Brand Nubian - Foundation (1999) by Brand Nubian (보컬) on maniadb.com

"Grand Puba" "Lord Jamar" "Sadat X" "Alamo"
[Puba] "Raised in the ghetto singin songs called survival"
[Jamar] "I'm only bringin you the real"
"Grand Puba" "Lord Jamar" "Sadat X" "Alamo"
[Puba] "Raised in the ghetto singin songs called survival"
[Sadat] "Have a stout if you know what I'm talkin about"

Verse One: Lord Jamar

Three sixty degrees I stand in the square, right over left
Preparin to fight to the death, you could never stifle this
Not even the triflest, nigga on Earth, could ever fuck
with what I spit in a verse, we always hit where it hurts
Underground so we dig in the dirt
Always gotta put a nigga to work, is how it seems
It's kinda hard to hear the silent screams
Through the violent things, turn a deaf ear
Your body might get left there - you better step to the rear
We put it down with Premier, rock mad army gear
You ain't heard us all together in, several years
It's like a federal crime, you had to settle for rhymes
that lacked substance, we got that in abundance
Pro-black and you know that
We stay Fat like Joe Crack, Lord Jamar
come too far, to ever try and go back

"Grand Puba" "Lord Jamar" "Sadat X" "Alamo"
[Puba] "Raised in the ghetto singin songs called survival"
[Jamar] "I'm only bringin you the real"
"Grand Puba" "Lord Jamar" "Sadat X" "Alamo"
[Puba] "Raised in the ghetto singin songs called survival"
[Sadat] "Have a stout if you know what I'm talkin about"

Verse Two: Sadat X

I'm on 110 and Lennox with these Africans overseein
our physical being, and how we doin it
It only take one bad nigga to ruin it, pursuin it
and actin like it can't happen put you in the chair
To the bookings we go, on the twenty-four hour flow
I run through obstacles, take off my shackles
Proper backing with the bangers and the rhyme singers
I run with dem and others, rock NY in colors
with the straight brim and the chick who work in the gym
The great Datty in the C-Town Express
Whoever step to this is gonna have to face stress
Whoever step to this better be at they best
Look at me close I'm the perfect host you standin too close
so back up, you should never try to act up
The Wild Cowboy still got the style boy
One of a kind I throw a helluva line

"Grand Puba" "Lord Jamar" "Sadat X" "Alamo"
[Puba] "Raised in the ghetto singin songs called survival"
[Jamar] "I'm only bringin you the real"
"Grand Puba" "Lord Jamar" "Sadat X" "Alamo"
[Puba] "Raised in the ghetto singin songs called survival"
[Sadat] "Have a stout if you know what I'm talkin about"

Verse Three: Grand Puba

Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah
My man Primo hit me off with the plural
Zig Zag Zig like Zorro now we makin more bread than Stella Doro
Unsung hero bring more _Heat_ than DeNiro
Never known for spittin trash shit on the mic, that shit's a zero
Rhyme flow stay off the meter, tight like two-seaters
Make y'all get nuts like a cellblock filled with dick beaters
Make my approach then shorty's bagged like coach
Cut on the lights if she ain't a dime then watch me run like a roach
Y'all know my shit be hot they call me Dr. Doo-a-lot
Now I got seeds so I'm stingy I keep strings on my Benji's
So tree up, nigga we up, about to re-up
Y'all know the deal, grab this paper, dissapear like Copperfield
I need a meal, time to eats with a flow
Drop the beat, press it up, and hit the street, dinnertime's complete
My Nubian ways'll get ass that open for days
Make more chips than Frito Lays when I spit the phrase that pays

"Grand Puba" "Lord Jamar" "Sadat X" "Alamo"
[Puba] "Raised in the ghetto singin songs called survival"
[Jamar] "I'm only bringin you the real"
"Grand Puba" "Lord Jamar" "Sadat X" "Alamo"
[Puba] "Raised in the ghetto singin songs called survival"
[Sadat] "Have a stout if you know what I'm talkin about"

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)

[Puba]

[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

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

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

Yeah, black woman

[Grand Puba]
This one goes out to all the black woman across
the whole planet Earth, givin our black nation birth
Nothin in this universe is worth your worth
So we dedicate this song, black woman

[Lord Jamar]
This one is for every woman I was ever with
The ones that I cared about and ones I just wanted to hit
I feel ashamed for all the times that I called you a bitch
And I, know I was wrong, can you ever forgive?
The negative, we used to use sex as a sedative
I abused your respect for me
I would choose to react disrespectfully
Never thinkin the impact would come back to me
Now I'm the son, and I know you're my reflection
Let me give you love and my protection
Proper education Allah's correction
Eternal lies, within your eyes
I hope you realize that I apologize, for all the lies
I never meant to make you cry - all the mistakes that I
may have made, and games that I played
Been put to an end, black women

