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What You Want [Live]The Roots

Released: November 2, 1999

Featuring: Jaguar Wright

Songwriter: Black Thought Mike Lowe ?uestlove Jaguar Wright Scott Storch

Producer: Grand Wizzards Scott Storch Mike Lowe

[Hook]
Here's what you want right
Here's what you need right
We got to give you more
Of what you're looking for

So it's a secret that's been pent up inside for years
Exclusive type, only for your eyes and ears
You held it in for so long you bursted into tears
The letters spilled slowly across the page like a world premiere
Well I ain't, the bullshit begins here
The obvious cause, the effects is unclear
The punishment for crimes of the heart could be severe
Though to keep it on the low is a heavy cross to bear
You deep now, submerged with no signs of air
Still your sunken heart thumpin like the kick in a snare
While on the surface it's all turnin to a circus
That's why you're nervous, and you got a right to be
Cause if somebody would've done that shit to me
I mean my best man hittin my wife-to-be
My sentiments exactly would be history
Y'know what I'm sayin? My peoples in the place let's hit it off, one two

[Hook]

Yo, it's like nothing changed, it's all the same thing
The same characters in a book, with different names
It's a lot more to lose than you got to gain
You a lot more confused than hip to the game
The peep the script of the game the price is pain
Men and women get into things, now who's to blame?
When everybody whispering bout whatever took place
And how the fact twist a knot with a straight face
And lies, hard to swallow from the bitter taste
Well that's a point in the past that can't be erased
So motivate, though it's hard to let it ride
Or set aside true feelings, underhand dealings
Our lost trust, I wonder if we lost us
It's bigger than me and you, it's monstrous
So I'ma, just calm down and try to relax
Before I clap the hammer ???? , one two

[Hook]

If you could only flash back and undo our actions
Change what happens, dissect the fractions
A time to rewind and be recorded absent
For real cause these memories is photographic
Pornographic, pushing me close to madness
Head heavy like I'm tripping on acid tablets
Yesterday as I recall was all fabulous I thought so
But now it feel like shots hittin' my torso
Spent a lot of time and trust in the wrong place
Fought a lot of fights rolling with the wrong ace
Love, stronger than pride, we could end disgrace
I need, room to think, and space to ventilate
Was solid as a rock, shall not disintegrate
Thoughts racing like the lunatics on the interstate
For real, ya, it's ill, ya, my peoples in the place...

[Hook (repeat to end, with Black Thought adlibbing)]

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.

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