off

[beat started]

[Bridge: Musiq]
Baby, Baby, Baby... don't you want me 'round
Nothing 'cause I'm coming too, and do you know..
Whenever you want, that thing you need, I got it
I'm there and I aim to please
I'm coming over to give it to you..
Baby.. baby..

[Chorus 2X: Musiq]
I'm gone break you off (beat started.....start-started..)
I'm gone break you off (beat started.....start-started..)
I'm gone break you off (beat started.....start-started..)
Yeah Baby
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: AHMIR K. THOMPSON, BENJAMIN KENNEY, JILL H. SCOTT, JIMMY GRAY, KYLE JONES, LEONARD N. HUBBARD, TAALIB JOHNSON, TARIK L. COLLINS
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY






Water

[Black Thought]
South Philly, North Side
Oakland, Texas
Georgia, Black People
Yo, Worldwide, Sup my nigga
You know what I'm saying
Dumb and blind...

[Verse One: Black Thought]
They say a record ain't nothing if it's not touching
Gripping, draw you in closer make you want to listen to it
And if you real ill at making music
Then lesson'll feel like you livin' through it
That's how my nigga do it
I met Slacks back in like '91 rapping
We went to Millersville to get away from gun clappin'
It ain't last
I be in class dreaming 'bout
50,000 fans up in the stands screaming out
Encore, yo I'm headed back to Philly
Nigga you rollin' with me?
I'm trying to get busy
We walk dogs that was off the chain
Lot of times at the show people hardly came
I just took it in stride as part of the game
But inside people down with me started to change
It was a couple things
Lil' ??, lil' pills
Instead of driving out on the road you rather chill
I know the way the pleasure feel
I'm not judging
But still I'm on a mission, yo I'm not buggin'
I got fam that won't stop druggin'
They can't sleep
They can't stick to one subject, they can't eat
Is people steady comin' at me out in the streets
Like Riq yo wat up with your peeps
it gets deep nigga

[Chorus]
Yo, you need to walk straight, master your high
Son you missin' out on was passing you by
I done seen the streets suck a lot of cats dry
But not you and I my nigga
We got to get
Come on, over over the water
Come on, over over the water
Water, Water...

[Verse Two: Black Thought]
Yo, we done made too many meals
A couple of deals
We done share clothes and wills
Killed mics and reels
We done rock
Shows abroad, and slept on floors
Trying to figga what the f*ck we gettin' slept on for
Oh why we walking with the rep up for
Waited by the cavity law
You know it if you came up poor my nigga
Picture a bus up north
You know we made of everything outlaws are made of
I'm far from a hater
And I don't say I love you 'cause the way I feel is greater
In Illa you a poet son
You a ball creator
And this will probably dawn on you later
Is in you nature, letters all up in the wall like they made of paper
You got to find out where you talent take you
You might f*ck around, finally make it
And that's real but yo

[Chorus]

[Verse Three: Black Thought]
Yo, I want you all to understand I come from South Philly
And when I walk the street is like a pharmacy
They got all type of shit
Anybody could get
It goes from H to Ex
To lucy ciggarette
For my ghetto legend
Known from Lil' shyst running
Cop codeine by the courts and keep comin'
Dummy, just embracing the dope like it's a woman
You burnin' both sides of the rope and keep pullin'
Tuggin', in between Islam and straight tuggin'
Laying everyday around the way and doin' nothin'
See'em looking shaking their head and start shruggin'
If they don't have a man like mine, they got a cousin
Hey yo you better be a true friend to 'em
Before the shit put an end to 'em
Or give a pen to 'em
Or lock'em up in the studio with a mic
'Cause on the real it might save his life
Keep tellin'em

[Chorus x2]
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: John Dearness
Copyright: Lyrics © Songtrust Ave, THE ROYALTY NETWORK INC.






Quills

[Chorus]
Don't stop (uh don't stop yo)
Tonight (cheeba cheeba yo, soul shock yo)
(Give it everything you got yo)
(Once again it's time, it's time)
It's time to ride, ride....

