Featured In
Top Songs By The Roots
Credits
PERFORMING ARTISTS
Anthony Tidd
Guitar
Black Thought
Vocals
James Poyser
Keyboards
Kamal Gray
Piano
Leonard Hubbard
Bass
Mos Def
Additional Vocals
Rahzel
Beatbox
Run-DMC
Sampled Artist
Yasiin Bey
Performer
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
James Poyser
Songwriter
Leonard Hubbard
Songwriter
Ahmir Thompson
Songwriter
Tariq Trotter
Songwriter
Chaos
Songwriter
Kamal Gray
Songwriter
Rahzel
Songwriter
Yasiin Bey
Songwriter
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
The Grand Wizzards
Producer
David Ivory
Recording Engineer
Keith Cramer
Recording Engineer
Christos Tsantilis
Recording Engineer
Nastess
Recording Engineer
Axel Niehaus
Mixing Engineer
James Poyser
Co-Producer
Dan Reider
Assistant Recording Engineer
Denise Barbarita
Assistant Mixing Engineer
Tom Coyne
Mastering Engineer
Lyrics
[Intro]
Uh, uh
Yeah
Check it out, yeah
Yeah, yo
It's like
Let the poppers pop and the breakers break
Emcees, your verse was fate (Word)
Let the poppers pop and the breakers break
Fake emcees, your verse was fate, come on
Let the poppers pop and the breakers break
Emcees, your verse was fate, check it out
We paint our sentences state-to-state (Yeah)
Let the poppers pop, uh, uh, uh (Uh-huh, yo)
[Chorus]
We go wow, ba-da-dow-dow-dow-dow-dow
Either stand tall or just sit the fuck down
All the way from 2-1-5th to Bucktown
Brace yourself, it's about to go down
Yo, Tariq (What's up?), how your microphone sound?
It sound tight, well, aight, show 'em what it's about
We got to blow up the spot because they must've forgot
We double (Trouble), bubble (Bubble), bubble, bubblin' hot
[Verse 1]
Well, it's like smack the track up and leave dents in it (What?)
The vocalist, bustin' this blunt, instrument spit
The magnificent, rappers run from it
All fly girls' nipples and toes numb from it
Emcees in my circumference is confronted, son
Get your growth stunted from this, you don't want it, want it (What, ****?)
The Black Thought and M-O-S Def done it
Who the ultimate? Yo, my man, speak upon it, look
Ayo, I stop fools and drop jewels, but never run it
Rock mics so nice, I make your stock price plummet
All you high-noon riders better rally at the summit
It's me and Tariq and your fleet outnumbered
'Cross the membrane, barkin' big game and get hunted
Eyewitness account say it happened so sudden
Just slid off to the side, didn't really say nothin'
Then blaow, blew away the 1900th
You better get your rest cause the next day comin'
Oh, yes, and emcees, they scared to say somethin' (Uh)
Stop frontin', I'm in the cut just onlookin'
You get your kings, your rooks, rings, and pawns tooken
Ayo, keep your tape rolling so you catch every bar
Of the Black Thought and the Black man from Black Star
Illadelph and Vietnam, we conference, accomplish
Even with stakes inclined, I get mine regardless
Yo, a lot of Smurfette emcees carry purses
And rock uniforms that's made for nurses
I verse your verses, your words is worthless
Only touchin' surface, the fuck's the purpose?
I shot the sheriff, the deputy, and head of bank treasury
So mounties in the county got a big bounty stressin' me
But tell 'em to hold off, they too short to measure me (Uh-huh)
Mos and Black Thought blast forth with the weaponry
[Chorus]
Like wow, ba-dow-da-dah-dow
Either stand tall or sit the fuck down
All the way from 2-1-5th to Bucktown
Brace yourself, it's about to go down
Yo, Tariq (What's up?), how your microphone sound?
