Tell me what the fuck am I suppose to do Now what's next Tell me what the fuck am I suppose to do Now what's next Caught up in the middle My life's a riddle Don't let it get ya I wanna be legal But it's this hustle that get me richer One love to my peoples makin' money I can see you bubblin' Avoid all trouble Beware of devils continue strugglin' Nothin's impossible if there's a will there's a way So get your mind on official business You can be great And it's been this way from the cradle to the grave So get paid My niggaz do this every fuckin' day We parlay Through politics and conversation This information to my thug niggaz in the congregation Watch and bare witness to the pleasures of participation Separation is self destruction What's needed is unification Cause the world ain't hardly scared If not prepared Be sure to be bummy and be no longer there But no one cares it's there to share All we get is stares Because of fear we'll evaporate Say your prayers And what's next Hard livin' got me goin' insane But I'm addicted to the hustle I'm trapped in the game I'm goin' crazy Tell me tell me what the fuck am I suppose to do (Aye its on A3) Makaveli tried to warn us But niggaz ain't listen to Pac Naw (listen listen) nigga really listen to Pac Shit yean got it yet (no) Then you won't get it Might as well measure 'em up And have his ass fitted Why Caught slippin' dog trippin' didn't soak game Got his wig split like dem shutters on the airplane Never will change niggaz wit' no name no shame Might open ya head foe mess broke change I stay posted like a flag (flag) Starin' thru my rear view ballin' in a jag (jag) Bounce wit me Cali body rock down in H-Town We gon' put these artificial bustas in they place now Time foe a change Real niggaz rollin' wit' me Money makin' swift decision we controllin' the streets Side track by the broads and the frauds Ain't it strange It's the reason so many niggaz get scarred in the game That money gotta make it What I gotta do to make it Do I really gotta take it Put this mack up to you face it Doin' what we gotta do to survive Just ask Kweli doin' what we do to get by Some niggaz stick to the crime Pitchin' nickel and dimes What the fuck we s'pose to do Who gon' give us a job So I tried and tried Tried to get out the grind But the block kept on callin' me back Fiends kept on callin' for crack So I supply 'em wit' that Gave 'em a reasonable fee Nigga don't blame it on me Shit just look where I'm at Niggaz in gardens LAPD is the target Niggaz is heartless hustle regardless Look that dope spot use to be an apartment But now it's just a place to hide the guns in the closet Watch ya step shift the grams under the carpet We just tryin' hard not to see that coffin

Back in the days when I was a teenager Before I had status and before I had a pager You could find the Abstract listening to hip hop My pops used to say, it reminded him of be-bop I said, well daddy don't you know that things go in cycles The way that Bobby Brown is just ampin like Michael It's all expected, things are for the lookin If you got the money, Quest is for the bookin Come on everybody, let's get with the fly modes Still got room on the truck, load the back boom Listen to the rhyme, to get a mental picture Of this black man, through black woman victim Why do I say that, cuz I gotta speak the truth man Doing what we feel for the music is the proof and Planted on the ground, the act is so together Bonafide strong, you need leverage to sever The unit, yes, the unit, yes, the unit called the jazz is Deliberately cheered LP filled with street goods You can find it on the rack in your record store (store) If you get the record, then your thoughts are adored And appreciated, cause we're ever so glad we made it We work hard, so we gotta thank God Dishin out the plastic, do the dance till you're spastic If you dis... it gets drastic Listen to the rhymes, cuz its time to make gravy If it moves your booty, then shake, shake it baby All the way to Africa a.k.a. The Motherland (uh) Stick out the left, then I'll ask for the other hand That's the right hand, Black Man (man) Only if you are noted as my man (man) If I get the credit, then I'll think I deserve it If you fake moves, don't fix your mouth to word it Get in the zone of positivity, not negativity Cuz we gotta strive for longevity If you botch up, what's in that (ass) (what?) A pair of Nikes, size ten-and-a-half (come on, come on) We gotta make moves Never, ever, ever could we fake moves (come on, come on) "Time. time is a ship on a merciless sea Drifting toward an average of nothingness Until it can be retarded for it's own destiny TIME is an inanimate object Praying and praying and praying for? Time is DANCING, moving lingering all memories of past." We gotta be a winner all the time Can't fall prey to a hip hop crime With the dope raps and dope tracks for you for blocks From the fly girlies to the hardest of the rocks Musically the Quest, is on the rise We on these Excursions so you must realize That continually, I pop my Zulu If you don't like it, get off the Zulu tip So what can you do in the times which exist You can't fake moves on your brother or your sis But if your sis is a (bitch), brother is a jerk Leave 'em both alone and continue with your work Whatever it may be in today's society Everything is fair, at least that how it seems to me You must be honest and true to the next Don't be phony and expect one not to flex Especially if you rhyme, you have to live by the pen Your man is your man, then treat him like your friend All it is, is the code of the streets So listen to the knowledge bein dropped over beats Beats that are hard, beats that are funky It could get you hooked like a crackhead junkie What you gotta do to is know that the Tribe is in the sphere The Abstract Poet, prominent like Shakespeare Edgar Allan Poe, it don't stop (uh!) "Time is running out on black power Africans today And whites blacks and reporters at night Everytime you see them? with their tongues hangin out Time is running and past and passing and running Running and past and passing and running (excursions)"

