Common

Released: March 28, 2000

Featuring: Bilal Jill Scott

Songwriter: Common J Dilla James Poyser Bilal

Producer: J Dilla James Poyser

[Interlude: Common]
Yeah, y'all, this is DJ Common
We gon', uh
Y-y-y-yo, yo yo yo yo, and then uh
Yo yo yo yo, we gonna
Yo yo yo yo

[Intro: Bilal & Jill Scott]
Alright... Okay
Alright... Okay
Alright... Okay
Alright... We'll make it funky for you now

[Verse 1: Common]
I'm a child of the ahh - The 87 ahh
From the streets - Get on a beat and go ahh
I could break it down like whatever ya ahh
On some K-R-S be here forever type unh
You-you-you-you know you shouldn't rhyme like unh
Let them pussy niggas get in your mind like unh
Baby boy you could do it take your time do it....
If you get the chance
To be a man in a b-boy stance and advanced from the go
I'll trace outer space with a unh
The baby-sitter of styles - I've traveled miles with
Bitches and....I've traveled miles with.....
I've traveled miles with bitches and brew the ritual
Of the real unh
Your platinum but real unh's don't feel you
You sampled real unh's and then filtered
I'm built to last - at last I'm free
The Roots and SV be the family tree
SV and the Roots be the family tree
The Roots and SV and the tree is unh
Come on

[Chorus: Bilal & Jill Scott]
As long as it's funky....alright..okay [yeah]
As long as it's funky...alright
As long as it's funky...alright...okay
As long as it's funky...funky for you now

[Verse 2]
I style for the ohhh - wild for the ohhh
Baby girl let's go half on a child for the ohhh
Lick shot's pop lock and blaow for the oohh
Like Ra-I'll move a crowd for the ohhh
You talkin' loud but ain't sayin' ohhh
Trickin' paper on a unh... Captain Save-a-ohhh
I've never been.. the type of nigga..
To take.. a broad to the courts
As a shorty I was always into sports
Now I talk to drums and walk in slums and thoughts that's ohhh
Instinct to hustle-divided by the struggle
Plus a couple of scuffle's and up to high shuffle
Even when it sound muffled..
I bust through.. narrow gates..
With king-sized thoughts that's sparrow shaped
Before I came up I had to elevate
Let a nigga move where he wanna move up to
You don't like how I'm livin... well fuck ohhh
I stuck to what I was on... a star is born on a cusp
Many angel's fell to the dust
Leavin' me to trust... only a ohhh
Leavin' me to trust y'all only a ohhh
Leavin' me to trust in a - ahh ohhh ohhh ohhh
Ohhh
Yo

[Chorus: Bilal & Jill Scott]
As long as it's funky....alright..okay [yeah]
As long as it's funky...alright
As long as it's funky...alright...okay
As long as it's funky...funky for you now

[Verse 3]
Let your.. imagination.. dance to the..
Dance to the.. dance to the hey
Like nobody's watchin in a b-boy stance to the hey
I'm funky like Africans in France to the hey
Yo hey.. kick in the bass you..
Chasin paper like a bitch in a race
Been on the deck, I still ain't picked up the ace
The hundred.. styles I run with thick in the race
So let's ohhh.. yeah unh hunh

[Chorus: Bilal & Jill Scott]
As long as it's funky....alright..okay [yeah]
As long as it's funky...alright
As long as it's funky...alright...okay
As long as it's funky...funky for you now

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. (born March 13, 1972), better known by his stage name Common (previously Common Sense), is a Grammy and Oscar-winning rapper and actor from Chicago, Illinois. Common’s inspired mix of poetic flow and hip-hop soul has helped him earn his status as one of the most respected rappers in the game.

After being a ball boy for his hometown Chicago Bulls as a teen and attending Florida A&M University for business administration, Common Sense kicked in and he left school to become a rapper. He gained national attention after being featured in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source magazine in 1991. He released his debut album Can I Borrow a Dollar? through Relativity Records in 1992, followed by his breakthrough second album Resurrection in 1994, which features his hip-hop classic single “I Used To Love H.E.R.”

As his career began to take off, he was sued by the music group Common Sense over the name, leading Common to drop the “Sense” and allude to the change in the title of his third album, One Day It’ll All Make Sense (1997). He has released several critically acclaimed albums, including Like Water For Chocolate (2000), which features his J Dilla-produced hit single “The Light”, and Be (2005), which was released under fellow Chicago musician Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music imprint. He also joined musicians Karriem Riggins and Robert Glasper to form the group August Greene, and the trio released their self-titled album in 2018.

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