[Verse One: Black Thought]
Yo, piss in the staircase, blood on the pavement
I fill the quills with it let it spill on the pages
Compose another anthem for the killers and manglers
Villains and wranglers, fifth still in the chamber
Shit, I'm scientific but my reflex's gangsta
Pull out-rageous arms from the floor of the basement
Then bust 'nuff talons if my peoplez in danger
I'm Larry Davis, duckin' helicopter, hoverin' government agents
We muscle the language
What we spit will leave your shit in utter amazement
I'm hot brolic call it contagious
The shit the Roots started got these other artists going through changes
My vision is the strangest, the rhythm is anguish
Y'all niggaz on the titty in your formative stages
Is something in the iris and the way I spit
That tell these other crab rappers I ain't fo' no shit
Black traumatic, so there you have it
My battin' average, abort full of graphic assault, it's all classic
Thought, put ass-backwards rappers in a small package
Experience is all that is, I'm well established
Me and the mic in holy matrimony like a marriage
The technique in your reach, if only you could have it
For me it's automatic, it's na-tu-ral, I'm mad thoro
Poet for hired pack metal
You feel me?

[Chorus]

[Verse Two: Black Thought]
Yo, the load heavy
We walk around a little edgy, all ready and steady
Withdrawal like Darryl Strawberry, it figures
Niggaz mad from them ghetto sandwiches and swine
Cryin' hard times, disadvantegeous, man listen
The story in the ghetto the same
Seem like it's just some things that never will change
Give birth to a style and won't give it a name
Talk 'bout consciousness it's a different thang
Envision again, the honorable 'Riq, general Hannibal speak
The understandable diabolique, animal style
Out of your dreams kid, you proud that you seen this
Fifth supreme linguist, a lyrical genious
Inject you with the broke down english
The most freshest and cleanest, three G's, guess what the fame is
Kareem's beat makin' me fiendish
Don't act shaky and squeamish, if you real make me believe it nigga

[Chorus]

[Verse Three: Black Thought]
Yo, the rebel Jake Rivera
You felt another date, you better
Don't copped off, create it just save your cheddar
I hit the studio with a pen and a vendetta
Sippin' an ice cold Beck, huffin' the tenth letter
Driftin', shots lickin while the plot thickens
Sands in the hourglass thinnin', the last inning
The flash and the cash and the fast women
It's nothing, a lust for the crabs keep the passion and
Blaow, kissin' my tablet with firing pins
Poke holes in the plastic for oxygen
MCs jumpin' out shoes and socks again
Must have seen their face in the news it's gots to been
Thought known as the cure for cancer
Same corrupt city as Mumia the Panther
Man to man, hammer cocked, block and standoff
Bang, gunfire slang up in the dance hall
Yo, I hold the mic that could be thrown as a pipe bomb
Bring it just to sling it at your favorite icon
Thing about my music is it ain't shit like y'all
Thought, diesel like a 28-inch python
You know what I'm saying?

When I'm on the mic there won't be no delayin...

[Chorus]
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Y, AHMIR K. THOMPSON, TARIK L. COLLINS
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group






Pussy Galore

Dancin' on the dance floor
Girl, it's you that I adore
Step off stage and scream for more
All I see, pussy galore
Snap my fingers, make you mine
If not, I'll snap a second time
After that, I guarantee
You will be standing next to me

Yo, my own head once said, it's more powerful than cocaine
Freaks dancin' in a line like Soul Train
To get your pride up, that extra push
Niggaz lookin' for the time of their life, coppin' a rush
Yo I know sis', dawg, her name Lorraine
She's a thick brick house with a chocolate frame
I went to school with her
Twelfth grade, I used to fool with her
She put me on with her squad, I got cool with her
She used to say she wanted to be a doctor
And couldn't nothin' stop her
From gettin' up that cash
For tuition, even if she had to shake that ass
F*cked up, her money ain't accumulatin' that fast
Lorraine know it's real, 'cause sex controls America
Turn the TV on, it's in the open on the regular, yo
What the freaks in the video for?
F*ck a song, gimme a thong, and pussy galore

You see, life is about marketing pussy galore
Every time I turn around, there's more pussy galore
Nations going to war for the pussy galore
Even the cash could afford all the pussy galore
Yo, gang wars, more pussy galore
From the screen to the record store, pussy galore
Every time I turn around, there's more pussy galore
Even the cash could afford all the pussy galore

Yo, desire and lust can make a man kill
Or jump off the bridge, cuffed to a motherf*ckin' anvil
So it's promoted like it is so all y'all know
Keep a nigga under the spell, you under control
But yo, I seen it make people slit they wrists
Weakness, pussy make a spy say secrets
But what for? Cause sex is the law
???, many an empire rise and fall
From the squares to the players
From the pimps to the whores
To big checks that never would have been endorsed
Ya know, I sit back and just peep thangs
Nine outta ten, it's the same songs, only the beat changed
So don't be lookin' at your peeps strange
When I conduct a little Litmus test up in your heat range
That's when you see me up on stage with six
Wicked ass chicks fittin' to get crunk with this