Let me take this time, to let you know
You've been on my mind, and even though
I always haven't been kind
I wanna show you that you really divine, sincerely
(repeat 2X)

[Grand Puba]
Now she's the most beautifullest thing in creation
She give me motivation causin constant elevation
Seein more than booty used in lustful situations
So feel the vibrations, she's the mother of our nation
Now for oh so long you stood by us so strong
even when we done wrong, so I dedicate this song
More priceless than a worldly treasure, you bring
love joy pleasure, countless things that are unmeasured
Some raise seeds all alone with no father in the home
but they still find the strength to continue on
I see you more than a crackhead or a chickenhead
or just a piece of somethin I'm tryin to get up in my bed
You often say a lot of times we demean
Sometimes we do to lift the hardhead ones up to queens
Our whole purpose is to give a proper surface
cause the black woman always is a queen

Let me take this time, to let you know
You've been on my mind, and even though
I always haven't been kind
I wanna show you that you really divine, sincerely
(repeat 2X)

[Sadat X]
My fondest thoughts and memories go out witchu
And I'm sorry for that time that I hit you
The finest lights you radiate, you lookin bright
And that's why I love you with the chocolate skin
Finer things were never made in this world
There you are lookin like somethin worth somethin
Make me feel pride when you walk with me
Sit down and talk with me, for a minute
It's kinda hard for me not to stray
But I think I'm gonna start today
Hey I'm tryin, at least I ain't lyin
(Like that frontin ass, you know what I'm sayin?)
Send a rose to your wife, she probably saved your life
Put up with cheatin and she mighta got beaten
You can't build a _Foundation_ based on lies and deceit
I'm tryin to be right, I want my cypher complete

Let me take this time, to let you know
You've been on my mind, and even though
I always haven't been kind
I wanna show you that you really divine, sincerely
(repeat 2X)

[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)

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

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?

Intro: Grand Puba

Brand Nubian baby, here to flip it again
And you know it don't stop until the party ends
So get your hands up high, if you feel me reply
Cos you know these brothers here we keep it extra tight

Verse One: Lord Jamar

Look, listen and observe, it took precision to connect
The words of dialect within a rhythm you never heard
Forbidden fruit, take a bite, you could lose your life
like how they crucified Christ Musa's hair was white
Lord Jamar, Sadat X and Puba's here tonight
We got next on the court, I don't know what you thought
This flow can't be bought, only sold in exchange
for platinum ang gold, you've been told, open up the manifold
Only to reveal scrolls and scrolls
Premeditated to be dedicated to lost souls
Properly educated, never sloppily operated
Playing the beats for all my people incarcerated
We stay in the streets and find new ways to eat
Crime wave, I remember wetting my feet
in my blind days, now these niggas getting they heat
from under they seat, I wonder when the guns'll deplete

Chorus: Grand Puba

Brand Nubian brothers here to flip it again
And you know we don't stop until your party ends
So get your hands up high, if you feel me reply
Cos you know these brothers here, we keep it extra tight
The Foundation, as we hitcha with a Brand Nu creation
New millennium we don't mess around
Do the knowledge as we blaze the situation, so just feel me now

Verse Two: Sadat X

I'm in a rush, who got the keys to my truck?
Who am I? I just might be a spy
I drop a tear at the sight of the blue NY
I'm a threat just like Garnette
Pick a player out my set like Marbury
Serve me sherry with a cherry
I always eat what you think
I ain't got no shoes on my feet, I'm from down the street, huh
Now cats ride around New York with the slick hot rods
Some late model usually pushing full throttle
Hanging illegal U's and staying with the gleaming shoes
Riding one deep but back to back to back
Fuck a buzz, it's gonna happen just because
Sure I was with her was, but I don't know what she does
Big dimes hit me everytime like it's a crime
My prime will steadily climb
Yeah, I can't release nothing to y'all before it's time

