[Verse 1: Big Daddy Kane & Marley Marl]
Grab a hold of yourself, open your eyes
Get wise to the exercise
Being taught by the teacher that's most dominant
You need knowledge? Well, I'm dropping it
Listen to the rap, allow it to trap
Your body and soul so that you can adapt
To the man on display as I take you away
So may I? Yes, you may
Proud to be a Black man coming exact and
Giving up to brothers, five on the backhand
Pray for lease and peace upon each other
With my sisters and brothers (Yo, word to the mother)
I say the mother as in the motherland
But on the other hand, another man
Tackled and shackled our ancestors
But we beat him with freedom, so let's bless the
Country that we all came from
Because the moral of it all is we shall overcome
The cream will keep rising, we be sizing
Up, the Asiatic one is enterprising
Building and building to carry on
All the way from Malcolm X to Farrakhan
Martin Luther was a tutor, many were pupils
Those who fell victim were those without scruples
However, to sever, we could never
So hold up the peace sign and stand together
Take heed to the words that I manifest
And when I'm through speaking, Marley Marl'll do the rest
[Interlude: Marley Marl]
People, people
We gotta get over
Before we go under
People, people
We gotta get over
Before we go under
Let's get together
Let's get together
Yo, Big Daddy, what you gon' say now?

[Verse 2: Big Daddy Kane & Marley Marl]
Take a stand, the fight for power
'Cause we've been here before the Mayflower
Living superior, abiding by nature
The history of the Asiatic one paid the
Price to be paid in slavery
Like the name of Antonio was gave to me
But knowledge of self broke every shackle and chain
Now I declare myself as the Big Daddy Kane
The teacher teaching a lesson to be heard
That's word to the mother, my brother
So discover the truth of one another
'Cause here's the real deal upon our skin color
Lay down white, yellow, red, or pink
But the color of black is most dominant
The rising and sizing can never cease
(What you gon' say now?) Peace
[Outro: Marley Marl]
The mother of all living things and the Black man
Is the original man, we just can't escape our destiny
(Word to the mother)
The mother of all living things and the Black man
Is the original man, we just can't escape our destiny
(Word to the mother)
I thank Allah for allowing me to teach this subject today