[Instrumental]

[Verse 1: D'Wayne Wiggins]
Individually picking out the brothers that jam
Commonly known are people like Sly and Graham
Something kinda special about the grooves they wrote
They all had the flavor of the Oakland Stroke
That's the bass drum kickin', the high-hat lickin'
A groove so hard it makes your feet kickin'
To a dope groove, I mean, a fresh groove
It's a guaranteed hit to make your body move
Others try to hang but they just can't cope
They must come to realize, it's the Oakland Stroke

[Interlude: D'Wayne Wiggins, Vanessa Williams]
Give me the girls
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)
(Oakland, Cali-forn-i-a)

[Verse 2: D'Wayne Wiggins]
If you get the nerve then you might wanna try
You can't hang, you're getting mud in your eye
So don't even flirt or you might get hurt
And you'll wind up looking like dirt
From a dope groove, I mean, a fresh groove
It's a guaranteed hit to make your body move
Others try to hang but they just can't cope
When are they going to realize, it's the Oakland Stroke
[Bridge: D'Wayne Wiggins, Vanessa Williams, Raphael Saadiq]
Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke
Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)
Make your body move
Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke
Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)
Make your body move
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke

[Instrumental Break]

Make your body move

[Verse 3: D'Wayne Wiggins]
To sum it up, all I'm really trying to say
Is that the Oaktown brothers like to do it one way
Funky, greasy, nasty, hard
And never once do we drop our guard
When the bass starts lickin', the high-hats kick in
The guaranteed hit to make feet start kickin'
Others wanna hang, they can't cope
It's the Oakland Stroke
[Interlude]
What, what, what, what did you say that groove was again?
What did you say that groove was, man?
("Boy, you shoulda known by now")

[Bridge: D'Wayne Wiggins, Raphael Saadiq, Vanessa Williams]
The Oakland Stroke
Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke
Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke
And we gon' ride it out this way
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
You can't cope
Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke
Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke
Now let me hear you say "Na na na na na na na na"
"Na na na na na na na"
Let me hear you say "Uh, oh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, ah, ah, ah"

[Outro: D'Wayne Wiggins, Vanessa Williams]
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)
You can't hang
(Uh, uh, uh-huh, uh-huh)
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)
You can't hang
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
(Uh-huh, uh-huh)