Red Intro
Yo, this fucker I was wit the other day,
I was chillin' with Scott and the minute that we got in front of our
crib with a shotgun. Cause jokers gonna be bustin' up
in there trying to get food, clothing, shelter, TV's, forks,
radios or whatever they can get there hands on. Shit
is getting mad ill out here man. Joker's running out here
like with MASKS on; I was with my man Pee, he think
he like Charlie Chan or Robert De Niro
or Bruce Lee or some shit, jumping from behind trees on
Muhfuckas, like Cowboys BANG BANG or whatever you
know. Trying to shoot a joker he had beef with, he wound
up shootin my man up in the street, tyring to be Cowboys
they can't even shoot, trying to be gangsta's but when the
Beast come on the muthafuckin' block everybody break out.

They beat my man Bob G. up the other day, cops, pigs vampin'
on him, everybody just standin' around just watching that
shit take place. Cause they only gangsta's when it comes to
being gangsta's to themselves. They want to be Corleone, Luigi,
or Gambino or Gotti or whatever the fuck. They run around callin'
themselves Rahiem or Fuquan or Mustapha cause we think they
got power, but fuck them, I got power. I got power, I got family,
I got Family Business on Avon, on Chancellor, on Prince Street
on Chadwick, on Stratford on Chancellor on Vailsburg. All of the
Brick City. That's my family, we gonna settle The SCORE, once
and for all. I'm not lettin' nobody I'm going out like
a bandit. And all of these ZEALOTS trying to steal and trying to
bite what I got like all of these big record companies, these
corporations these stores they try to rob me. Naw man, I'm going,
I'm a get mine. Me and my girl we gonna go out together
we gonna be a soldier kid. When I go out, she go out. And we
gonna make what we believe Manifest cause if you ain't Ready
now, you ain't never gonna be ready . . .
I'm always ready.

Retour





How Many Mics
Pick up your microphones,
Pick up your microphones

Chorus: Wyclef/Pras
How many mics do we rip on the daily
Say, me say many money say me say many many many
How many mics do we rip on the daily
Many money say me say many many many

Lauryn Hill:
I get mad frustrated when I rhyme
Thinkin of all them kids that try to do this
for all the wrong reasons
Season change mad things rearrange
But it all stays the same like the love doctor strange
I'm tame like the rapper get red like a snapper,
when they do that,
Got your whole block saying true dat,
If only they knew that, it was you who was irregular
Soldier soul for some secular muzac that's whack
Plus you use that, loop, over and over,
Claiming that you got a new style,
your atempts are futile, oooh child
Your puerile, brain waves are sterile,
You can't create you just wait to take, my take
Laced with malice, hands get callous,
from ripping microphones from here to Dallas go ask Alice
if you don't believe me,
I get innovisions like Stevie
See me, a sin from the chalice, like the weed be
Indeed we like Kalid Mohammed MC's make me vomit
I get controversial, freaky style with no rehearsal
Oooh contrare moonfire, don't you even go there
Me without a mike is like a beat without a snare
I dare to tear into your ego, we go, way back
Like some gonja and palequo or Coleco Vision
My minds make incisions in your anatomy
And I back this with dudaronomy or liberty-kids
God made this word, you can't get with this
Sweet like licorice, dangerous like syphillis, yeah

(Chorus)

Wyclef:
I used to be underrated, now I take iron,
makes my shit constipated I'm more concentrated,
so on my day off with David Sanonburg I play golf,
Run through Crown Heights screaming out "Mazeltoff!"
Problem with noman before black I'm first hu-man
Appetite to write, like Frederick Douglass with a slave hand
Street pressure, word to papa I aint' going under
One day I have a label and make deals with Tommy Mottola
Mama always told me, "Your one in a million,
Always watch our back, never tango with haitian-sicilians"
Now I got a record deal, how does it feel?
I'm never gonna survive unless I get crazy like Seal
Cause the whole worlds' out a order,
So at night the feins dance on grease with John Travolta
One got slaughtered as he caught blood from his mouth
The other tried to duck and caught a left with my Guinness stout
Brother, brother can't you get this through your head,
It's a setup by the feds, their scoping us with their infrared

