It was all a dream I used to read Word Up magazine Salt 'n' Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine Hangin' pictures on my wall Every Saturday Rap Attack, Mr. Magic, Marley Marl I let my tape rock 'til my tape pop Smokin' weed and bamboo, sippin' on private stock Way back, when I had the red and black lumberjack With the hat to match Remember Rappin' Duke, duh-ha, duh-ha You never thought that hip hop would take it this far Now I'm in the limelight 'cause I rhyme tight Time to get paid, blow up like the World Trade Born sinner, the opposite of a winner Remember when I used to eat sardines for dinner Peace to Ron G, Brucey B, Kid Capri Funkmaster Flex, Lovebug Starsky I'm blowin' up like you thought I would Call the crib, same number same hood It's all good Uh, and if you don't know, now you know I made the change from a common thief To up close and personal with Robin Leach And I'm far from cheap, I smoke skunk with my peeps all day Spread love, it's the Brooklyn way The Moet and Alize keep me pissy Girls used to diss me Now they write letters 'cause they miss me I never thought it could happen, this rappin' stuff I was too used to packin' gats and stuff Now honeys play me close like butter plays toast From the Mississippi down to the east coast Condos in Queens, indo for weeks Sold out seats to hear Biggie Smalls speak Livin' life without fear Puttin' 5 karats in my baby girl ear Lunches, brunches, interviews by the pool Considered a fool 'cause I dropped out of high school Stereotypes of a black male misunderstood And it's still all good Uh, and if you don't know, now you know Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis When I was dead broke, man I couldn't picture this 50 inch screen, money green leather sofa Got two rides, a limousine with a chauffeur Phone bill about two G's flat No need to worry, my accountant handles that And my whole crew is loungin' Celebratin' every day, no more public housin' Thinkin' back on my one-room shack Now my mom pimps a Ac' with minks on her back And she loves to show me off, of course Smiles every time my face is up in The Source We used to fuss when the landlord dissed us No heat, wonder why Christmas missed us Birthdays was the worst days Now we sip champagne when we thirst-ay Uh, damn right I like the life I live 'Cause I went from negative to positive And it's all... And if you don't know, now you know

Typical of me to want to try You chipped away at me until my bravery ran dry But that's alright I'm using it again tomorrow night And I can see through all the clouds you painted high And I will try to build my ladder to the sky Yesterday we found out that you lied Today you're gone and life goes on Tomorrow we'll decide if that's alright But I won't see you on the other side And I would do it all again to change your mind I will try to build my ladder to the sky And I will take you in my heart if I can find Another way to build my ladder to the sky

I think I know what hell is Hell is knowing that your lungs are still going When we're in the same house and you can't feel my love We think so much That we don't mention But I still cannot chew the fat or shoot the shit Do you still feel my love? I think so much Do you do the same for me And try to read my mind? I want to be yours But life keeps on passing me by Like I do to you, it's true I think you know I love you, friend, I need And if you can get past My bad communication Do you still want my love? I want to name you all The few who've seen me And cared for my needs Like they were your own I'm about to turn twenty-three I think so much Do you do the same for me And try to read my mind? I want to be yours But life keeps on passing me by Like I do to you, it's true

Yo, yo move out of the way We got Missy Elliott coming through Girl that is Missy Elliott she lost a lot of weight Girl I heard she eat one cracker a day What?! Well, I heard the bitch was married to Tim and started fucking with Trina I heard the bitch got hit by three zebras and a monkey I can't stand the bitch no way [Verse 1: Missy Elliott] When I walk up in the piece I ain't gotta even speak I'm a bad mamajama goddammit motherfucker you ain't gotta like me How you studying these hoes Need to talk what you know And stop talking bout who I'm sticking and licking just mad it ain't yours I know ya'll poor ya'll broke Ya'll job just hanging up clothes Step to me get burnt like toast Muthafuckas adios amigos Halves halves wholes wholes I don't brag I mostly boast From the VA to the LA coast Iffy kiffy izzy oh [Verse 2: Missy Elliott] When I pull up in my whip Bitches wanna talk shit I'm driving I'm glad and I'm styling In these muthafuckas eyes did you see it? I'm gripping these curbs Skuur, did ya heard? I love em, my feathers, my furs I fly like a bird Chicken heads on the prowl Who you trying fuck now Naw you ain't getting loud Better calm down for I smack your ass down I need my drums, bassm high hats I need my snare, strings, horns Yes, I need my tim, sound Right, left Izzy kizzy looky here I don't go out my house shorty You just waiting to see Who gon roll up in the club and then report that next week Just wanna see who I am fucking or Sniffing some coke I know by the time I finish this line I'm a hear this on the radio [Verse 3: Ludacris] Yeah, uh huh, okay Once upon a time in College Park Where they live life fast and they scared of dark There was a little nigga by the name of Cris Nobody paid him any mind No one gave a shit Knowing he could rap No one lifted a hands So he went about his business and devised a plan Made a CD and then he hit the block 50 thousand sold Seven dollars a pop Hold the phone Three years later Stepped out the swamp With ten and a half gators Now all around the world on the microphone He leave the booth smelling like Burberry cologne Still riding chrome Got bitches in the kitchen Never home alone And he's on the grind Please let me know if he's on your mind And respect you'll give me Ludacris I live loud just like Timmy Have to clear these rumors I got a headache and it's not a tumor Get up on my lap and keep my head sucked tight Sprayed so I never let the bed bugs bite Hard to the core Core to the rotten Jump down, turn around, pick a bale of cotton I'm a man Yes I am And I can't help but love you so Yo, straight up Missy killed that shit tonight for real I know I know, I don't even care about her beign preganant by Michael Jackson You know what we should do? We should go get her album when it comes out There she go, there she go, there she Heeeey Misssy [Missy] Hi Missy? What's up fools? You think I ain't knowin y'all broke, Milli Vanilli J.J. Fad wannabes ain't over here gossiping bout me? Yo how bout you buff these Pumas for 20 cents so your lights won't get cut off You soggy breasts, cow stomachs Yo take those baby GAP shirts off, too You just mad cuz Payless ran out of plastic pumps for the after party Yo by the way, go get my album Damn!