Do you know the importance of a skypager? Those who don't believe, see you're laid behind Got our skypagers on all the time Hurry up and get yours, 'cause I got mine Especially if you do shows, they come in fine If you're with a G, and you're sippin' wine Eatin' cacciatore with a twist of lime Gotta meet your lover at a quarter to nine Joint by base, then you get your high If you get your high, then mine is next The 'S' in skypager really stands for sex Beeper's goin' off like Don Trump gets checks Keep my bases loaded like the New York Mets At times, I miss the pager, so you don't get vex Havin' bad days like a voodoo hex Conceptually, a pager is so complex That I'll be standin' on the verge, ready to flex (Welcome, we-, we-, welcome to the new skypager) (We-, welcome to the new skypager) (Welcome to the new skypager, the new skypager) (Enter a telephone number or other numeric message) Uh, so funky Uh, so funky Uh, so funky Uh, so funky The batteries I use are called Duracell They last for three weeks, so they do me well Don't be goin' through no phases, my joint stays on 24/7, from dusk till dawn If you're in Costa Rica on a sunlit beach You greed for the Phifer, I can be reached A number of importance, I just put it on lock You leave code '69', that means you want some People tend to think that a pager's foul Well it kinda is, 'cause it makes me scowl But it really hurts when you're on the prowl Brothers know it hurts when you're on the prowl Grabbin' on my joint 'cause I'm an eager owl Get paged by a G or a business pal My shit is overflowin', they won't allow Another page, so I'll just end this now (Message sent. Thank you for calling skypager)

1988 Senior Year at Garvey High Where all the guys were corny but the girls were mad fly Lounging with the Tipster, cooling with Sha Scoping out the honeys—they know who they are I was the b-ball playing, fly rhyme saying Fly girl getting but never was I sweating Cause when it came to honeys I would go on a stroll Until I met my match—her name was Flo Yeah, I messed around with the one called Flo All the troopers 'round the way used to call her a ho But deep down in my heart I knew that Flo was good to go Cause I thought it was me like Bell Biv Devoe But little did I know that she was playing with my mind The only thing I learned is good girls are hard to find I feel like Heavy D I need somebody for me Not someone whose mind is blank And trying to juice me for my banks Swinging with my main man Lucky behind my back What type of crap is that—yo, how's about a smack? Word life, I can't front, thought I was all that But now it seems, I've met my match I was a stone cold lover, you couldn't tell me jack Settling down with one girl, wasn't trying to hear that I had Tonya, Tamika, Sharon, Karen, Tina, Stacy, Julie, Tracy Used to love 'em, leave 'em, skeeze 'em, tease 'em Find 'em, lose 'em - also abuse 'em My whole attitude was new day, next hon And believe it or not, they all got done Well here comes Flo, with the crazy whip appeal And I'm all true man, like Alexander O'Neal Is this really love, then again how would I know After all this time trying to be a Super Ho She finally played me, but yo I'd find another Cause I got the crazy game and yo, I'm smooth like butter It's like Butter, it's like butter baby It's like Butter, it's like butter baby It's like Butter, it's like butter baby It's like Butter, it's like butter baby It's like Butter, it's like butter baby It's like Butter, like the butter baby Not no Parkay, not no margarine, Strickly butter baby, strictly butter baby I remember when girls were goodie two shoes but now they turned to freaks All of a sudden ("We love you Phife") Ease off ho, my name's Malik Phife this, Phife that, where you going, where you at These girls don't know me from jack, yet I feel like the Mack You didn't want me then, so yo hon, don't want me now Here, Here - take the towel, wipe off your brow And take the contact out your eye, you're far from looking fly You get an E for effort, and T for nice try Now tell me what's the reason, for dying your hair Slum village gold still dangling in your ear You barely have a neck but still sporting a rope Four-finger ring just so Phife can scope You looked in the mirror, didn't know what to do Yesterday your eyes were brown but today they are blue Your whole appearance is a lie and it could never be true And if you really liked yourself then you would try and be you If your hair and eyes were real, I wouldn't have dissed ya But since it was bought, I had to dismiss ya But if you can't achieve it, then why not try and weave it If you can't extend it then you might as well suspend it If you can't braid it, best thing to do is fade it I asked who did your hair and you tell me Diane made it If you were you and just you, talk to you, maybe But I can't stand, no bionic lady Trying hard to look fly, but yo, you're looking dumber If I wanted someone like you I would've swung with Jaime Sommers You wanna be treated right, see Father MC Or check Ralph Tresvant, for sensitivity Cause I am not the one, I got more game than Parker Brothers Phife Dog is on the mic and I'm smooth like butter