(Chorus)

Pras:
Too many MC's not enough mikes,
exit your show like I exit the turnpike
Dice and dynomite like Dolomite,
double do's been like I don't Dick Van Dyke
Starlight to starbrite the freaks come out at night
Like my man Wyclef - "I wear my sunglasses at night"
And my ponage with martial encourage
Squash the squad and hide their bodies under my garage
And when the cops come lookin, I be bookin to Brooklyn
Beat the trails broken flipping tokens to Hoboken
A clean Getaway like Alec Baldwin,
driving in my fast car playing Tracy Chapman

(Chorus)

Many, many money many many many
Many, many money. Ha, Ha,Ha

Retour





Ready Or Not
Chorus: Lauryn Hill
Ready Or Not, Here I Come, You Can't Hide
Gonna Find You and Take it Slowly
Ready Or Not, Here I Come, You Can't Hide
Gonna Find You and Make you want me.

CLEF:
Now that I escape, sleepwalker awake
Those who could relate know the world ain't cake
Jail bars ain't golden gates
Those who fake, they break,
When they meet their 400 pound mate
If I could rule the world
Everyone would have a gun in the ghetto of course
When giddyupin' on their horse
I Kick a rhyme drinkin' moonshine
I pour a sip on the concrete, for the deceased
But no don't weep, Wyclef's in a state of sleep
Thinkin' 'bout the robbery that I did last week.
Money in the bag, banker looked like a drag
I want to play with pelicans from here to Baghdad
Gun blast, think fast, I think I'm hit
My girl pinched my hips to see if I still exist.
I think not, I'll send a letter to my friends,
A born again hooligan only to be king again.

LAURYN:
I play my enemies like a game of chess, where I rest,
No stress
If you don't smoke sess, lest.
I must confess, my destiny's manifest
In some Goretex and sweats I make treks like I'm homeless
Rap orgies with Porgy and Bess,
Capture your bounty like Elliot Ness, YES
Bless you if you represent the Fu
But I'll hex you with some witch's brew if you're Doo Doo
Voo Doo,
I can do what you do, easy, BELIEVE ME
Frontin' niggas give me hee-bee-gee-bees
So while you're imitating Al Capone
I'll be Nina Simone
And defacating on your microphone.

Chorus:
Ready Or Not, Here I Come, You Can't Hide
Gonna Find You and Take it Slowly
Lauryn's Interlude
You can't run away
>From these styles I got, oh baby, hey baby
Cause I got a lot, oh yeah
And anywhere you go
My whole crew's gonna know
You can't hide from the block, oh no.

PRAZ:
Ready or not, refugees takin' over
The Buffalo soldier, dread-lock rhasta
On the twelfth hour, fly by in my bomber
Crews run for cover, now they're under pushin' up flowers
Superfly true lies, do or die,
Toss me high - only puff la,
With my crew from lock high
I refugee from Guantanamo Bay
Dance around the border like I'm Cassius Clay

Chorus (Lauryn) REPEAT 3X:
Ready Or Not, Here I Come, You Can't Hide
Gonna Find You and Take it Slowly
Ready Or Not, Here I Come, You Can't Hide
Gonna Find You and Make You Want Me

Retour





Zealots
[Wyclef]
Another MC lose his life tonight, lord
I beg that you pray to Jesus Christ, why
O lord, father don't let him bury me, whoa

[Wyclef]
I haunt MC's like Mephistophales
Bringin swords and Damacles
Secret service keep a close watch as if my name was Kennedy
Abstract raps simple with a street format
Gaze into the sky and measure planets by parallax.
Check out the retrograde motion, kill the notion
Of biting and recycling and calling it your own creation.
I Feel like Rockwell, "Somebody's watching me"
I got no privacy whether on land or at sea.
And for you biting zealots, your raps are cacophonic
Hypocrit, critic, but deep inside you wish you had the pop hit.
It hurts don't it, the refugees come to your turf and take over
the earth.

[Lauryn]: Interlude
See my rhymes are the type of fly rhymes
That can only get down with my crew
And if you try to take lines or bite rhymes
We'll show you how the refugees do.