Life is about marketing pussy galore
Every time I turn around, there's more pussy galore
Corporations going to war over the pussy galore
Even the cash could afford all the pussy galore
Yo, gang wars, more pussy galore
From the screen to the record stores, pussy galore
Every time I turn around, there's more pussy galore
Every time I turn around, there's more pussy galore

Yo, fresh cut, with the thick black velor
With the black ??? sneaks, headed out for tour
Lookin' out the limo window up at the billboards
Two hundred miles, she was the only thing I saw
Promotin' everything, from the liquor to the nicotine
Cell phones, anti-histamines, chicken wings
You gotta show a little skin to get them listening
For real yo, the world is a sex machine
Full of pretty freaks in designer jeans
That go to extremes to conjure all kinds of schemes
Half the time, it ain't even responsibly
Tryin' to take me some place I'm not tryin' to be
Ghetto, Sin City, where the P is free
You catch a bid far worser than a one to three
All up in the after-hours on the second floor
For that good thing, that keep 'em comin' back for more, ya heard me

It's about marketing the pussy galore
Every time I turn around, there's more pussy galore
Nations going to war for the pussy galore
Even the cash could afford all the pussy galore
Dig it, gang wars, more pussy galore
From the screen to the record store, pussy galore
Even the cash could afford all the pussy galore
More pussy galore, more pussy galore

Yo, dancin' on the dance floor
Girl, it's you that I adore
Step off stage and scream for more
All I see, pussy galore
Snap my fingers, make you mine
If not, I'll snap a second time
After that, I guarantee
You will be standing next to me

Dancin' on the dance floor
Girl, it's you that I adore
Step off stage and scream for more
All I see, pussy galore
Snap my fingers, make you mine
If not, I'll snap a second time
After that, I guarantee
You will be standing next to me
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: SCOTT STORCH
Copyright: Lyrics © RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC






Complexity

[Chorus: repeat 2X]
I've been wondering about the complexity
Of what we have it shouldn't be
More
Just can't see
More

You're physically in this, but how could we tell
If we was meant to be in bliss if you're not mentally as well?
This energy you're sending me is tricky as hell
Usually it's like a 50/50, we could take a L
Before we start things, at this point being apart brings
The feeling of somebody plucking at your heart strings
I know it probably shouldn't feel like this
But any other woman I see is in your likeness
It's from your cheekbones
Yo your lips, to your curves, to your deep moans
To that walk, to your words
You love feeling like a breakdown on the verge
First we on good terms, then you on my last nerves
Got my back just aching, my shoes is all tight
It's too complex when we choose to do it right
It's wrong, one minute you a soldier strong
Then you trying a route talking about it's over and gone

[Chorus]

When your boyfriend's in town, it's bound to be trouble, Love
His name Black, and he known to be a lover of
Getting it on with my smoker's jacket on
Eyes racing back and forth listening to Chaka Khan
Trying to figure the cause why you always acting off
like I'm slacking off
Maybe our signal's getting crossed
For the case Love, you feel like you making a waste of
Your precious time you need to get a taste of
Some space to breathe, a moment as friends
We should've felt ourselves slipping into it again
Cuz it's like off and on, on and off
Passion, lost and found, found and lost
Clashing, asking for nothing but understanding
Your hearts made of glass, use care when handling
Girl, all in all I never leave you stranded
Cuz my respect you commanded, you figure it out

[Chorus]

I used to come into the party and stand around
Cuz I was kinda too shy to really get down
I used to play the corner and watch the scene
Deep down knowing I wanted to find me a queen
And I could feel that in my stomach and up in my chest
Because I knew a lot of women, and some was fresh
But then I found you girl, and just like me
You had a heart that was yearning to be set free
Now listen, see you and me we need to take the time
To erase any doubt that's inside your mind
It's not a mountain that I'm ever too tired to climb
And who's counting, but I know at least a thousand times
I let you know I'm here for you, care for you, and confide in you
Break bread, share with you, and provide for you
And that's full time, it's no 9 to 5 with you
That's why I'm trying to work it out with you, it's gonna work

[Chorus]
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: AHMIR K. THOMPSON, LEONARD N. HUBBARD, TARIK L. COLLINS, JILL H. SCOTT, JAMES GRAY, OMAR EDWARDS KINDRED
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group






Something in the Way of Things (In Town)

[ Featuring Amiri Baraka, Jill Scott ]

In town [Repeat; x 3]

