KRS-One
Sound Man
[Refrain]
(fresh)
The real hip-hop is (fresh) x8

[Verse 1]
Bass, treble, c’mon, look around, man
The thump, the level, all that’s the sound man
When the boom bap dumps hard on the ground, man
It’s a good sound, man, that’s never caught pounding
Fingers on levels, eyes on the session
Pump the bass bottom, give me more of that compression
Sound engineer it, you’ve got to have the ear and
You’ve got to know what you hear, never overbearing
You bring the sound blaring hot like you ain’t caring
The level’s in the red, but no, you ain’t staring
You pushing more bottom, you make the sound crack
Like the snare going “blap” on a boom boom bap
Sound man, I hear you, better yet, I see you
Yeah man, you free to adjust the EQ
Pump up the reverb, mess with the delay
Gimme more sidefills and turn up the DJ

[Refrain]
The real hip-hop is
The real hip-hop is (fresh) x3
[Verse 2]
From the time I come out, I do a line check
I spit a freestyle to get you in the right mind set
It ain’t time yet to spit a rhyme yet
My right frequency the sound man he didn’t find yet
So while he searching for it, I’ll keep on working on it
We want that big sound before they close the curtain on it
So let’s turn it up, so let’s turn it up
Don’t be afraid, turn it up, word is up
We wanna thank the sound people that’s with me
When the music is low, they turn it up quickly
When the sounds are low, they brighten and lift me
When the feedback comes, they killin’ it swiftly
The sound can be tricky when you see me play
No computers, just a mixer and some CDJs
Never no frontin’, we showin’ all y’all something
Sound man, just keep the music bumpin’
It ain’t nothing

[Refrain]
The real hip-hop is
The real hip-hop is (fresh) x3

(fresh)

[Verse 3]
I’ma keep rapping while tours they keep happening
Got a [?] of rhymes for people to keep [?]
Boom bap beats with rhymes to keep attractin’ ‘em
That’s why the sound man gots to have rap in ‘em
Cordless, hardwire, fifty-eight mics
Wring ‘em out ‘cause all rappers don’t sound alike
I found a light, it’s at the end of the rear
It’s the sound engineer that really cares about what he hears
It’s the bass and snares, he understands the music
He’s a fan of the music, he makes plans for the music
He sets the EQ, how his hands gonna choose it
It’s not a band, but he still plans for the acoustics
This is the sound man that I be looking for
These are the dudes that I request when I’m booking tours
So if you like the sound of this brown man
Give it up for the sound man
Overstand
[Refrain]
The real hip-hop is
The real hip-hop is (fresh) x7

Give it up for the sound man

Give it up for the sound man