Criminal Minded

[Intro] Boogie Down Productions will always get paid We'll take the wackest song and make it better Remember to let us into your skin, 'cause then you'll begin To master rhymin', rhymin', rhymin' [Verse 1: KRS-One] Criminal minded, you've been blinded Looking for a style like mine, you can't find it They are the audience, I am the lyricist Sometimes the suckers on the side gotta hear this Page, a rage, and I'm not in a cage Free as a bird to fly up out on stage Ain't here for no fronting, just to say a little something You suckers don't like me 'cause you're all about nothing However, I'm really fascinating to the letter My all-around performance gets better and better My English grammar comes down like a hammer You need a style, I need to pull your file I don't beg favors, you're kissing other people's— I write and produce myself just as fast Keep my hair like this, got no time for Jheri curls Attracting only women, got no time for little girls [Refrain] 'Cause girls look so good, but their brain is not ready I don't know I'd rather talk to a woman 'cause her mind is so steady So here we go [Verse 2] I'm not a musical maniac or b-boy fanatic I simply made use of what was upstairs in the attic I've listened to these MCs back when I was a kid But I bust more shots than they ever did I mean this is not the best of KRS, it's just a section But how many times must I point you in the right direction? You need protection when I'm on the mic Because my mouth is like a nine millimeter windpipe You're a king, I'm a teacher, you're a b-boy, I'm a scholar If this was a class, well, it would go right under drama See, kings lose crowns but teachers stay intelligent Talking big words on the mic, but still irrelevant Especially when you're not college material Wake up every morning to your Lucky Charms cereal DJ Scott La Rock has a college degree Blastmaster KRS writes poetry I won't go deeper in the subject 'cause that gets me bored It's a shame to know some MCs on the mic are frauds Saying styles like this to create a diss But if you listen, who you dissing? 'Cause I am a musician Rapping on the mic like this to me is fine 'Cause if I really want to battle, I will pull out a nine You can see that Scott La Rock and I are mentally binded In other words, we're both Criminal Minded [Verse 3] We're not promoting violence, we're just having some fun He's Scott La Rock, I'm KRS-One Never off-beat 'cause it don't make sense Grab the microphone relaxed and not tense You waited, debated, and now you activated A musical genius that could not be duplicated See, I have the formula for rocking the house If you cannot rock a party, do not open your mouth It's that simple, no phony cosmetics for your pimple Take another look because the gear is not wrinkled The K, the R, the S, the O, the N, the E Say a rhyme for '87, not no 1983 Well-versed to rehearse, in my rhymes I might curse Originality is first, but the suckers get worse Allow me to include, I have a very stable mood Poetic education of a high altitude I'm not an MC, so listen, call me poet or musician A genius when it comes to making music with ambition I'm cool, collected with the rhyme I directed Don't wanna be elected as the king of a record Just respected by others as the man with the solution An artist of the '80s came and left his contribution On wax, relax, there's twenty-four tracks After years of rocking parties, now I picked up the knack Because everything that flows from out my larynx Takes years of experience and bottles of Beck's I cannot seem to recollect the time I didn't have sex Is it real or is it Memorex? I'm living in a city known as New York State Sucker MCs gotta wait while I translate I hang with real live dreads with knowledge in their heads People with ambition and straight up musicians Although our lives have been so uprooted I haven't included, you can all get zooted So take each letter of the KRS-One Means Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone You look at me and laugh, but this is your class It's an all-out discussion of the suckers I be crushing So now you are awakened to the music I be making Never duplicated, and also highly cultivated Don't get frustrated 'cause nothing has been traded Only activated, it came out very complicated Not separated, from my DJ You see my voice is now faded I'll see you folks around the way [Outro] Criminal minded Criminal minded Criminal minded Criminal minded