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Credits
PERFORMING ARTISTS
Jarobi White
Vocals
Prince Paul
Vocals
Q-Tip
Vocals
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Kamaal Fareed
Songwriter
Ali Shaheed Jones-Muhammad
Songwriter
George Clinton, Jr.
Songwriter
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
A Tribe Called Quest
Producer
Shane Farber
Engineer
Bob Power
Engineer
Anthony Saunders
Engineer
Tim Latham
Engineer
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
It's a new decade
The Native Tongues are about to proceed with the usual lingo
The usual rhythm
[Verse 2]
Devoted to the arts of moving butts
The rhythm's happening, and it's moving up
The Tribe has been on hold for much too long
Don't fear the rhythm because it's strong
On the corners, brothers bop their heads
From the high-tops to the natty dreads
I'm a Nubian y'all, look what we did
Took the crust away from the third eyelid
Now it's kinda open, longs to see the sight
Rhythms of the Tribe which is passed outright
Night after night, day after day
Questing for the rhythms of the Native Tongue way
Rhythm is the key as we open up the door
Things a B-boy has never seen before
Poly-rhythm addict with a big fat boom
You have an eargasm as you start to consume
The ghetto beat with a ghetto poem
Yeah, it's from the heart, 'cause it's from the home
Jarobi, Phife, Ali Shaheed
Call me Koala, got what you need
You're a disc jock, then jock this
Rhythms can't lose, rhythms can't miss
If you feel uptight and you need to freak
It'll be alright once we drop this beat
[Verse 3]
(I got the rhythm, you got the rhythm...)
[Verse 4]
Ma Massa-ya, Ma Makossa
Gets hectic, freak a bourgeois
We quest around for the musical heart
On avenues, streets and boulevards
Not selling out, that's a negative
Loving Hip Hop, loving heritage
Got the instinct to travel miles and miles
Gotta whole lot of rhythm, piles and piles
Now you're kinda with it, wanna get the funk
From the Zulu Nation, topping all the junk
Standing on the top like the Temptations said
Rhythms are obese, yeah, you gotta keep 'em fed
Read what I read, can't be better said
Tribe'll let notions dabble in the head
Sweetback's bad, not as bad as a beat
It's a stone groove baby
Continue, on the windy road
But I'm lugging a crazy big load
Will we be on point for the ninety deck?
Is it muscle bound and will it flex?
But trudging, we are used to
We don't Quest alone, Quest with a crew
We're four, once more, must make the tracks
You see four fronts, but now you see four backs
[Verse 5]
(I got the rhythm, you got the rhythm...)
(I got the rhythm)
[Verse 6]
Yeah
Yo what about our DJ beats?
The DJ?
Mr. Muhammad
Written by: A. Muhammad, Ali Shaheed Jones-Muhammad, G. Clinton, Jr., John Davis, Kamaal Fareed