Oakland Stroke

[Spoken Intro]

I got something to say, man, you dig?

I mean, you cats been up here rapping

Ain't said nothing about the real thing, you know what I mean?

[Verse 1: D'Wayne Wiggins]

Individually picking out the brothers that jam

Commonly known are people like Sly and Graham

Something kinda special about the grooves they wrote

They all had the flavor of the Oakland Stroke

That's the bass drum kickin', the high-hat lickin'

A groove so hard it makes your feet kickin'

To a dope groove, I mean, a fresh groove

It's a guaranteed hit to make your body move

Others try to hang but they just can't cope

They must come to realize, it's the Oakland Stroke

[Chorus: Dwayne Wiggins, Vanessa Williams]

Yo, miss thang...

Uh-huh, uh-huh

Can't cope with the Oakland Stroke

Uh-huh, uh-huh...Oakland, Californ-i-a

[Verse 2: D'Wayne Wiggins]

If you get the nerve then you might wanna try

You can't hang, you're getting mud in your eye

So don't even flirt or you might get hurt

And you'll wind up looking like dirt

From a dope groove, I mean, a fresh groove

It's a guaranteed hit to make your body move

Others try to hang but they just can't cope

When are they going to realize, it's the Oakland Stroke

[Chorus: Dwayne Wiggins, Vanessa Williams, Raphael Saadiq]

Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke

Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke

Uh-huh, uh-huh

You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke

Uh-huh, uh-huh

Make your body move, you can't cope with the Oakland Stroke

("Yeah y'all, come on")

Uh-huh, uh-huh

Now give me something...

("Yeah y'all...")

That's right

Uh-huh, uh-huh

[Verse 3: D'Wayne Wiggins]

Well, to sum it up, all I'm really trying to say

Is that the Oaktown brothers like to do it one way

Funky, greasy, nasty, hard

And never once do we drop our guard

When the bass starts lickin', the high-hats kick in

The guaranteed hit to make feet start kickin'

Others wanna hang but can't cope

It's the Oakland Stroke

What, what, what, what did you say that groove was again?

What'd you say that groove was, man?

("Boy, you shoulda known by now...") The Oakland Stroke

[Refrain: Raphael Saadiq]

(Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke)

(Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke)

(Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke)

(Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke)

[Outro: D'Wayne Wiggins + Vanessa Williams]

We gon' ride it out this way...

Uh-huh, uh-huh

You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke

You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke

Uh-huh, uh-huh

You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke

("I know you're gonna dig this")

[Instrumental Break]

Let, let, let me hear you say, "Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na"

("Yeah y'all come on") "Na-na-na-na-na-na-na"

Let me hear you say, "Ah"..."Oh"..."Uh...uh...uh-uh, OW!"

You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke

Uh-huh, uh-huh

You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke

Uh-huh, uh-huh

You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke

Uh-huh, uh-huh

You can't hang...

Uh-huh, uh-huh

You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke

Uh-huh, uh-huh

You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke

Uh-huh, uh-huh

You can't hang...

Uh-huh, uh-huh

You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke