Stop Shammin'

[Verse 1]

One-fifty-eight Lewis Avenue

Between Lafayette and Van Buren, that was back during

The days of hangin on my Bed-Stuy block

With Spence and Mitch, followin my cousin Murdoch

All the brothers were real, goin for what they feel

By the way, peace to my man Sha and Big Neal

Now in ninety-three I'm still bein me

You think my 'fridgerator ain't full of Olde E?  Huh

A lot of times I get fly with a suit and a tie

Yeah I went from rags to riches but I still rock the saggy britches

And I don't try to act brand new

Eatin escargots and usin words like "rendezvous"

The ghetto life I've seen a lot overcome

Make a little money and then forget where they came from

Livin a plastic lifestyle, you're more false than dentures

Don't make me pull your file -- stop shammin!

[Scratches x4]

"Stop, hold-up, pause, wait" (2X)

Stop shammin!

[Verse 2]

So why you wanna be what you're not?

And claim to have things that you know you ain't got

You're just a fantasizer -- spendin all your money

On Luster's pink oil moisturizer

Just to make your hair curly and thin

You say, "Black is beautiful," but then you go and bleach your skin

Money you're worse than Yacub

Cause there are eight stages of graft and you broke down to two

Plus you got a bad case of jungle fever

And nmmana-nah-nah I just can't believe ya

It's quite obvious you don't wanna be a black man

So what's next - you're gonna join the Klu Klux Klan?

You sold out to your race and it's a big disgrace

You can't look your own people in the face

You wonder why it ain't no black schools or hospitals

You're makin millions of dollars and it's pitiful

That you can donate to leukemia all the time

But you can't give the Nation of Islam a dime

They mention Muslims, you change the subject

You can't even shake Farrakhan hand in public

That whole busy attitude is a sham

Umm bro, umm brother, umm.. Brougham, stop shammin!

[Scratches x4]

"Stop, hold-up, pause, wait" (2X)

"Change the groove and fuck it up a little bit"

[Verse 3]

I look in the mirror, at times I say, "Damn Black Caesar;

How'd you get to be the woman pleaser?"

Cause I remember when girls didn't notice me

And now they wanna Come and Talk To Me like Jodeci

It's strange, how back in the days I couldn't get with em

Now all of a sudden the honies they wanna give me rhythm

Well I'ma hit it, but still I show no pity

So I hope you don't think you gonna be in my next video

And many brothers I never even ran with

Be actin like they been hangin with me since I was a kid

I mean just to get a piece of the action

Man they start rememberin more times than Michael Jackson

But I can't fade to the tag-alongs

That want me to drag em on

Frontin like a friend just so I can put em in

But you cuttin yourself paper thin - stop shammin!

[Scratches x4]

"Stop, hold-up, pause, wait" (2X)

And I'm out