[It's a tried-and-true formula: a few guys spitting rhymes over a funky little James Brown riff... And yet somehow, "All For One" sounds totally unique. The offbeat loop (the middle of a measure from a fairly overlooked Godfather jam, 1971's "Can Mind") with the chopped organ BLEEP in the middle, the vinyl crackle adding atmosphere, the extra drum sample placed at the end of the occasional measure, and three MCs at the top of their game taking a verse apiece; it all adds up to a classic and distinctive party jam. Throw it on the PA, pump the volume, and watch the heads start bobbing.]
I hit a beat and swing a note as if my name was David Ruffin
Quick to toast an MC, just like an english muffin
Don't worry about a thing because the Puba's never bluffin'
I gets headaches from the wack, so then I take a Bufferin and I max
I wait until the opp'tune time and then I tax
But should I max?
Now they say sinning is for sinners so I guess I'm not a sinner
Beginnin's for beginners so I guess I'm no beginner
This is how I spark it, puts money in my pocket
When it comes to having pressure I gets hard as a rocket
MC Grand Pu, coming through all the residue
The songs remain classic, dating back to the Babalu
My boys I call 'em hot, the phones all of them jock
And I can think of many episodes I swung in Lincoln Park
No I'm not a phony and I got a tenderoni
Love the way she is, not too fat, not too bony
Don't drink Sanka, won't sink like a tanker
Knock the boots of a skirt in Casablanca and I thank her
Some rappers stink, like Engelbert Humperdinck
Better yet Dick Cavett, I got a bad habit
Similar to the girl on She's Gotta Have It
I think with the brain and I whip behind the zipper
I'm living kinda good similar to Jack Tripper
A landlord named Roper did a show at the Copa
When I finish with this, I'll be paid like Oprah
So if honey wants to act fly
I'll just play like Guy and I'm (Saying bye bye)
(Dumb bitch)
Stick out your thumb and hitch
'Cause you've been cut off like a lightswitch
See I'm programmed to slam with the summer, spring, and fall
Before I do a show I get some kicks out the mall
Then I get my gear and I give Trev a call
'Cause he works in the barbershop, right behind the mall
Other rappers tried to rob me but you know they got did
To put it blunt, honey I smoked the kids
So hookers back off, break North, here comes the regulator
Betcha that ya find none greater
(One for all) Brand Nubian!
(Is all for one) Brand Nubian!
On file is a style, that's why you caught a clip
My suitcases is packed and I'm going on a trip
To Mic-a-delphia
I go for self and still be slamming
The school bell is ringing and I caught somebody cramming for the test
Oh yes, my study guide was thick
I cut you with my verbal, didn't hurt you just a nick
Off your face, don't play possum
Watch me and I'll blossom like a rose
And get some new clothes and a fresh fade from Rob
Jump on the phone and dial the Now Rule Mob
Now come one, come all, we about to get hectic
If my crew don't get in, then the X makes an exit to the rear
I'm outta here, don't front on my brothers
I take care of them before I take care of others
Now wood bats is doomed, in the 90s it's aluminum
Step to the stage with a mic and I'm doing him something awful
I'm a citizen, I'm lawful
I go to hunt in the fall, rip the policeman's ball
I got the power to make a car stall
I get some drinks, from blackens, and when the crowd slackens
I stop drinking, and then I start thinking
About days in the past when Derek X was last
But now I'm on the top, damn, news travels fast
'Cause I'm like that
They can't see this
Read my book, it contains many pieces of verses
I took the time to delete all the curses
So moms reach deep in your purses
And buy me, take me home and try me and do me well
Well, while I reign rhymes pour
You suck it up like a straw and jump on the dancefloor
'Cause every time I step in a jam
I make like a door and slam
But then girls try to turn my knob 'cause I'm a heartthrob
I guess it's just a hazard that comes with the job
'Cause everytime I rock a rhyme that shows Jamar is intellectual
Girls want to get sexual
Well I guess I have to cope with being so dope
You want to be me, but can't see me with a telescope
You seek and search but still you can't find
You're weak and it hurts to be deaf dumb and blind
A supreme mind, will take you out of your paralysis
I grip the mic so tight I get calluses
And your analysis, is that the Lord
Rips rhymes into shape with a mic cord
I do it good cause I'm a postive black man
Eating up suckers as if I was Pac-Man
Not a Dapper Dan fan, stay casual
To rock like the J it comes gradual
You got to know the ledge of wise and dumb
And understand your culture of freedom
Power equally with the Gods
So you can build and form your cipher
All your life you must teach true
Of the true and living God, not a mystery spook
And when you do that, pursue that goal
Which made the student enroll
And only then you'll prosper
