I Remember (featuring The Holmes Brothers)

[ verse 1: mike g ]

Remedies for house parties stayed simple and plain

Little wine, little music, little mary jane

Gotta keep the lights dim, so when the people walk in

The vibe stays nice and mellow, everybody fits in

And everybody hey and ho, are gettin they groove on

The record only stops when the lights came on

Then they went back off, we continued to groove

Then somebody grabbed the mic like they had somethin to prove

It was just the spirit got em, it wouldn't let loose

There right before our eyes hip-hop was produced

The fire kept on burnin like a doggie in heat

You couldn't help to feel the flavor as you walked through the

Streets

Everybody had a crew on every block for blocks

This seemed to be insurance that the beat won't stop

So one day shots ring and it was no one to blame

All you thought was would it ever all be the same

But if you got the love, baby, won't a damn thing change

As long as you remember it always remains

[ chorus: the holmes brothers ]

I remember

When we used to play shoot-em-up, bang-bang

I remember

When we used to play shoot-em-up, bang-bang

Mc's and dj's (2x)

[ verse 2: afrika baby bam ]

Block parties jam-packed, the first time i heard rap

And deejays spinnin breakbeats back

These were the last good days of the ghetto

It wasn't all about bein jiggy, so save that rap for jell-o

Down on my knees in the street playin skelly

Rushin upstairs to see _graffiti rock_ on the telly

With one eye on the beats droppin

I knew that one day would come when i'd be on the mic rockin

Every day after school practisin

I mixed blues smarts with street smarts, and then started battle

Rappin

But for me it wasn't happenin

So i changed up my style, to the ladies been mackin

I wrote a rhyme about 'roxanne, roxanne'

I used to bust it out when i went to a jam

My mother read the dirty rap

She said, "you ain't gon' go too far expressin yourself

Like that

Disrespectin black women

And what's gon' happen when you turn around and try to have your

Own children?"

So i changed up my style once again

So me and my moms could still be friends

My daddy wasn't buggin out so far

Watchin me pretend to be another rap star

Through my eyes he saw a child changin

Growin up to be a man and leave behind the shootin, bangin

[ chorus ]

[ verse 3: afrika baby bam ]

Now this one goes out to the ones who set it off

And all the pioneers that made it what it was

Cause we been doin this for 25 years long

So we gotta represent and keep hip-hop strong

Jbeez, we on a plateau, ain't nothin stoppin us

Will with the spirit of god, now watch it jump in us

Cause when you cut the roots off the family tree

All you leave behind is the sweet memory

Right from the start, we did it in the park

It wasn't for the money, and it came from the heart

But in these days and times, when rappers write rhymes

All we think about is signin on the dotted line

Me, i been thinkin about the way it used to be

When before you was a rapper, you became an mc

I'm proud of my heritage, and glad that we made it

I still bust rhymes without bein player-hated

Standin on the same stage, rockin with the jbeez

Was a dream come true for a brother like me

Before rap was consumed, and hip-hop was doomed

I was bangin on tables, rhymin in the lunchroom

I used to walk the street with my ghetto blaster

My brothers on the block was startin zulu chapters

You know what i'm talkin about if you go way back

And yo, big ups to all my sisters, in the name of rap

Cause when it comes to hip-hop, you know you gotta keep it true

Take from the old, mix it with the new

I used to go by the name of mc shazaam

But now you know me as afrika baby bam

[ chorus ]