Released: September 28, 1993

Songwriter: KRS-One

Producer: DJ Premier

[Intro]
"Boogie Down was performing, hey they ain't no joke"
"Down with the sound called B-D-P"

[Verse 1: KRS-ONE]
Back in the days I knew rap would never die
I used to listen to Awesome-2 on WHBI
I used to hear all kind of rap groups before sampling loops
Rappers wore bell-bottom Lee suits
Me and Kenny couldn't afford that
So we would go to the park when they was jammin' to hear rap
I used to listen till the cops broke it up
I always thought to myself "Damn, why they fucked it up?"
But nevertheless I was in love with the microphone
And it stayed that way until I left home
On the streets of New York, now I'm free
But with freedom comes big responsibility
I used to walk around driven by the force
I remember how large Super Rhymes was when he fell off
I used to wonder about crews that used to rock
They were large, but none of them could manage to stay on top

[Bridge: KRS-ONE]
Do you ever think about when you outta here?
Record deal and video outta here?
Mercedes Benz and Range Rover outta here?
No doubt BDP is old school, but we ain't goin' out!

[Verse 2: KRS-ONE]
After livin' on the streets alone
Some years went by, I signed myself into a group home
I used to watch the show "I Dream of Jeannie"
And dreamt about "When will I be large like Whodini?"
But I was messin' with graffiti on the subway
And gettin' chased by the cops almost everyday
I knew it had to bea better way see
So I would go to my room, blast RUN DMC
Around 1984 I left the group home, again alone
Still dreamin' about the microphone
Gimme a chance man, I know I can rock it
But I had to worry about puttin' money in my pocket
So when I reached the shelter I met my helper DJ Scott La Rock
And we both loved hip-hop
I was takin' suckas out in the shelter system
Yeah there was rappers in the shelter but I had to diss 'em
But all along, my vision was never lost
I kept seeing all these rap groups fallin' off

[Bridge: KRS-ONE]
Do you ever think about when you're outta here?
Fly girl and fresh gear outta here?
Five-thousand dollar love seat outta here?
No doubt BDP is old school, but we ain't goin' out!

[Verse 3: KRS-ONE]
While I'm battling these rival crews
Yes, BDP would stay in the Street News
Some said, All they wanna do is battle
They can't write a song, so their careers won't last long!
Around this time I used to hang with Ced Gee
And DJ Scott La Rock used to buy gold with Eric B
I didn't meet Rakim till later with Scott
I remember we were jammin' at the rooftop
It used to irk me when these critics had opinions
Scott would say "Just keep rappin', I'll keep spinnin'"
We had a fucked up contract, but we signed it
And dropped the hip-hop album Criminal Minded
We told the critics your opinions are bull
Same time Eric B and Rakim dropped Paid in Full
Hip-hop pioneers we didn't ask to be
But right then hip-hop changed drastically
People didn't wanna hear the old rap sound
We started samplin' beats by James Brown
In the middle of doin' "My Philosophy"
Scott was killed and that shit got to me
But knowin' the laws of life and death
I knew his breath, was one with my breath
I had nothin' left and it was scary
So I dropped By All Means Necessary
Another hip-hop group that was a friend of me
Was a revolution crew called Public Enemy
It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
These two albums set off consciousness in rap
But all along, I'm still lookin' around
And all I can see are these rap groups fallin' down

[Outro]
Do you ever think about when you outta here?
Condominium and beach house outta here?
Credit cards and bank accounts outta here?
No doubt BDP is old school, be we ain't goin' out!

KRS-One

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.