Chorus

Verse Three: Grand Puba

Now my verbal illustration graphic more than Playstation
Microphone occupation operation save the nation
Black crusader, persuader, educator
Knowledge detonator none greater
Leave haters stuck like a project elevator
Always jammin it airtight like a laminate
You can't contaminate it
Go-getters we be superb like Justin's catfish fritters
Now I got 2000 flows, only 4 less than all of my hoes (*Hey!*)
Oops I mean my bro's but I'm just keeping y'all on your toes
Excitement for your enlightenment, spitting novels, getting bravos
Tear it up like El Nino, keeping it hotter than jalapenos
Microphone holder doing more damage than rolling boulders
Rhyme style should've fooled ya, knocked your head right off your
shoulders
See my intention, black-on-black prevention, break the tension
Teach the seeds, tell them what they need and then collect my pension
Brand Nubian, baby, born more flows than a test tube valve
Your radio ain't really on if Brand Nubian ain't on your dial

Outro: Grand Puba

Yeah, as we do it like this
2000, Brand Nubian comin atcha one time
New millennium style

Yeah, yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah, uh-huh

Chorus:

U for me (U for me)
And me for you (Me for you)
One for all (One for all)
That's the way we do (That's the way we do)

U for me (U for me)
And me for you (That's right)
One for all (One for all)
That's the way we do (That's the way we do)

Verse One: Grand Puba

Yeah I keep truer, sidestep MC's like manure
Play the corner like a sewer, keep it milky like Kahlua
Ya heard my shit be off the optimately optimate
Once a nigga begin to spit, get ya high like trees and shit
That's it, then I push it uptown to the Bush
Yeah I moosh, watch me hook it off like a Nike swoosh
My conglomerates reign dominance with prominence
Son, a lot of niggas thought I was done but I only just begun
Can y'all feel me because we feel y'all can
Smoke the tree right off the tims, long live Brand Nubian
My rhyme flow be imported, got so many different styles my shit is assorted
Never distorted, wanna catch my flow, better camcord it
I'm a take you there, believe me yo
See I'm here like welfare, got so many niggas livin my nickname should be
"Air"
You for me, me for you, that's how we do, 99-to-two-thou Brand Nu

Chorus:

U for me (Uhuh)
Me for you (Me for you)
One for all (One for all now)
That's the way we do (That's just the way we do)

U for me (That's you for me)
Me for you (Uhuh)
One for all (One for all)
That's the way we do (That's just the way we do)

Verse Two: Lord Jamar

Yeah, we engage the enemy, arrange the assembly
Flip thru the pages of time, do you remember me?
Thru the ages I existed only as a memory
Some of me exists inside your biochemistry
I be the slave that always misbehave, runnin for days
The North Star help me find my way
I ain't got no time to play, I'm trying to get away
Bloodhounds tryin to track me down, tryin to bring me back to town
If they catch me they just might ax me
Won't arraign me, they probably hang me
But it's freedom or death, exert speed til my last breath
Can't half step, Whitey's on my trail
I'm ridin on the underground rail, hidin from the face that's pale
Me and Harriet, Swing Low Sweet Chariot and take me home
They wanna break my bones and take me where they keep the tombstones

Chorus:

U for me (That's you for me)
Me for you (and that's me for you)
One for all (One for all baby)
That's the way we do (That's just the way that we do)

U for me (Brand Nu, Brand Nu)
Me for you (Me for you, huh)
One for all (One for all)
That's the way we do (That's the way we do)

Verse Three: Sadat X

Let me find out, y'all tryin to dine out without me there
It can't happen, why is ya still yappin?
I'm known by college grads and then by anyone who all knighted
Why you so excited? You scarin chicks and grabbin em
Talkin bout cabbin off the bat
Relax nigga, you here with me, we don't get down like that
I keep 13 with one in the ass, you Catholic mass
Nobody wants to die and be a mural on the wall
I'm the apostle y'all, I'm like Samuel L.L.
But I'll swing by you like Eve with a gun in my sleeve
Weed spots is like my need spots, let freedom ring
Sadat X Luther King
I wanna 1000 from the housing, don't know how much the club allows in
but I told the bouncer, I said "Yo that's not my fault
there's no need for assault", push and hit the asphalt
Now I'm a peaceful man, would you do for me, or is it......

Chorus:

U for me (Is it in like that?)
Me for you (Fo' sho', here we go)
One for all (I said it's one for all)
That's the way we do (That's the way that we do)

U for me (U for me, u for me y'all)
Me for you (Fo' sho', I'm for you, dogg)
One for all (One for all)
That's the way we do (That's the way we do)

U for me (Brand Nubian huh)
Me for you ('98-'99)
One for all (Touche, here we go)
That's the way we do (And that's the way, that's the way, that's the way)

U for me (Yeah sho' nuff)
Me for you (Uhuh, keep it goin)
One for all (One for all baby)
That's the way we do (That's the way we do, that's the way we do)