Excursions A Tribe Called Quest

[Verse 1: Q-Tip]
Back in the days when I was a teenager
Before I had status and before I had a pager
You could find the Abstract listenin' to hip-hop
My pops used to say, it reminded him of Bebop
I said, "Well, Daddy, don't you know that things go in cycles?
Way that Bobby Brown is just amping 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 mode
Still got room on the truckload of black boom
Listen to the rhymes, then get a mental picture
Of this black man, and black woman fixture
Why do I say that? 'Cause I gotta speak the truth, man
Doin' what we feel for the music is the proof, and
Planted on the ground, the act is so together
Bona fide strong, you need leverage to sever
The unit, yes, the unit, yes, the unit called the jazz is
Delivering each year an LP filled with street goods
You can find it on your rack in your record store
If you get the record, say 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 diss—it gets drastic
Listen to the rhyme, 'cause it's 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
Only if you are noted as my man
If I get the credit, then I think I deserve it
If you fake moves, don't fix your mouth to word it
Get in the zone of positivity, not negativity
'Cause we gotta strive for longevity
If you botch up, what's in that [ass]
(What?) A pair of Nikes, size ten-and-a-half