KRS-One

Released: December 21, 2020

Songwriter: KRS-One

Producer: Mlody

[Intro]
Open your I
The real you
Get off the slave ship

[Verse 1]
The culture made me
There isn't too much that amaze me
There isn't too much that can faze me
Awoke and awake how I stay B
I'm freeing my people from slavery
While rappers are looking for slavery
Losing their gravy, spitting the crazy
[?] new to these babies
Knowledge reigning supreme and
Look how I'm gleaming, never deceiving
Steady achieving, better believe it
When I'm MCing I rock for a reason
I'm not with the treason, rappers be thieving
Money is what they believe in
I'm bringing the heat, they're bringing the freezin'
Time to switch up the season
Above and beyond, I'm way too advanced these rappers ain't standing a chance
I give 'em a glance, they pissin their pants
I'm waking them up from their trance
I rock like an avalanche, in a battle stance I don't have to dance
[?] the best one, it's unanimous
Now that I got your attention, here's the direction
Here's what I came to mention
Slavery is still in effect, it's economic, prison is just an extension
Free yourself from working for pension
Free yourself from doubting and guessing
Free yourself, your mind is a weapon
This ain't a song it's a lesson

[Chorus]
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye

[Verse 2]
Yo
Time for my people to raise up
Time for our leaders to face up
Policies ain't gonna save us
Following them will enslave us
A black president did it change what
Looking around it's the same rut
So many people just say stuff
Looking around like lame ducks
Year after year it's the same shit
"Vote for me, I'm gonna change shit"
All of them read from the same script
Look at this, this is some fake shit
They lying but you just take it
The lights and the flash they crave it
They teach the class to obey it
For real this is a slave ship
Like citizenship is a slave ship
Like scholarship, this is a slave ship
The way that we [?] shit, we going along with enslavement
You'll never be free because they made you
You're walking and talking like they do
It's really exactly how slaves do, believing in shit that just ain't true
This is the truth that will save you
This is the door to escape through
The music is just to relate to
But really they trying to break you
For real they trying to take you
Cause slavery that's what they do
You hate yourself 'cause they hate you
Be the real you, not the fake you

[Chorus]
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye
You have got to open your eye

[Outro]
Open your I
The I that comes after H
Your I
Your being
Open it up
Aight let's go to that next joint
Give me something raw and hard

The legendary MC from the South Bronx, New York, Lawrence “KRS-One” Parker has been steadily rapping since 1985. His name stands for “Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone”.

KRS came to rapping only by chance. In the Something from The Art of Rap documentary, he recalls watching an MC cypher when suddenly “a dude” randomly picked him out of the crowd and made fun of him. Feeling compelled to defend himself, KRS performed a little freestyle which impressed the crowd and eventually kicked off his rapping career.

His breakthrough onto the hip hop scene began with “The Bridge Is Over” – an answer record to the popular Queens rapper MC Shan’s song “Queensbridge”. From 1986 to 1992, KRS-One fronted the groundbreaking hip hop group Boogie Down Productions, scoring six top 20 hits on the US Rap Chart. In 1993, he began a solo career spanning three decades, racking up six more top 20 Rap Chart hits with “Sound of da Police”, “MCs Act Like They Don’t Know”, “Step Into A World” and “Men Of Steel” also achieving mainstream pop success on the Hot 100.

more tracks from the album

Between Da Protests [Extended Edition]

From the album

Between Da Protests [Extended Edition] (2020)

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