[Lauryn]
Behold, as my odes, manifold on your rhymes
Two MC's can't occupy the same space at the same time.
It's against the laws of Physics.
So weep as your sweet dreams break up like Eurythmics
Rap rejects my tape deck, ejects projectile
Whether jew or gentile
I rank top percentile,
Many styles,
More powerful than gamma rays
My grammar pays,
Like Carlos Sanatana plays
Black Magic Woman
So while you fuming, I'm consuming
Mango juice under Polaris,
You're just embarrassed
Cause it's your "Last Tango in Paris"
And even after all my logic and my theory,
I add a muthafuckker so you ignint niggas hear me.
And you remember take notes,
As I sow my rap otas
And for you biting zealots, here's a quote.

[Wyclef]: Chorus
Another MC lose his life tonight, lord
I beg that you pray to Jesus Christ, why
O lord, father don't let him bury me, whoa

[Wyclef]
You can try but you can't divide the tri
These cats can't rap, Mr. Author I feel no Vibe
The magazine says the girl should have gone solo,
The guys should stop rapping, vanish like Menudo.
Took it to the heart, but every actor plays his part
As long as someone was listening, I knew it was a start,
For me to get a chance, grab my pen and revamp
Do a cameo while everybody do the dance.
Quick now, cause you runnin' out of lucka
Playin' Mr. Big, I'm gonna get you sucka.
While you munchin at your luncheon, I'll be planning your
assassination
Then hit you like the Dutchmen

[Pras]
I compress sound sets with my rap DBX
Then drop vocals on my 456 AMPEX
Bring terror to the shop of horror,
As she cries "Mi amor"
The phantom dies in the opera
And to the youngin's who carry gadgets
And kill 6 days a week then rest on the Sabbath.
Violence ain't necessary, unless you provoke me
Then get buried like the great Mussolini
And for you bitin' Zealots
Your rap styles are relics
No matter who you damage
Your still a false prophet.

[Wyclef]: Chorus
Another MC lose his life tonight, lord
I beg that you pray to Jesus Christ, why
O lord, father don't let him bury me, whoa

Retour





The Beast
(Chorus)
Warn the town the beast is loose,
Word 'em up y'all
C'mon

[LAURYN]
Conflicts with night sticks
Illegal sales districts,
Hand-picked lunatics, keep poli-TRICK-cians rich
Heretics push narcotics amidst its risks and frisks,
Cool cliques throw bricks but seldom hit targets
Private-DIC sell hits, like porno-flicks do chicks.
The 666 cut W.I.C. like Newt Gingrich SUCKS DICK

[CLEF]
Meanwhile the government brings Star Wars from glocks to glockers
C.O.P. has an APB out on Chewbacca
Mista Mayor, can I say something in yo honor
Yesterday in Central Park they got the Jogger
Okay, okay.
Let's get the confusion straight in ghetto Gotham
The man behind the mask you thought was Batman is Bill Clinton.
Who soon retire, the roof is on fire
Connie Chung brung the bomb as it comes from Oklahoma
Things are getting serious, Kuumbaya,
On a mountain satan offered me, Manhattan help me Jah Jah

[CLEF]
You can't search me without probable cause
Or that proper ammunition they call reasonable suspicion
Listen I bring friction to your whole jurisdiction
You planted seeds in my seat when I wasn't lookin.
Now you ask me for my license/registration
"WHAT THE FUCK" is my name
"WHAT THE FUCK" is my occupation
Well I'm an MC, I'm down with the Fugees
Mother Mary caught a flashback like Rodney now the cops got Lolly.

[LAURYN]
The subconscious psychology that you use against me,
If I lose control will send me to the penetentiary
Such as Alcatraz, or shot up like al Hajj Malik Shabazz
High class get bypassed while my ass gets harrassed.
And the fuzz treat bruh's like they manhood never was,
And if you too powerful, you get bugged like Peter Tosh and Marley was.
And my word does nothing against the feds,
So my eyes stay red as I chase crazy bald heads, WORD UP.