Crawling ivy, she climbed me This body of stone Will crumble and die slowly So green and so silent Gripped 'round the throat I'm hoping to choke quickly And we were there When nature adorned you And I would adore you Was a long cruel day The leaves in your dress Gentle duress All turns brown All falls down Here at the end of a long cruel day In the hush of the morning The blackbirds will sigh For all that is I, I In the earth lies a polaroid picture The Earth was a child, laughing And we were there When nature adorned you And I would adore you Was a long cruel day The leaves in your dress Gentle duress All turns brown All falls down Here at the end of a long cruel day Long cruel day The sun lights this island in peculiar ways Long cruel day Angels and vultures look almost the same In the eyes of the prey And we were there When nature adorned you And I would adore you Was a long cruel day The leaves in your dress Gentle duress All turns brown All falls down Here at the end of a long cruel day Of a long cruel day

Booka-booka-booka-booka-booka-booka Ha hah You know the deal It's just me, dog Yo, check it One for Charlie Hustle Two for Steady Rock Three for the forthcoming live future shock It's five dimensions Six senses Seven firmaments of heaven to hell Eight million stories to tell Nine planets faithfully keeping orbit With the probable tenth The universe expands length The body of my text posess extra strength Power-liftin powerless up out of this towerin' inferno My ink so hot it burn through the journal I'm blacker than midnight on Broadway and Myrtle Hip hop past all your tall social hurdles Like the nationwide projects, prison-industry complex Working class Paul better keep your alarm set Streets too loud to ever hear freedom ring Say evacuate your sleep, it's dangerous to dream But you chain cats get they CHA-POW, who dead now? Killing fields need blood to graze the cash cow It's a numbers game but shit don't add up somehow Like I got sixteen to thirty-two bars to rock it But only 15% of profits ever see my pockets like Sixty-nine billion in the last twenty years Spent on national defence but folks still live in fear like Nearly half of America's largest cities is one-quarter black That's why they gave Ricky Ross all the crack Sixteen ounces to a pound, twenty more to a ki A five minute sentence hearing and you're no longer free 40% of Americans own a cell phone So they can hear everything that you say when you ain't home I guess Michael Jackson was right: "You Are Not Alone" Rock your hardhat, black, cause you in the Terrordome Full of hard niggas, large niggas, dice tumblers Young teens and prison greens facing life numbers Crack mothers, crack babies and AIDS patients Young bloods can't spell but they could rock you in PlayStation This new math is whippin' motherfuckers ass You wanna know how to rhyme you better learn how to add It's mathematics

[Verse 1: Moonlet] Cold war in the heart of your family home Have I lost control? Got a lot of shit bottled up that I can'y take anymore In on the ground floor when I promised you that we were forever We were in this together Well I never told you anything that I ever meant When I told you you were heaven sent What I left out was the poison in the pen The sentiment was cruel A fool in love to me will always and forever be a fool Chorus: Such futile plans Just holding hands And I can't understand you (Love lost by the dying of the firelight) Misguided hearts So far apart And I can't understand you (Scorched earth and a fistful o' dynamite) [Verse 2: Moonlet] Drawn lines but the blood ties tight So tell me, darlin', tell me How are the weans They alright? Well, one in a million, billiion, trillion stories have a happy end To a better one, my friend On whom my life depends I'll say I'm sick of living in the gloom In a room without a view I'll say I'm feeling blue This all means nothing without you I love you, can't you see? I wish you'd come back to me I'll tie a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree Chorus: Such futile plans Just holding hands And I can't understand you (Love lost by the dying of the firelight) Misguided hearts So far apart And I can't understand you (Scorched earth and a fistful o' dynamite)

Darooma Darooma Darooma Darooma I'm gonna kiss you When I get all my ducks in a row Darooma Darooma Darooma Darooma It's not complicated You know that, don't you? Look at me Darooma Darooma Darooma Darooma

Like a limp paper bag I lay down next to you Is this just what we do Pass it on to somebody new I got carried away There's a first time for everything Maybe they've stolen our fire And passed it on to somebody new It didn't happen 'til now Been under spells all of my life So I can tell These different colours we choose They make me look like somebody new I started out with the best intentions And now it's easier to offer myself I started losing my best intentions But now it's easier to offer myself And now it's easier to offer myself Like the island we need I stayed harboured to you It's the least I could do