Do It, See It, Be It

[Intro]

For real

E'rybody's a star, e'rybody shine

Follow your heart and not mankind

For real, for real

I'm 'bout to do my thing to shine

So everybody shine, c'mon

[Verse 1]

It's not luck that I'm sittin' here spittin' for y'all

Pre-ordained by Allah that I'm hittin' for y'all

Growin' up on the New York concrete lookin'

Like a little snotty dish of prodigy cookin'

They called me Little Man, all in the boulevard

When I was young, my family used to party hard

Games of 'Run, Catch, Kiss' turned to 'Run, Catch, Hump'

The illest niggas was Richard Pryor and Ronnie Bump

Skinned knees from being bad-ass little boys

Police si-re-ns and baby screams was average noise

Hip-Hop came, the ghetto copped the soundtrack

Street poetry to tracks, could you beat that??

Malik Taylor introduced it to me

He said, 'Forget Benny Hill, nigga, let's M.C.!'

Twelve years old, rhymin' in the back room

For echoes, we used to rhyme in the bathroom

Run-D.M.C, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh

"The Juice Crew rule, but who's this nigga KRS?"

Reference points, too many to wish for

Battlin' niggas on trains, I stay raw

Never let my dream die

I was happy and high going to Ali's in Bed-Stuy

We made our first demo tape

Ex-cited like a muhfucka, lookin' for our first break

[Chorus]

I know (For real)

You can do it (Listen to the story I tell, yo)

Be about it, y'all (For real)

I know you can see it (Use my life as an example)

Do it, and see it, and be nobody else (Here we go)

[Verse 2]

Jungle Brothers, De La, they gave me a little light

"In Time," Three Feet, "Buddy" – that was aiight!

One year later, the Tribe was initiated

"Bonita" came, it was wild how she dominated

"Can I Kick It" parlayed us to our next phase

So drunk in those days, it truly was amaze

How I got up enough to make tunes

People cheered me

It was foreign, then came Low End Theory

People quickly recognized who we are

Phife is ill and Busta is a superstar

Tours with P.E., Naughty, and the Geto Boys

Arsenio Hall, women then were evil toys

Whisperin' hate inside my brother's virgin ears

Tryin to hurt but, yo, we stood amongst the tears

Midnight was even tighter, now look at us

Condoms is on the rider, stored on the bus

It got funky right here, I had to save my life

In the snow after the show, I had a fight wit' Phife

Moved to a land to get away, but back home

Jive was jerkin' us, it sent me to a danger zone

The good thing: I found Allah in the process

An angel appeared wit' sneaky ways and gave me stress

Now what am I to do?

My album's platinum, but I'm still feelin' blue – c'mon

[Chorus 2]

Yeah, yeahh

Yeah, yeahhhh

(You could do it)

Yeah, yeahh

Yeah, yeahhhh

Yeah, yeahh

(I know)

Yeah, yeahhhh

(You can see it)

Yeah, yeahh

Yeah, yeahhhh, yeah-ee-eahhh

[Verse 3]

Makin' my way, the wilderness has grown fierce

Gumption and my heart, both of them was pierced

Crashed my truck, didn't think I'd make it out

Had a hit on my life, he thought I screwed his wife

Plus my house burned down, me and Ang' was in it

My crew was tired and I knew we had to end it

But through all of this – I'm still here, take notes, and let hope floats

I'm still here, take note, and let hope float

I'm still here, take notes, and let hope float (I know...)

[Chorus]

(You could do it) You could do the same shit that I'm doin'

(Be about it, y'all) You can do the same thing that I'm doin'

Uh-huh, I'm still here, take note, let it...uh-hah

(I know you could see it)

Still here, take notes and let it float, ha ha

Still here, take notes... and let it..

(Do it, and see it, and be nobody else)

You can do the same thing I'm doin', thing that I'm doin'

(I know you could do it) Still here, take... c'mon

Still here, take notes, let it float, c'mon

(Be about it, y'all)

Do the same thing that I'm doing, look and pay attention

(I know you can see it)

(Do it, and see it, and be nobody else)