[CHORUS]
Warn the town the beast is loose, Ah - ah, Ah - ah
Word 'em up y'all

[CLEF]
The chase is on I feel like the bad guy
Fifth gear 125 like New Jersey drive
Looked in my rear view mirror
Police was getting closer
Heard a roar in the sky,
Looked up and saw the Blue Thunder.
My inner conscious says throw your handkerchief and surrender,
BUT TO WHO???
The star spangled banner ooh.
Say can't you see cops more crooked than we
By the dawn's early night robbin' niggas for kis.
Easy low key crooked military
Pay taxes out my ass but they still harrass me.

[PRAS]
The streets of corruption got me bustin and cussin' in the concrete
jungle
Thoughts being dribbled like that tall kid Mutumbo
Handled by Hannibal
Soon I'm gonna be a fugitive like Dr. Kimble.

[CLEF]
Hey yo should I slow down?

[PRAS]
Nah kid go faster,
Just cause they got a badge, they could still be impostors.
Probable cause, got flaws like dirty draws
Meet me at the corner store so we can start the street wars.

(Chorus)
Warn the town the beast is loose, Ah - ah, Ah - ah,
Word 'em up y'all

Retour





Fu-Gee-La
[Wyclef]
We used to be number 10
Now we're permanent one,
In the battle lost my finger, Mic became my arm
Pistol nozzle hits your nasal, blood becomes lukewarm
Tell the woman be easy Naah squeeze the Charmin
Test Wyclef, see death flesh get scorned.
Beat you so bad make you feel like you ain't wanna be born
And tell your friends stay the hell out of my lawn.
Chicken George became Dead George stealin' chickens from my farm.
Damn, Another dead pigeon
If your mafiosos then I'm bringin' on Haitian Sicilians
Nobody's shootin', my body's made of hand grenade
Girl bled to death while she was tongue-kissing a razor blade.
That sounds sick maybe one eday I'll write a horror
Blackula comes to the ghetto, jacks an ACURA
Stevie Wonder sees Crack Babies Be-Coming Enemies of their own families.
What's going on?
Armageddon come you know we soon done
Gun by my side just in case I gotta rump
A boy on the side of Babylon, trying to front like he's down with
Mount Zion.

[Lauryn] Chorus:
Oooh La La La,
It's the way that we rock when we're doing our thang
Oooh La La La,
It's the natural LA that the Refugees Bring
Oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Laaah,
Sweeeeet Thing

[Lauryn]
Yeah in saloons we drink Boone's and battle goons till high noon,
Bust rap toons on flat spoons, take no shorts like poon poon's.
See hoochies pop coochies, for Gucci's and Lucci
Find me in my Mitsubishi, eatin' sushi, bumpin' Fugees.
Hey Hey Hey
Try to take the crew and we don't play play
Say say say
Like Paul McCartney, not hardly,
ODD-ly enough
I can see right through your bluff
Niggas huff and they puff but they can't handle us, WE BUST
Cause we fortified, I could never hide, seen "Cooley High",
Cried when Cochise died.
I'm twisted, black-listed by some other negroes,
Don't remove my Polos on the first episode.
Ha Ha Ha Ha, You shouldn't diss refugees, and
Ha Ha Ha Ha, You whole sound set's bootie , and
Ha Ha Ha Ha, You have to respect JERSEY, cause I'm superfly when
I'm super-high on the Fu-Gee-La.

[Lauryn] Chorus:
Oooh La La La,
It's the way that we rock when we're doing our thang
Oooh La La La,
It's the natural LA that the Refugees Bring
Oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Laaah,
Sweeeeet Thing

[Pras]
I sit 90 degrees underneath palm trees,
Smokin' beadies as I burn my calories,
Brooklyn roof tops become Brooklyn tee-pees,
Who that be, enemies, wanna see the death of me.
>From Hawaii to Hawthorne, I run marathons, like
Buju Banton, I'm a true champion, like,
Farakkhan reads his Daily Qu'ran it's a phenomenon,
lyrics fast like Ramadan.

[Wyclef] (2x)
What's goin' on
Armageddon come you know we soon done
Gun by my side just in case I gotta rump
A boy on the side of Babylon, trying to front like he's down with
Mount Zion.

