[Pops]
Hey, hey, old bean
And you too, baby sweet
Yeah, this is Pops and I'm back in the studio
And I didn't have to break in this time
I'm back as a special guest by special request
And I want to thank my son for loanin' me this microphone once again
They may have to rassle to get it back
You know, as a result of my son Common tourin' the world
Pops has acquired a wonderful extended family
From around the globe
He has returned with positive messages to my earlobe
From all my children
From Mexico, Brazil, Italy, and Japan
And of course the motherland
Even in the Orient, they knew what I meant
Na-nan, ta-nan, ti-nan, hanchi-nan
So I didn't come in here to give any shouts out
I came to give praise and honor
And to identify my children who've been sayin' and doin' the right things
You know, they sat on those nines of 1999
And kept 'em from turnin' upside down
And teachin' the babies
To love, to be able to give love
And to enter the new century with their own prophecy
The century of amends
You see, I deal with the premise that all children are ours
And that we all travel the same path
It's just we don't all get there at the same time
(See you next lifetime), see you next lifetime
And to my children runnin' around here screamin' 'bout how nice is they ice
That they've already paid for twice
What karat is they gold
That was yours before you got through in the hole
For that crew, 1629
Buy some land, think agriculture
Beat that neighborhood
Which you claim you love so dear
Are you mankind or kind of a man?
See, Pops is straight out of the garden
From when the world was startin' brand new
Hip-hop, hip-hop
The language of the Underground Railroad in its purest form
Yeah, true hip-hop is just like the Underground Railroad
If the message is not for you
It can sit on your nose and your brain remain froze
So when you see me travelin' on a spiritual high, I'm flyin' with CeeLo
Or maybe watchin' my lil one's heart dancin' to a De La flow
Everybody knows there's no fruit on the tree without The Roots
And Black Star said we are who we are
The knowledge of self-determination
And my lil' homie KG
Up there in Minnesota, meltin' ten thousand lakes
Keep the heat on
We got to be kind to the growin' mind
So if your heart is real
You might hear Big Will and Ms. Lauryn Hill
If your love is true, you will hear Badu-ism
And you can't go right until you go left
And pick up some beats from the music ingredient chef Jazzy Jeff
Children, I've traveled this globe
From north to south, from east to west
And whenever my soul appears lost
I follow the musical sounds of A Tribe Called Quest
Okay, okay, we ready to get out of here, we're gonna take it home now
So, just so everybody knows
When Pops get ready to say something good
I mean when it's time for, for me to lay it on the wood
And it ain't no time for no shecky-shecky
That's when I call on a Black Girl Named Becky
Y'all all lookin' for the only truth and it doesn't exist
I just come to give love and peace and honor to all my children