Something in the way of things
Something that will quit and won't start
Something you know but can't stand
Can't know get along with
Like death
Riding on top of the car peering through the windshield for his cue
Something entirely fictitious and true
That creeps across your path hallowing your evil ways
Like they were yourself passing yourself not smiling
The dead guy you saw me talking to is your boss
I tried to put a spell on him but his spirit is illiterate

I know things you know and nothing you don't know
'cept I saw something in the way of things
Something grinning at me and I wanted to know, was it funny?
Was it so funny it followed me down the street
Greeting everybody like the good humor man
But an they got the taste of good humor but no ice cream
It was like dat
Me talking across people into the houses
And not seeing the beings crowding around me with ice picks
You could see them
But they looked like important Negroes on the way to your funeral
Looked like important jiggaboos on the way to your auction
And let them chant the number and use an ivory pointer to count your teeth
Remember Steppen Fetchit
Remember Steppen Fetchit how we laughed
An all your Sunday school images giving flesh and giggling
With the ice pick high off his head
Made ya laugh anyway

I can see something in the way of our selves
I can see something in the way of our selves
That's why I say the things I do, you know it
But its something else to you

Like that job
This morning when you got there and it was quiet
And the machines were yearning soft behind you
Yearning for that nigga to come and give up his life
Standin' there bein' dissed and broke and troubled

My mistake is I kept sayin' "that was proof that God didn't exist"
And you told me, "nah, it was proof that the devil do"
But still, its like I see something I hear things
I saw words in the white boy's lying rag

Said he was gonna die poor and frustrated
That them dreams walk which you 'cross town
S'gonna die from over work
There's garbage on the street that's tellin' you you ain't shit

And you almost believe it
Broke and mistaken all the time
You know some of the words but they ain't the right ones
Your cable back on but ain't nothin' you can see

But I see something in the way of things
Something to make us stumble
Something get us drunk from noise and addicted to sadness
I see something and feel something stalking us

Like and ugly thing floating at our back calling us names
You see it and hear it too
But you say it got a right to exist just like you and if God made it
But then we got to argue

And the light gon' come down around us
Even though we remember where the (light or mic??) is
Remember the Negro squinting at us through the cage
You seen what I see too?

The smile that ain't a smile but teeth flying against our necks
You see something too but can't call its name

Ain't it too bad why'all said
Ain't it too bad, such a nice boy always kind to his motha
Always say good morning to everybody on his way to work
But that last time before he got locked up and hurt, real bad

I seen him walkin' toward his house and he wasn't smiling
And he didn't even say hello
But I knew he'd seen something
Something in the way of things that it worked on him like it do in will

And he kept marching faster and faster away from us
And never even muttered a word
Then the next day he was gone
You want to know what

You want to know what I'm talkin' about
Sayin' "I seen something in the way of things"
And how the boys face looked that day just before they took him away
The is? in that face and remember now, remember all them other faces

And all the many places you've seen him or the sister with his child
Wandering up the street
Remember what you seen in your own mirror and didn't for a second recognize
The face, your own face

Straining to get out from behind the glass
Open your mouth like you was gon' say somethin'
Close your eyes and remember what you saw and what it made you feel like
Now, don't you see something else

Something cold and ugly
Not invisible but blended with the shadow criss-crossing the old man
Squatting by the drug store at the corner
With is head resting uneasily on his folded arms
And the boy that smiled and the girl he went with

And in my eyes too
A waving craziness splitting them into the jet stream of a black bird
Wit his ass on fire
Or the solomNOTness of where we go to know we gonna be happy

I seen something
I SEEN something
And you seen it too
You seen it too
You just can't call it's name name name name name name name
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Y, AHMIR K. THOMPSON, TARIK L. COLLINS
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group






Back to: The Roots


Phrenology is the fifth studio album by American hip hop band the Roots, released on November 26, 2002, by MCA Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during June 2000 to September 2002 at Electric Lady Studios in New York. It was primarily produced by members of the band and features contributions from hip hop and neo soul artists such as Cody ChesnuTT, Musiq Soulchild, Talib Kweli, and Jill Scott.

Although it did not parallel the commercial success of the band's previous album, Things Fall Apart, the album reached number 28 on the US Billboard 200 chart and sold steadily, remaining on the chart for 38 weeks. On June 3, 2003, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States.

Upon its release, Phrenology received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised its musical direction and lyrical themes, and it was included in numerous publications' year-end lists of the year's best albums.
Performed By: The Roots
Genre(s): Hip hop, progressive rap, neo soul, rap rock
Length: 70:17
Released: November 26th, 2002
Year: 2002

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