[Lauryn] Chorus: (2x)
Oooh La La La,
It's the way that we rock when we're doing our thang
Oooh La La La,
It's the natural LA that the Refugees Bring
Oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Laaah, Sweeeeet Thing

Retour





Family Business
[Omega]
Where I was born, nothing is promised
My life is filled with less hope than the prophecies of Nostradamus
Omega marks the ending of predictability, birth of agility
Who will it be to test me and expose their futility.
Iron like a lion from Zion stop tryin' so hard,
I think I smell your brain cells fryin'.
The family's behind you if you're worthy
Philosophies developed deep in the back streets of dirty Jersey
Troops with scully hats and Timberland boots
No more break-dancing for loot.
Niggas hustle and shoot
In the Garden State, it grows stink weeds and criminals
Government funds are minimal
Oppression's subliminal

[Wyclef]
These days its hard for we to find peace of mind
Between insanity and sanity there lies a thin line.
Some dwell in hotels with Jezebels
A stone age and fall a victim to the Plague
Unclean bad dreams of Wyclef being a fiend,
One last kiss from my sweet serpentine
Eliminate then break,
Navigate to rejuvenate thoughts of suicide with my nickel plate.
Reconcilation came from my enemy-friend
Who said family don't bend
We stay silent till the end.
Now who would think that your best friend
Would be your worst enemy and your enemy your best friend.
Stare into the air inspiration from the atmosphere
I think of old ghosts, that ain't even here.
Like Alex Haley take notes on this Biography
My family tree consists of street refugees.
A ghetto land, where we talk slang
Stolen cars bang, like my chitty bang-bang sh-bang
For the heads, we ain't sellin' cocaine today
So refrain and let my family reign okay

[Omega] Chorus:
Just walkin' the streets death can take you away
It's never guaranteed that you'll see the next day
At night the evil armies of Shaton don't play
So defend the family that's the code to obey

[Wyclef]
But if I fall asleep and death takes me away
Don't be surprised son, I wasn't put here to stay
At night the evil armies of Shaton don't play
So the family sticks together and we never betray

[Wyclef]
Nah fuck that
Fifty-two pick up, no cops around
Fifty-two thousand in cash, I don't want no savings bonds
Have the money ready, I smell something fishy
Your wife's in my custody
One false move and you'll find her body in the sea.
That's the voice of the kid, that's the kidnapper
I do my work and then I catch my ticket to Jamaica.
Meet me in the alley, make sure you bring the money
This ain't the seventies I'm far from a jive turkey

[Lauryn]
My circle it can't be broken
Open, cut-throatin', provokin'
Record promotin, tokens chokin' on they words like smoke and.
Cause we soft spoken, doesn't mean that we've forgotten
Your bootie smells rotten and one day you will be gotten
See joker's is scatter-brained, their focus is unrestrained
My army is trained, you never find us beefin' in vain.
Cause I've seen fire and I've seen rain
You claim fame, while modest niggas remain.
I can judge a character like Ito judge a verdict
And if you bringin' threats I give you sex if I ain't heard it.
See poppin' s***'s about your attitude and how you word it
I've seen the biggest niggas on the block get murdered
And they deserverd it
Or so the beast said when they served it ???
That s*** is nervous
So what's my purpose?
Family, we must preserve it.
Your number's retired
I hope you like the hell fires
You'll be screamin' Murder she Wrote like Chaka Demus and Pliars.

[Omega] Chorus:
Just walkin' the streets death can take you away
It's never guaranteed that you'll see the next day
At night the evil armies of Shaton don't play
So defend the family that's the code to obey

[Lauryn]
If I should fall asleep and death takes me away
Don't be surprised son, I wasn't put here to stay
At night the evil armies of Shaton don't play
So the family stick together and we never betray.

[John Forté]
We used to jump rope,
But now we gun hope
Bustin' shots off of project roof tops
Sending signals with the blunt smoke.
Ock, don't talk a lot if you can't hold it in lock
If you think lips sink ships,
Imagine full glock clips.
I hold a glass of Remy Martin
Gettin' milks by the carton
Extortin' the light weights for thinkin' they important
The night pays and heavenly ways
Ain't nothin' free ah
Knowledge of your family and steppin' to your B.I.
You see I, stay on top of s*** like a fly
My niggas reach when they got beef
Then jet down to South Beach
Yo mouthpiece is yappin'
I hear it in your rap and
My family is thick so that bulls*** could never happen.

