KRS-One

Released: December 16, 2020

Songwriter: KRS-One

Producer: Młody

[Intro: Kwame Ture]
Don't be afraid, don't be ashamed. We want black power. (Black power!) We want black power. (Black power!) We want black power. (Black power!) We want black power! (Black power!) We want black power! (Black power!) We want black power! (Black power!) We want black power! (Black power!) That's right, that's what we want, Black power, and we don't have to be ashamed of it.

[Verse 1]
This is not the regular
This is that boom-bap, bap, bap!
Some, they call it secular
I just call it Black, Black, Black!
Marcus Garvey, Boukman Dutty
Bring that army back, back, back!
Malcolm X and Kwame Ture
This is where I'm at, at, at!
If you wanna talk to me
Talk to me about Black, Black, Black!
Haile Selassie The First
Negus Nagast, let's talk about that, that, that!
Kaboom, Nanny Maroon and all the Maroons
Let's talk about that, that, that!
The real Underground Railroad
The first subway for Black, Black, Black!
The freedom train begets what you bring
Getting on track, track, track!
Whether justice or injustice
How do you react-act-act?
Can you stand there laughing
While they shoot us in the back, back, back?
This is what some rappers sound like
Every time they rap, rap, rap!
I'm raising up the red and the green
And the black, black, black!
Even with no cops in the hood
We still hear "click-click, clack-clack-clack"!
I cannot forget my ancestors
Just because I rap, rap, rap!
Look at me from top to bottom
KRS is Black, Black, Black!

[Chorus]
Get up, get out!
Speak up, speak out!
Reach up, reach out!
This is what Black about
Get up, get out!
Speak up, speak out!
Reach up, reach out!
This is what I rap about
Get up, get out!
Speak up, speak out!
Reach up, reach out!
Too many selling out
Get up, get out!
Reach up, reach out!
Lift up, lift out!
Get out!

[Verse 2]
Time to ask the question now
Are you really Black, Black, Black?
It is not a mystery
We under attack-tack-tack!
If you chatting fuckery
You hold our people back, back, back!
Time to put aside the fantasy
And deal with fact, fact, fact!
This is not the time to be talking
All that crap, crap, crap!
Those who talk that crap, crap, crap
Are those that don’t fight back, back, back!
You can say what you like but real skill
I never lack, lack, lack!
Black is more a consciousness
The way you think and act, act, act!

[Chorus]
Get up, get out!
Speak up, speak out!
Reach up, reach out!
This is what Black about
Get up, get out!
Speak up, speak out!
Reach up, reach out!
This is what I rap about
Get up, get out!
Speak up, speak out!
Reach up, reach out!
Too many selling out
Get up, get out!
Reach up, reach out!
Lift up, lift out!
Get out, lights out!

[Outro: Kwame Ture]
We have stayed here, and we begged the president, we begged the federal government. That's all we've been doing, begging, begging. It's time we stand up and take over, let's take over. We have to do what every group in this country did; we gotta take over the communities where we outnumber people so we can have decent jobs, so we can have decent houses, so we can have decent roads, so we can have decent schools, so we can have decent justice.

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

From the albums

Between Da Protests [Extended Edition] (2020)
Between Da Protests (2020)

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