Released: February 23, 1999

Songwriter: DJ Scratch Rahzel Kamal Gray ?uestlove Malik B Dice Raw Black Thought Rozelle

Producer: Kelo Saunders Kamal Gray Rahzel

[Intro: Black Thought]
One one one one two P-P-5-D
Yeah, yeah, P-P-5-D
I'm sayin, yo
Touch this yo, knahmsayin what
Yo-yo, yo, 100%

[Verse 1: Black Thought]
Yo, on these seventy-three keys, of ivory and ebony
I swear solemnly that I'll forever rock steadily
People wanna know where Malik, he right next to me
The weaponry, the secret recipe
Hard to peep this, deep shit, shows I eat with
Contaminated thoughts I walk the street with
I bayonet cassettes and chop beats with
This olympic lyricism you can't, compete with
Globe traveling, throwing your verse like a javelin
Things Fall Apart and MC's unraveling
Backstage whispering to management like
Change the order, it's no way that we can rock after them
My man sport the 'fro like What's Happenin'
From the latest hi-atus, The Roots back again
Your crew practicing to catch this natural blend
They packages read, care when handling
It's all soft shit, batteries not included with
Matter of fact, your whole front's a re-enactment
I blow your ba-tty ass into fragments, P5D
The new testament, mic specialist, what

[Hook: Black Thought & Malik B]
Check it out, yo
Check it out, yo
Check it out, yo
Yo yo Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty
Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
Malik B, I represent the P-phi-D
Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty
Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
Malik B, I represent the P-phi-D
Guerilla click, 100% Dundee

[Verse 2: Malik B]
The Milli-illitant-tant, 'pon cock, ready to rock
Power out, in the clout, it seems out, all through your block
Posse don't play the cut, but what, you get sheist
Got the personality named trife, ready to heist
Smashin 'graphs, snatch the ice, crush your mental device
Thought twice, shoulda thought once, got played for the dunce
Dialogues I moderate, cool out, we outta state
Just blend and integrate, give me room to ventilate
Most niggas is fraudulent, the rap seargeant
Bargin, through your regiment, call your president
Hittin all targets cuz it's a cause that's lost
Between the killers when they probably Teddy Ruxpin soft
Droppin tears of steel, two drops up in the bucket
Facing three hots and a cot so yo fuck it
If I get abducted, trapped up in the belly
Wacked up my celly, get known like Dawn Staley
You know the deally on the daily in the ?
If I sense you got a bend to your kite, then send it up
We press up on your corner with windows they're tinted up
Lay our props face down on the ground and get it up, what?
Face on the ground and get it up

[Hook: Black Thought & Malik B]
Check it out, yo
Check it out, yo
Check it out, yo
Yo yo Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty
Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
Malik B, I represent the P-phi-D
Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty
Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
Malik B, I represent the P-phi-D
Guerilla click, 100% Dundee

[Verse 3: Black Thought]
Check it out
While you pose for pictures, I'm the invisible enigma
Down low, scope you off the roof like the fiddler
Cage you up in the vocal booth, you're held prisoner
Watch, while I'm banging out this hot shit from Sigma
Illa-del-P-A, live without a DJ
And it's been that way, since Sergio Vallente
Yo, The Roots holding it down, is all you can say
Plus the Black Thought em-cey, professional-lay
Push pen to paper like Chinua Achebe
Thumpin, what was your assumption
I lace your function, make it a Black Thought production
Word up I'm on something, stellar hold off course
I'm gone blunting, travel light and broadcast
Via satellite, Illa-Fifth Dynamite
Lyrically calculus in this arithmetic hip-hop metropolis
But loyal fiends coppin this hot shit
Yaknahmsayin, hot shit, word up
Illa-Fifth hot shit y'all

[Hook: Black Thought & Malik B]
Check it out, yo
Check it out, yo
Check it out, yo
Yo yo Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty
Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
Malik B, I represent the P-phi-D
Guerilla click, 100% Dundee
Black Thought, I represent the Fifth Dynasty
Lyrical click, 100% Dundee
Malik B, I represent the P-phi-D
Guerilla click, 100% Dundee

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.