[Wyclef] Chorus:
Just walkin' the streets death can take you away
It's never guaranteed that you'll see the next day
At night the evil armies of Shaton don't play
So defend the family that's the code to obey

[Lauryn]
If I should fall asleep and death takes me away
Don't be surprised son, I wasn't put here to stay
At night the evil armies of Shaton don't play
So the family stick together and we never betray.

Retour





Killing Me Softly
Strumming dub plates with our fingers,
Eliminate sounds with our song,
Killing a sound boy with this sound,
Killing a sound boy with this sound,
Taking sound boys' lives with this dub,
Killing him softly with this sound.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.

[Lauryn]
I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style,
And so I came to see him and listen for a while.
And there he was this young boy, stranger to my eyes,
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.
I felt all flushed with fever,
Embarrassed by the crowd,
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud.
I prayed that he would finish,
But he just kept right on strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song

[Wyclef]
Yo L-Boogie, take it to the bridge

[Lauryn]
(Bust it)
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song.
Strumming my pain with his finger, yeah he was . . .
[shoutouts and fade]

Retour





The Score
[Wyclef]
Look into the rhyme
Rum to the ripple
Sing boo,
But at times I come in triple.
Blaow, blaow put the heater to your head
Now your dead.
Wyclef don't give a *beep* if your dead.
Raaaaah, raaaah
Let me attack just like the black cat
You in the wrong neighborhood, check the map.
Hooo, you've got to go for backup
To do what you gotta do.
So you'll be back with France CU
Traitor in your crew is mafo heat
Put the poison in your tea
and kill the toad, But I'll be back with the centipede
I'm on some new technique, drunken bamboo
Awoo hoo a hoo, I'm taking all crews what.
Competition, stimulation for the rap man
Losers check your tooters
While I'm suckin' on your girls hooters.
Don't play macho, while you got the gun
Cause if you got to reload . . .

[Wyclef]
Wyclef the multi-talented
Average heads can't handle it
I'll bring it to you live
Only if you want it.
Me and my guitar go back like the days of the RMC's
[C'mon check out my melody]
The W-Y-C-L-E-F, Wyclef
Through any contest
I'm victorious
Still keep it real, if you will and manifest
Through your skills, not by how many shells you peel.

[Pras]
I'm a bring down the ruckus
Play the nutcracker
Rough-neck rednecks make me no bother
Time after time, ask Cyndi Lauper,
Boss, you don't want to fuck with my partners
Motion, commotion, what's your proposal
Uphold two-fold, the crew is disposal
Like utensil, false idental,
I autograph my lyrics with a number 2 pencil

[Lauryn]
I'm the L, Won't you pull it
Straight to the head
With the speed of a bullet
Cuttin' jokers off at the meeky-freeky gullet
Lyrical sedative, keep niggas medative
Head rushers I give to creative kids and fiends
Dreams of euphoria,
Aurora,
To another galaxy
Phallic-sy
Be this microphone, but get lifted
Lyrically I'm gifted
Burn on in without the roach clip (it)
Henders, mind-bender
Pleasure sender,
So frequently your nerve endings belong to me
Wrongfully you put me down not receiving the full capacity of my smoke
Wack niggas choke
From the fumes that I emote,
Or emit shit
See even I feel the mahogany L
Natural hallucinogen
Turning boys to men again
With estrogen dreams
Release blues, yellows and greens
From Brownsville to Queens

[Diamond-D]
I creep like a theif, no doubt the man's swift
I'm more magnificent than Lee Van Cliff
You stand stiff and got the nerve to let your man riff
[We know where to run]
And start flakin' like dandruff.
C'mon son my steelo's tight
Cause by far I'm the best producer on the mic
On the right, analytical conceptions
With precision and leave lyrical incisions.

