The Roots

Released: April 28, 2008

Featuring: Dice Raw Common

Songwriter: ?uestlove Tahir Black Thought Dice Raw Common

Producer: Tahir The Roots

[Hook: Dice Raw]
The show, the show, it must go on
The show, the show, it must go on
I can't stop, I won't stop
I will not, I will ride
The show, the show, it must go on
The show, the show, it must go on
I can't stop, I won't stop
I will not, I will ride
The show

[Verse 1: Black Thought]
Uh, and I'm still the one
Am I a poet or a prophet or a stone to build upon?
And what's the reason I still perform?
Feeding my children on, how I'm on a hustle from dusk 'til dawn
Where all the love and the trust is gone
My eyes wider than a baby that just was born
Fightin a war they ain't pay me enough to join
Behind a phrase they was crazy enough to coin
You kiddin me? The pursuit of happiness, life, liberty
And all type a necessities they not givin me
I put my body in jeopardy, cause I'm committed
Even though they try to stifle ya man creativity
They got hopes and plans a gettin rid of me
I hit em like Ethiopia hit up Italy
Swift as the bullet that killed King and Kennedy
You know the battle is on for infinity, now

[Hook: Dice Raw]
The show, the show, it must go on
The show, the show, it must go on
I can't stop, I won't stop
I will not, I will ride
The show, the show, it must go on
The show, the show, it must go on
I can't stop, I won't stop
I will not, I will ride
The show

[Verse 2: Common]
I remember the show like Dougie when people quiet was ugly
Yellin', "Get money", now the show done went dummy
Still doin shows where the spots be bummy
Roaches in the dressing room, I'm thinkin of a better room
Maybe the upper where my people won't suffer
The leather gets tougher, we drive like a trucker
Through the night, for every wrong making two rights
And use mics to reach new heights, the blue lights
Follow, I guess it's the scent of Chicago
That make 'em wanna mess 'em up tomorrow
In these borrowed days, the rhyme and the mind that pays
The world is a show, you define ya stage
One two, it's live so you can't undo
No sleep cause then ya dreams won't come true
And everyone's like a broad that we run through
Each venue, this ain't gon' stop so we just gon' continue

[Hook: Dice Raw]
The show, the show, it must go on
The show, the show, it must go on
I can't stop, I won't stop
I will not, I will ride
The show, the show, it must go on
The show, the show, it must go on
I can't stop, I won't stop
I will not, I will ride
The show

[Verse 3: Black Thought]
The Ernest Hemmingway of B-boy poems
They can never take the pen away of LeRoi Jones
Pushin' a black Yukon gold in a new time zone
Diggin' on every nuance with two eyes closed
The life I chose, more of a mission
I make a crowd convulse and act on impulse and intuition
I've seen the future, listen, believe the superstition
I keep spittin' 'til it's a truce or crucifixion
I’m at home in the pressure zone, weakness is never shown
Let alone, I'm a man made of mere flesh and bone
I can't help that my heart beat is a metronome
And I've acquired a taste that's upper echelon
Lyrical professional, maniac megalo
Plate in my head that spin the way the record go
And break it down like it's the walls of Jericho
If they don't know by know, they prob'ly never know

[Hook: Dice Raw]
The show, the show, it must go on
The show, the show, it must go on
I can't stop, I won't stop
I will not, I will ride
The show, the show, it must go on
The show, the show, it must go on
I can't stop, I won't stop
I will not, I will ride
The show

[Outro: Dice Raw]
The show
The show

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.

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