It sound tight, well, aight, show 'em what it's about
We got to blow up the spot because they must've forgot
We double (Trouble), bubble (Bubble), bubble, bubblin' hot (Yeah, hot, hot)
[Verse 2]
Now check your stove top before you take a listen (Right)
And make sure beans don't burn in the kitchen
These gassed-up **** just ain't fuel efficient (huh)
I play the winter breeze to chokehold your piston
Now you **** can't make pole position
Class E chassis can't hold the transmission
Crew pit useless, they got they tools missing
Watch me, grand prix, champy for wealth driven
Yo, you go one for the hustle (Hah), two to rock rhyme (Two to rock rhyme)
From the muscle, kid, I'm one of the illest of all time
I swing from chandeliers and wall climb
And specialize in warfares of all kind
A lot of emcees said I'm a run-it-down rhyme
But half the time, they runnin' down one of mine
Thought suffocatin' 'em with yet another stunning line
You dumb and blind, kid, it's enlarged and underlined
What I memorized leave your whole staff pressurized (Uh-huh)
Melt down all of your artificial dyes
Y'all **** is faker than yellow number five
Swine like mono and diglyceride
My vocals got texture, you just texturized
I'm nicer than your writtens even when I'm improvised
Step into my zone, get thrown like lava
The B-boy Lazarus who just won't die
Yo, me and Kamal and Leonard Hubbard, Questlove and Malik
We go back to dollar hoagies and Tahitian Treat
Or like toast in the oven with government cheese bubblin'
Me and Dante like Marvin, the trouble men travelin'
Give me the mic, we on that again
B-boy business, off the top actin' and battlin'
Servin' them cats that forgot
But don't get too close because you might get shot
[Chorus]
Like blaow, ba-da-da-da-da-dow-dow
Either stand tall or sit the fuck down
All the way from 2-1-5th to Bucktown
Brace yourself, it's about to go down
Yo, Tariq (What's up?), how your microphone sound?
It sound tight, well, aight, show 'em what it's about
We 'bout to blow up the spot because y'all must've forgot
We double trouble, bubble, bubble, bubble, bubblin' hot
We go blaow, ba-da-da-dow-dow-da-dow
Either stand tall or sit the fuck down
All the way from 2-1-5th to Bucktown
Went from Do You Want More?!??!! to what you want now?
Yo, Tariq (What up?), Well, how your microphone sound?
It sound tight, well, aight, show 'em what it's about
We 'bout to blow up the spot because y'all must have forget
We double trouble, bubble, bubble, bubble, bubblin' hot
[Outro]
Say, here's a little story that must be told
About two young brothers who got so much soul
They takin' total control of the body and brain
Flyin' high in the sky on a lyrical plane
It's just two bad brothers who will never quit
Mos Def and Tariq from the 2-1-5th
They rock beginning to end, on a spiritual blend
And everybody who forgot, then, baby, tell 'em again
It's just me and Tariq with Ahmir on the beat
The Roots Crew, baby, yo, we got to make it unique
We got the soul-shockinest, body-rockinest
Non-stoppinest, Fortified Live, survive the apocalypse
Rhymes we say the perfect blend
Because we know how to rock when the beat come in
Like zen-zen-zen-zen-zen
Zen-zen-zen-zen-zen, zen-zen-zen-zen
Zen zen-zen, zen-zen-zen, zen-zen-zen
Zen-zen, zen-zen-zen-zen
Zen-zen-zen, zen-zen, zen-zen
Here we go, here we, here we, here we go
Zen-zen-zen, zen-zen-zen, zen-zen-zen
Zen-zen-zen-zen-zen-zen
Zen-zen-zen, zen-zen, zen-zen
Let the poppers pop and the breakers break
Zen, zen-zen-zen-zen-zen
Zen-zen-zen-zen-zen, zen-zen-zen-zen
Two years ago, a friend of mine
Zen-zen, zen-zen-zen-zen-zen-zen
Zen-zen-zen, zen-zen, zen-zen
And these are the zen-zen-zen-zen
Written by: Ahmir Thompson, Dante Smith, James Poyser, Jimmy Grey, Leonard Hubbard, Smart Abdul-Basit, Tariq Trotter