Retour





The Mask
Chorus:
Have you ever worn the mask one-two one-two,
M to the A to the S to the K
Put the mask upon the face just to make the next day,
Feds be hawkin me
Jokers be stalking me,
I walk the streets and camouflage my identity,
My posse in the Brooklyn wear the mask.
My crew in the Jersey wear the mask.
Stick up kids doing boogie woogie wear the mask.
Yeah everybody wear da mask but how long will it last.

[Wyclef]
I used to work at Burger King. A king taking orders.
Punching my clock. Now I'm wanted by the manager.
Soupin me up sayin "Your a nice worker,"
"How would you like a quarter raise, move up the register"
"Large in charge, but cha gotta be my spy,
Come back and tell me who's baggin my fries,
Getting high on company time."
Hell no sirree, wrong M.C.
Why should I be a spy, when you spying me,
And you see whatcha thought ya saw but never seen.
Ya missed ya last move, Checkmate! Crown me King,
Hold my 22 pistol whipped him in his face.
Hired now I'm fired, sold bud now I'm wired,
Eyes pitch red but da beat bop my head
Hit the streets for relief, I bumped into the Feds,
I got kidnapped they took me to D.C.,
Have me working underground building missiles for World War III.

Chorus:
M to the A to the S to the K,
Put the mask up on the face just to make the next day.
Brothers be gaming, Ladies be claiming.
I walk the streets and camouflage my identity.
My posse Uptown wear the mask.
My crew in the Queens wear the mask.
Stick up kids with the Tommy Hil wear the mask.
Yeah everbody wear the mask but how long will it last.

[Lauryn]
I thought he was the wonder, and I was stunned by his lips,
Taking sips sipping Amaretto sour with a twist,
Shook my hips to the bass line, this joker grabbed my waistline,
Putting pressure on my spine trying to get L-Boog to wind,
I backed up off him then caught him with five finger to his face,
I had to put him in his place,
This kids invading my space,
But then I recognized the smile, but I couldn't place the style,
So many fronts in his mouth, I thought he was the Golden Child,
Then it hit me that's Tariq from off the street around Grams.
I haven't seeen him since fifteen, when he got booked for doing scams.
I tried to walk away but he wouldn't let me leave,
He ran up quick behind me asking, "Yo what happened to my nigga Steve?"
Steve was like this kid I went with back in Grammar School.
I chuckled knucklehead I seen him yesterday he's cool,
He's busted, "so who you checking for now?"
Probably some intellectual.
I kept the conversation straight and he kept trying to make it sexual.
Then his old lady tried to play me waved her hands up in my face,
Yo I told her check your man cause Bitch you acting out of place.

Chorus:
M to the A to the S to the K,
Put the mask up on the face just to make the next day.
Brothers be gaming, Ladies be claiming.
I walk the streets and camouflage my identity.
My posse Uptown wear the mask.
My crew in the Queens wear the mask.
Stick up kids with the Tommy Hil wear the mask.
Yeah everbody wear the mask but how long will it last.

[Pras]
3 A.M. in the morning on the Boulevard,
I'm still at large engaged with my entourage,
Me and Godfather and a 67 Dodge.
I stepped out the note to post up my guard
Searching for my car that was stolen from Scotland Yard.
My first instinct was to check the chop shop garage.
As I rung the bell someone tapped me on my back,
I turned around to look it was a rookie in a mask.
He said, "I got a itchin' on my trigger,
Don't move nigga I'm taking you for murder."
See cops got two faces like two laces on my Reeboks.
My knees knock as I step back for a claear shot,
Well did you shoot him? Naw kid I didn't have the balls,
That's when I realized I'm pumpin'too much Biggie Smalls.

Chorus:
M to the A to the S to the K,
Put the mask up on the face just to make the next day.
Brothers be gaming, Ladies be claiming.
I walk the streets and camouflage my identity.
My posse Uptown wear the mask.
My crew in the Queens wear the mask.
Stick up kids with the Tommy Hil wear the mask.
Yeah everbody wear the mask but how long will it last.

Retour





Cowboys
This is the Fugees, Outsiders up in here:

[Wyclef] Chorus:
Everyone wants to be a cowboy
Grab your guns boy
Forty-five by my side,
No the nigger dies.

