Released: October 10, 2000
Featuring: Ky-Mani Marley
Songwriter: Afu-Ra Ky-Mani Marley
Producer: DJ Premier
[Bridge: Ky-Mani Marley]
Slow down, don't rush
I'm here to keep the peace but I'm prepared to say, ay
Slow down, don't rush
I'm here to keep the peace but I'm prepared, now I say
[Chorus: Afu-Ra]
Yeah, I pledge allegiance to the hip-hop
Yeah, I pledge allegiance to it nonstop
What, I pledge allegiance to the hip-hop
Yeah, I pledge allegiance to it nonstop
[Verse 1: Afu-Ra]
Meditation, equality, it keeps me level headed, the men-tal-ity
Cool, calm, post-hypnotic suggestion
Never stressin, heat chambers never sweatin
Honeys cryin, cause her man she caught cheatin
Mothers eyein, sons cut down like bushes
Daddys sicker than the land lord, just evicted
Stressed to death, month to month until he kicked it
I seen ya hustlin on the dark streets, the mental
Look what you been through, you just escaped reality
Now what ya into, is just a technicality
Check it, deep inside of my head like T.V
The lifestyle I live so crooked you won't believe me
Lessons learned that I could walk a tight rope
Even though I toke and choke, don't provoke
Uh, now you can call me Afu-rastahood
Cause I rob from the rich and I give to the good
Even though it's for the money B, I'm droppin knowledge G
Straight shots to the head, peep the summary
Wake up in the mornin got me yearnin for food
Yeah, yeah what, huh, I'm that type of dude
Pledge allegiance, pay attention, payin homage
So much time held in my hand, none for college (college)
[Chorus: Afu-Ra]
Hey Afu, hey Afu, hey Afu, hey Afu
[Bridge 2: Ky-Mani Marley]
Slow down, don't rush
I'm here to keep the peace but I'm prepared to bust
They wanna guide my medication with their crooked laws
Say I can't hold a bong and smoke, my lord
But, if it's war that they want, we are ready, are registered
The king, it is he, who defends me
So when it's time for the showdown
We're marchin', the soldiers Babylon get throwed down
When the war is over we burn up the whole town
And my spliff will stay lit from sun up to sun down
Ay, ay Afu
[Bridge 1]
[Verse 2: Afu-Ra]
Stimulating, verses like blood work ing
Paper hits the pen like the needle to ya skin
Blow ya blood up, Xena, hero-in
More contagious than sex (sex), nobody flex
Dangerous minds, little kids throw gang signs
Treacherous times, too many can't press rewind
Stress the elevation, wrap my thoughts like a mummy
It's funny, how sometimes some smart ones are dummies
Scorin a million, forget the S.A.T
Now I, leap more towers than Pisa, peep the ether
Wrap it in a scroll, pass it off to Ky-Mani
Lessons of exquisiteness, verses poetry
[Bridge 1 + Chorus]
Slow down, don't rush
I'm here to keep the peace but I'm prepared to say, ay
Slow down, don't rush
I'm here to keep the peace but I'm prepared, now I say
[Chorus: Afu-Ra]
Yeah, I pledge allegiance to the hip-hop
Yeah, I pledge allegiance to it nonstop
What, I pledge allegiance to the hip-hop
Yeah, I pledge allegiance to it nonstop
[Verse 1: Afu-Ra]
Meditation, equality, it keeps me level headed, the men-tal-ity
Cool, calm, post-hypnotic suggestion
Never stressin, heat chambers never sweatin
Honeys cryin, cause her man she caught cheatin
Mothers eyein, sons cut down like bushes
Daddys sicker than the land lord, just evicted
Stressed to death, month to month until he kicked it
I seen ya hustlin on the dark streets, the mental
Look what you been through, you just escaped reality
Now what ya into, is just a technicality
Check it, deep inside of my head like T.V
The lifestyle I live so crooked you won't believe me
Lessons learned that I could walk a tight rope
Even though I toke and choke, don't provoke
Uh, now you can call me Afu-rastahood
Cause I rob from the rich and I give to the good
Even though it's for the money B, I'm droppin knowledge G
Straight shots to the head, peep the summary
Wake up in the mornin got me yearnin for food
Yeah, yeah what, huh, I'm that type of dude
Pledge allegiance, pay attention, payin homage
So much time held in my hand, none for college (college)
[Chorus: Afu-Ra]
Hey Afu, hey Afu, hey Afu, hey Afu
[Bridge 2: Ky-Mani Marley]
Slow down, don't rush
I'm here to keep the peace but I'm prepared to bust
They wanna guide my medication with their crooked laws
Say I can't hold a bong and smoke, my lord
But, if it's war that they want, we are ready, are registered
The king, it is he, who defends me
So when it's time for the showdown
We're marchin', the soldiers Babylon get throwed down
When the war is over we burn up the whole town
And my spliff will stay lit from sun up to sun down
Ay, ay Afu
[Bridge 1]
[Verse 2: Afu-Ra]
Stimulating, verses like blood work ing
Paper hits the pen like the needle to ya skin
Blow ya blood up, Xena, hero-in
More contagious than sex (sex), nobody flex
Dangerous minds, little kids throw gang signs
Treacherous times, too many can't press rewind
Stress the elevation, wrap my thoughts like a mummy
It's funny, how sometimes some smart ones are dummies
Scorin a million, forget the S.A.T
Now I, leap more towers than Pisa, peep the ether
Wrap it in a scroll, pass it off to Ky-Mani
Lessons of exquisiteness, verses poetry
[Bridge 1 + Chorus]