Featured In

Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS
Ali Shaheed Muhammad
Ali Shaheed Muhammad
DJ
Q-Tip
Q-Tip
Vocals
The Last Poets
The Last Poets
Sampled Artist
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Kamaal Fareed
Kamaal Fareed
Songwriter
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest
Arranger
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest
Producer
Bob Power
Bob Power
Mixing Engineer
Tom Coyne
Tom Coyne
Mastering Engineer

Lyrics

Back in the days when I was a teenager Before I had status and before I had a pager You could find the Abstract listening to hip hop My pops used to say, it reminded him of be-bop I said, well daddy don't you know that things go in cycles The way that Bobby Brown is just ampin like Michael It's all expected, things are for the lookin If you got the money, Quest is for the bookin Come on everybody, let's get with the fly modes Still got room on the truck, load the back boom Listen to the rhyme, to get a mental picture Of this black man, through black woman victim Why do I say that, cuz I gotta speak the truth man Doing what we feel for the music is the proof and Planted on the ground, the act is so together Bonafide strong, you need leverage to sever The unit, yes, the unit, yes, the unit called the jazz is Deliberately cheered LP filled with street goods You can find it on the rack in your record store (store) If you get the record, then your thoughts are adored And appreciated, cause we're ever so glad we made it We work hard, so we gotta thank God Dishin out the plastic, do the dance till you're spastic If you dis... it gets drastic Listen to the rhymes, cuz its time to make gravy If it moves your booty, then shake, shake it baby All the way to Africa a.k.a. The Motherland (uh) Stick out the left, then I'll ask for the other hand That's the right hand, Black Man (man) Only if you are noted as my man (man) If I get the credit, then I'll think I deserve it If you fake moves, don't fix your mouth to word it Get in the zone of positivity, not negativity Cuz we gotta strive for longevity If you botch up, what's in that - (what?) A pair of Nikes, size ten-and-a-half (come on, come on) We gotta make moves Never, ever, ever could we fake moves (come on, come on) "Time. time is a ship on a merciless sea Drifting toward an average of nothingness Until it can be retarded for it's own destiny TIME is an inanimate object Praying and praying and praying for? Time is DANCING, moving lingering all memories of past." We gotta be a winner all the time Can't fall prey to a hip hop crime With the dope raps and dope tracks for you for blocks From the fly girlies to the hardest of the rocks Musically the Quest, is on the rise We on these Excursions so you must realize That continually, I pop my Zulu If you don't like it, get off the Zulu tip So what can you do in the times which exist You can't fake moves on your brother or your sis But if your sis is a (bitch), brother is a jerk Leave 'em both alone and continue with your work Whatever it may be in today's society Everything is fair, at least that how it seems to me You must be honest and true to the next Don't be phony and expect one not to flex Especially if you rhyme, you have to live by the pen Your man is your man, then treat him like your friend All it is, is the code of the streets So listen to the knowledge bein dropped over beats Beats that are hard, beats that are funky It could get you hooked like a crackhead junkie What you gotta do to is know that the Tribe is in the sphere The Abstract Poet, prominent like Shakespeare Edgar Allan Poe, it don't stop (uh!) "Time is running out on black power Africans today And whites blacks and reporters at night Everytime you see them? with their tongues hangin out Time is running and past and passing and running Running and past and passing and running (excursions)"
Writer(s): Malik Izaak Taylor, Ali Shaheed Jones-muhammad, Kamaal Ibn John Fareed Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
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