Released: May 19, 1993

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

Producer: The Roots

[Verse 1: Black Thought]
From The Never Never Tunnels via satellite
Ceremonies be commencing in the candlelight
Yo is I is up in the res-in-iduals tonight?
Absolutely because I'm the kid that's on the mic
And I believe it's destiny that I got put
In a position to throw lyrics like a shotput
Yo no matter the circumstance
Thought can always make you dance
Like you got the heebie-jeebies or a hotfoot
The bass is low on the meter, less than zero
So while I'm sinning you be spinning like a planet
Yo if you dig the shit I'm sayin you'll be deeper
Wish for little and your wishes shall be granted
We plant the seeds y'all, to grow The Roots y'all
And mad knowledge I got, from the archives
But now I got a crazy fat question:
Whatever happened to Leonard Parts One to Five?

[Chorus: Black Thought]
Why'd you ask me that question? (I don't know)
Where did Leonard Parts One to Five go?
Why'd you ask me that question? (I don't know)
Word, uhh, eah
Where did Leonard Parts One to Five go

[Verse 2: Black Thought]
Chariot, Chariot, come swing low--be
Cause it's on a lower level that I swing low, umm
?uestion, keeps me up, on the swing flow, he
Don't got a whole name, I call him BRO, The
Roots is comin through on your audio
For you to cut The Roots down I don't think so
Because the sound from the ground is like be--low
And when the liquid kicks in then The Roots grow
Now my ace boom coon plus amigo
Was Shadrach Meshach and Abendago
There was a Alpha to Omega, motion, system
But I just call them A to O
And in all states, The Roots'll rock a fat show
Because I drop art like I was Pa-blo
And Pa-blo's last name was Picasso
But as for cash flow, I don't got no
Dividends and, ends to spend on blow, yo
Where did Leonard Parts to Five go?

[Chorus: Black Thought]
Why'd you ask me that question? (I don't know)
Where did Leonard Parts One to Five go?
Why'd you ask me that question? (I don't know)
Word, uhh, eah
Where did Leonard Parts One to Five go

[Verse 3: Black Thought]
Where's the third verse? Here it comes, here it goes
The second had Oodles and Oodles of
Speaking of O's, I'm hard to sink like a Cheerio
And I speak up loud, so you can hear me yo
Is it A Tribe Called Quest? Is it the JBs?
We're Cool Like Dat, but yo we're not the D.P.'s
It's the group The Roots, with the organic rap style
Plus the groove from the rhythmic rhyme file
Umm.. I'm a big fan of the Soul
But I'm trying to get this Roots shit in control
So I hate when people say
"Umm - you remind me of De La Soul,"
'Cause I got a soul, of my own, and umm
Yo The Roots are taking big steps and
You can listen as we progress in
Sometimes I might come to teach a lesson
Other times it's with a crazy question like..

[Outro]
Yo, whatever happened to Leonard Parts One to Five?
Word up; I don't know, anyway, Roots up y'know
Uhh, as we do it like this
Roots up, Roots up
Roots up, Roots up
Roots up, Roots up
Roots up, Roots up
Roots up.. up, Roots up-up
Roots up, Roots up-up
Roots up, Roots up-up
Roots up, Roots _Up From the Ground_
Roots up, Roots up with the sound
Roots up, Roots _Up From the Ground_
Roots up, Roots gettin on down
Roots up, dig it
Roots up y'all, Roots up y'all
Roots is up Roots is up Roots is up y'all
Roots is up y'all, Roots is up y'all
Roots is up Roots is up Roots is up y'all
Roots is up..

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.