Released: January 17, 1995

Songwriter: Scott Storch Leonard “Hub” Hubbard Malik B ?uestlove Black Thought

Producer: Richard Nichols Grand Wizzards AJ Shine

[Intro: Black Thought]
One, two
Yes, The Roots layin' back, rela-xin'
Coolin' out with my man Malik B
We call him Sla-xon
YaknowhatI'msayin? We in effect
Mode like Al B. Sure, for your plea-sure
Aiyyo bust it
We about to flip it on some ol' laid back, mellow my man tip
We gon' set it like this
Yo check it

[Verse 1: Black Thought]
Bust it, La Di Da Di, who likes to party
Like Slick Rick the Ruler I'm cooler than a ice brick
Got soul like those Afro picks with the black fist
And leave a crowd drippin' like John the Baptist
It's the cause of that "Oh, shit!"
The skits I kick flows like catfish
And got many MC's on the blacklist
I'm sharp as a cactus, plus, quick to bust gymnastic tactics
Us, Roots is really true to that rap shit
Now, holla to the scholarly street skats that follow me
Back to the Soul Shack with packs of rap colonies
Max that, Foreign Objects is mad abstract, make Shadrach
Offender wanna go like Meshach, Black
Thought the nappy cat, a bookworm, shoot styles like sperm
Cool as Malcolm Little with conch a la perm burn
The herb sticks like wicks, and flips when I slaps the hand
Of my mellow my man, Malik B

[Verse 2: Malik B]
Here I goes, negroes best to know the flower
The pro-fessional, best in those skills that kills so uhh..
WHOA, slow down before you go down (sissy)
Sissy, this is Agatha Christie - you're slain and known now
Next contender, Malik's the axe offender
Critique me so uniquely with mystique that's so deep within the
Microphones I grip, psych with poems so's I slits throats
Put him in a quote, when he croaks
They sayin' -- isn't it, is it the negro that did it?
Cause wreck with the tech, make you jump and say 'ribbit'
I exhibit many forms, prohibit the corny norms
(And we're in, your neighborhood) on the norms
Capture, was to, whack ya
Manu-facture, you can even ask Anita about the, rap-ture
I figured, perhaps ya, a say it SLAM
For my mellow my man

[Hook: Black Thought]
The way we do it like this
That, for my mellow my man
It's like that for my mellow my man
No no we do it like that
This, for my mellow my man
It's like this for my mellow my man
No no we do it like this
That, for my mellow my man
It's like that for my mellow my man
No no we do it like that
This, for my mellow my man
It's like this for my mellow my man

[Verse 3: Black Thought]
Yo, I got spunk, plus funk And Jump Like Punks
To Get Beat Down,, turn that heat down, I'm crazy cool
Deeper than the pool that Wilt the Stilt damn near drowned in
Clowns bounce to sound when Thoughts poundin', brown's
My complexion, section Southern
My brother-in is Jex, I
Sweats no sex, 'cause this kid gets
Grits 'n shit, it's flex to drains that was crazed
When your heart spit up, dip, dup, damn
Yo, I lost it but back is the Black Boogey Man
Manic mad musician, maker of noise
That's jocked by your homeboys
I rocks my flocks of sheep, it's the slickest shepherd around
I was lost but was found, now I gets down
From Philly to the Apple I, stop and holla tunes and then hit
Up-town, Diggin Planets when they get Earthbound
I kick the groovy tunes for you and yours, when I pass the can
To my mellow my man, Malik B

[Verse 4: Malik B]
WHOAHHHHH, shucks, my nuc snuff ducks (uh-huh)
Abruptly I erupt, to destruct, deducts
In wax I like to smack em, stroke em as I cap 'em
Change my name to Saran or Reynolds then I Wrap 'em
Negroes know we be furrow to my borough
Cause my ass is so thorough, like Levert Gerald
Too strong to be sterile
So I impregnates the greats (Say what?)
Bust the Pacino's, I won't trust 'em
Even though I lust 'em shapes -- females for retail prices
Twice this nice as with sugars and spices
I won't smirk, 'cause my name's not Urkel
The voice with the multiple choice, she does a circle
You wanna turn and page your eyes, and try to plagerize
But I degrade ya, slaughtered ya and slayed ya
Microphones I grip equipped to flip the hypocrites
And nit-wits, with tidbit skits, that ain't *shhh*
It was a curse, but I divide it in half
Gets the airplay, no fair play, you're feelin' the wrath
Of Malik, ayo get tragic, negroes that get dramatic
Because I have the habit to smoke rabbits like a addict
So if you can not rap, I will just slap YOU
If you wants to pick up on your nose be shows the chrome
And then we cap, YOU
It's too bad, dem cyan't understand de true check
For my mellow my man

[Hook: Black Thought]
The way we do it like this
That, for my mellow my man
It's like that for my mellow my man
No no we do it like that
This, for my mellow my man
It's like this for my mellow my man
No no we do it like this
That, for my mellow my man
It's like that for my mellow my man
No no we do it like that
This, for my mellow my man
It's like this for my mellow my man

[Outro: Black Thought]
I think it's for my mellow my man, uhh
My mellow my man, right
My mellow my man, uhh
My mellow my man, right
My mellow my man, uhh
My mellow my man, right
My mellow my man my mellow my man
My mellow my man my mellow my man
For Scott Storch, my mellow my man
Leonard Hubbard on the bass, my mellow my man
Brother ?uestion on the drums, my mellow my man
Gotta end it on the one, my mellow my man
Check it

The Roots

The world’s premiere hip-hop band, The Roots were formed in Philadelphia in 1987 by MC Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and drummer and bandleader Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Since those early days, the band has weathered changes in personnel and record labels while performing hundreds of shows a year and releasing a string of well-regarded (if not always top-selling) albums.

While the musicianship of Thompson and the other band members, as well as their seemingly limitless repertoire, gets most of the attention, real hip-hop fans know that the rapping skills of Black Thought (along with former group member Malik B.) are the group’s hidden weapon. Thought, one of the few MCs brave enough to go toe to toe with Big Pun, handles any groove the band throws at him with aplomb, style, and flash.

Today, The Roots are seen by millions every night as the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, a move that has given the group the chance to indulge its not-insignificant comic side.