Released: November 19, 2002
Featuring: Taye Diggs
Songwriter: John Kander Fred Ebb
Producer: Randy Spendlove Ric Wake
[EMCEE, spoken]
And now, ladies and gentlemen
The Keeper of the Keys
The Countess of the Clink
The Mistress of Murderer's Row
Matron Mama Morton!
[MAMA]
Ask any of the chickies in my pen
They'll tell you I'm the biggest mother... hen
I love them all and all of them love me
Because the system works
The system called... reciprocity!
Got a little motto
Always sees me through
When you're good to Mama
Mama's good to you
There's a lot of favors
I'm prepared to do
You do one for Mama
She'll do one for you
They say that life is tit for tat
And that's the way I live
So I deserve a lot of tat
For what I've got to give
Don't you know that this hand
Washes that one too
When you're good to Mama
Mama's good to you
If you want my gravy
Pepper my ragú
Spice it up for Mama
She'll get hot for you
When they pass that basket
Folks contribute to
You put in for Mama
She'll put out for you
The folks atop the ladder
Are the ones the world adores
So boost me up my ladder, kid
And I'll boost you up yours
Let's all stroke together
Like the Princeton crew
When you're strokin' Mama
Mama's strokin' you
So what's the one conclusion
I can bring this number to?
When you're good to Mama
Mama's good to you!
And now, ladies and gentlemen
The Keeper of the Keys
The Countess of the Clink
The Mistress of Murderer's Row
Matron Mama Morton!
[MAMA]
Ask any of the chickies in my pen
They'll tell you I'm the biggest mother... hen
I love them all and all of them love me
Because the system works
The system called... reciprocity!
Got a little motto
Always sees me through
When you're good to Mama
Mama's good to you
There's a lot of favors
I'm prepared to do
You do one for Mama
She'll do one for you
They say that life is tit for tat
And that's the way I live
So I deserve a lot of tat
For what I've got to give
Don't you know that this hand
Washes that one too
When you're good to Mama
Mama's good to you
If you want my gravy
Pepper my ragú
Spice it up for Mama
She'll get hot for you
When they pass that basket
Folks contribute to
You put in for Mama
She'll put out for you
The folks atop the ladder
Are the ones the world adores
So boost me up my ladder, kid
And I'll boost you up yours
Let's all stroke together
Like the Princeton crew
When you're strokin' Mama
Mama's strokin' you
So what's the one conclusion
I can bring this number to?
When you're good to Mama
Mama's good to you!
more tracks from the album
From the album
Queen Latifah popular songs
- U.N.I.T.Y.
- Living Single theme song
- I Know Where I’ve Been
- Ladies First
- Big, Blonde and Beautiful
- When You’re Good To Mama
- Just Another Day...
- Come So Far (Got So Far To Go) (”Hairspray”)
- Cell Block Tango (He Had it Comin’)
- Name Callin’ Part 2
- Fix Me, Jesus
- Name Callin’
- I Love Being Here with You
- Go Head
- Don’t Cry Baby
- People
- The World
- Moody’s Mood For Love
- Bananas (Who You Gonna Call?)
- Fly Girl
- I Put A Spell On You
- The Same Love That Made Me Laugh
- The Lady Is a Tramp
- Mercy, Mercy, Mercy