Higher Learning at The Skyway

[Intro]

Wait a minute, that was one part of the good old days

But, ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you the entertainer's side of the good old days

See, first of all, you have to imagine yourselves in a club somewhat like this one

And the emcee would be standing in the wings

They'd call him up, hear the drumroll, you'd hear the drumroll

He'd slide to the bandstand, look back at them too

And it might've looked like this, check it out

[Verse: Brother Ali]

We're making a concept album where the songs all have drums

Words make sense when the raps come

We ran with some good cats with bad luck that sold crack once

Packed guns in they backpack like sack lunch

Cassettes bumping Dolomite and Malcolm, the original man

Farrakhan called me Imam and I kissed him on his hand

Give a damn if a critic on Instagram can understand

If you didn't witness the Million Man, then stuck to Riverdance

Been takin' names, kickin' ass, breakin' chains, skippin' class

Bottom line, I was this advanced when you were pissin' pants

Come here a minute

I been here since it was still danger and fear up in it

If you're insincere, you would never feel secure up in it

Clear intention is to honor how my heroes did it

Not mirror image, I'm their descendant

Spirit clear and present, my skin iridescent

Rockin' kufis in a booth at Juneteenth, looked weird, I'm guessing

You, would you care to tell us why you would dare to embellish?

In the '90s, nineteen with my queen, they're very jealous

We thought being fly was eating Chinese in Perry Ellis

Cloth napkin, Nankin at City Center

And then it's higher learning at the Skyway

Splurgin' on a blue-and-white cab ride instead of a number five today, sah-dah-tay

Might I say I live several lives a day

Lot of people grind and save their lives away to find a way

I ain't papered, I'm just sayin' I've been highly favored, mighty grateful

I'd be thankful if I died today and all of y'all forgot my name

Not a single scar or scrape that I would change

But when they read our book of deeds on the final day, nothing more to say

My teachers call me Ali, Yasiin call me habeeb

Babies call me baba and my wifey call me papi

Ant call me Ali's ass, my older family passed

If they were here, I guess they would probably recall me as

Racing Jason with a Big Wheel on vacation

Tryna locate a boombox to pop my tape in

My eyesight ain't great, but I stay focused on this greatness

I don't know what else you want

Just make sure you list me in that lexicon

[Outro]

They'd call him up, hear the drumroll, you'd hear the drumroll

They'd call him up, hear the drumroll, you'd hear the drumroll

They'd call him up, hear the drumroll, you'd hear the drumroll

Hear the drumroll, you'd hear the drumroll

He'd slide to the bandstand

Hear the drumroll