Released: February 23, 1999

Featuring: Yasiin Bey

Songwriter: James Poyser Leonard “Hub” Hubbard Chaos Rahzel Kamal Gray Yasiin Bey Black Thought ?uestlove

Producer: James Poyser Chaos The Roots Grand Wizzards Richard Nichols Kelo Saunders

[Hook: Black Thought & Mos Def]
We go wow, ba-da-da-dow-da-dah-dow
Either stand tall, or just sit the fuck down
All the way from the 2-1-5th to Bucktown
Brace yourself, it's about to go down
(Runnin one-on-one, the only hip-hop band)
Yo Tariq (Whassup?) How your microphone sound?
(It sound tight) Well aight, show 'em what it's about
We got to blow up the spot because they must have forget
We double (Trouble) bubble (Bubble) bubble, bubblin' hot

[Verse 1: Black Thought, Mos Def & Both]
Well it's like, smack the track up and leave dents in it
The vocalist, busting this blunt, instrument spit
The magnificent, rappers run from it
All fly girls' nipples and toes numb from it
MC's in my circumference, is confronted son
Get your growth stunted from this, you don't want it
(What nigga?) The Black Thought and M-O-S Def done it
Who the ultimate? Yo my man speak upon it
Ayo, I stop fools and drop jewels but never run it
Rock mics so nice, I make you stock price plummet
All you high noon riders better rally at the summit
It's me and Tariq and your fleet outnumbered
Cross the membrane, barking big game and get hunted
Eye witness account, say it happened so sudden
Just slid off to the side, didn't really say nuttin
Then BLAOW, blew away the 1900th
You better get your rest cause the next day comin
Oh yes, and MCs, they scared to say sum'tin
Stop frontin, I'm in the cut just onlookin
Your get your kings, your rooks, rings and pawns tooken
Ayo, keep your tape rolling so you catch every bar
Of the Black Thought and the black man from Black Star
Illadelph and Vietnam, we conference, accomplish
Even with stakes inclined, I get mine regardless
Yo, a lot of Smurfette MCs carry purses
And rock uniforms that's made for nurses
I burst your verses, your words is worthless
Only touching surface, the fuck's the purpose?
I shot the sherriff, the deputy, and head of bank treasury
So mounties in the county got a big bounty stressin me
But tell 'em to hold off, they too short to measure me
Mos and Black Thought blast forth with the weaponry

[Hook: Black Thought & Mos Def]
Like blaow-ba-dow-da-da-dow-da-dah-dow
Either stand tall or sit the fuck down
All the way from the 2-1-5th to Bucktown
Brace yourself, it's about to go down
Yo Tariq (Whassup?) How your microphone sound?
(It sound tight) Well aight, show 'em what it's about
We got to blow up the spot because they must have forget
We double (Trouble) bubble (Bubble) bubble, bubblin' hot

[Verse 2: Mos Def & Black Thought]
Yeah, now check your stove top before you take a listen
And make sure beans don't burn in the kitchen
These gassed-up niggas just ain't fuel efficient
I play the winter breeze to choke hold your piston
Now you niggas can't make pole position
Class E chassis can't hold the transmission
Crew pit useless, they got they tools missing
Watch me, Grand Prix, champy for wealth driven
Yo, you go one for my hustle (Ha!) two to rock rhyme
From the muscle kid I'm one of the illest of all time
I swing from chandeliers and wall climb
And specialize in warfares of all kind
A lot of MCs said I'm a run it down rhyme
But half the time, they running down one of mine
Thought suffocating 'em with yet another stunning line
You dumb and blind kid, it's enlarged and underlined
What I memorized leave your whole staff pressurized
Melt down all of your artificial lies
Y'all niggas is faker than Yellow No. 5
Swine like mono and diglyceride
My vocals got texture, you just texturized
I'm nicer than your writtens even when I'm improvised
Step into my zone get flown like fly
By the b-boy Lazarus who just won't die
Yo, me and Kamal and Leonard Hubbard, Questlove and Malik
We go back to dollar hoagies and Tahitian Treat
Or like toast in the oven with government cheese bubbling
Me and Dante like Marvin, the trouble men travelling
Give me the mic, we on that again
B-boy business, off the top acting and battling
Serving them cats that forgot
But don't get too close because you might get shot

[Hook: Black Thought & Mos Def]
Like blaow-ba-dow-da-da-dow-da-dah-dow
Either stand tall or sit the fuck down
All the way from the 2-1-5th to Bucktown
Brace yourself, it's about to go down
Yo Tariq (Whassup?) How your microphone sound?
(It sound tight) Well aight, show 'em what it's about
We got to blow up the spot because they must have forget
We double (Trouble) bubble (Bubble) bubble, bubblin' hot
We go blaow-ba-dow-da-da-dow-da-dah-dow
Either stand tall or sit the fuck down
All the way from the 2-1-5th to Bucktown
Went from Do You Want More?!??!! to what you want now?
Yo Tariq (Whattup?) Well how your microphone sound?
(It sound tight) Well aight, show 'em what it's about
We got to blow up the spot because they must have forget
We double (Trouble) bubble (Bubble) bubble, bubblin' hot

[Outro: Mos Def]
Say here's a little story that must be told
About two young brothers who got so much soul
They taking total control, of the body and brain
Flying high in the sky on a lyrical plane
It's just two bad brothers who will never quit
Mos Def and Tariq from the 2-1-5th
They rock beginning to end, on a spiritual blend
And everybody who forgot then baby tell 'em again
It's just me and Tariq, with Ahmir on the beat
The Roots crew baby, yo, we got to make it unique
We got the soul-shockinest, body-rockinest
Non-stoppinest, Fortified Live survive the apocalypse
Rhymes we say, the perfect blend
Because we know how to rock when the beat come in
Like zen-zen-zen-zen-zen
Zen-zen-zen-zen-zen, zen-zen, zen-zen
Zen zen-zen, ZEN zen zen ZEN zen zen
Zen zen, ZEN zen zen-zen
Zen-zen-zen, ZEN zen ZEN zen
Here we go, here we, here we, here we go
Zen zen-zen, ZEN zen zen ZEN zen zen
Zen zen, ZEN zen zen-zen
Zen-zen-zen-zen-zen, zen-zen, zen-zen
Let the poppers pop, and the breakers break
Then zen-zen-zen-zen-zen
Zen-zen-zen-zen-zen, zen-zen, zen-zen
Two years ago, a friend of mine
Zen zen, ZEN zen, zen-zen zen-zen
Zen zen zen zen zen zen zen
And these are the zen zen zen zen

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.