[Pace 1]
Zen, zen zen zen zen zen zen
You shot your bullet, but the bullet when ****
Desperado, do work for new boy
I pull out my gun and plug two like Trugoy

[Wyclef]
Wyclef

[Pace 1]
Pace 1

[Wyclef]
Yo this was how the West was won,

[Pace 1]
Our motto, a true Desperado.

[Wyclef]
Rappers want to be actors
So they play the Jesse James Character
[Pace 1]
And get they bones fractured.

[Pace 1]
You ain't got no guns, you off to the precinct
Inside tuff guys are feminine like Sheena Easton

[Wyclef]
Woman cry, woman cry, Son still dies
Thrown off the building like the Fall guy
Caved in the grave cause you didn't know how to behave
Playin' cowboy now you sleep with the slaves

[Pace 1]
Who's the desperado, sellin' bottles in the alley
On some villain shit, wearin' a mask like Jim Carrey
With his gat cocked, stinkin' up the crack spot
Pace 1 dies with both eyes on the jackpot

[Wyclef]
The town that I'm from beggars eat cat chowder
Sundance Kid is the everyday purse snatcher
If you see him coming, you better start running
Like a terrorist I guarantee you he'll be humming.

[Pace 1]
Dynamite, dynamite, Clef I got the cash

[Wyclef]
Yo let's skip town like Harlem nights.

[Wyclef] Chorus:
Everyone wants to be a cowboy
Grab your guns boy
Forty-five by my side,
No the nigger dies.

[Lauryn]
We make moves in stage coaches
Ra Digga likes the roaches
If anyone approaches
We be like noches, buenos
And I compose a poem for the many gun-slingers
R & B singers, perpetrating guns with two fingers.

[Ra Digga]
My style is perhaps one of the foulest
I inhale large clouds of smoke through my chalice.
(Buckin' at stars) and write rhymes for hours
The ghetto missy, drinkin' whiskey sours.

[Lauryn]
Bust this scenario, can't no other niggers in the barrio
(From Newark to Ontario), bust us when we in stereo.
Cause me and Rashida rock the battles
It's apparent, your no talent, cause your blazin' in your saddle.

[Ra Digga]
Watch these rap bitches get all up in your pockets
Then bounce with accountants that give me good stock tips
Cause props is up, Digga's through the roof
Burnin' niggers like I'm 90 proof.

[Lauryn]
And for all you head beaters
The lead eaters, the cheaters soon to be retreaters
While mamasitas carry real heaters.

[Ra Digga]
I rock the Dooby and
L rocks the Nubian twists 96
Muthafuckas gettin' dissed

[Wyclef] Chorus:
Everyone wants to be a cowboy
Grab your guns boy
Forty-five by my side,
No the nigger dies.

[Young Zee]
Yeah, when the OUT's hooked up with the Refugees
It be more niggas than the NAACP
Comin' up on weed of all type
Smokin' home-grown out tobacco pipes.

[Pras]
(You've got to know when to hold them,
Know when to fold them)
I can take the sunshine, piss in your wine
Steal your concubine, walk away with your goldmine.

[Young Zee]
So ooh aaah achiga, Mamase Mamasa Mamakusa

[Pras]
Fuck the sheriff, I shot John Wayne
Push him off the runaway train in the movie Shane
Yeah me and that kid, um "What's his name?"

[Young Zee]
That would be me, Young Zee from No Brain
Smokin' pure from the health fodd store,
While my whore slaps cops like Zsa Zsa Gabor
Fuck with OUT's it's like those Islam brothers,
We march through your hood with a million muthafuckas.
So let's get high off the Fu-Gee-La
When the east is in the house, like I'm Blahzay-blah

[John Forté]
When pandemonium strikes, at midnight
Full moon splits soft niggas in a lunatic
On some absurd shit
You talk back, hustlin' crack don't make you bigger
Niggas who take your measurements quick, don't make it quicker.
Stick and slide with vigor
City streets hot like liquor
21 gun salutin, shootin' niggas from the roof and
Got nerve to mouth about it and the weight you claim you movin'
Your whole style is loose and we gon' sew it like it's cotton.
You fail to recognize that everybody could get gotten
the bounty on your head, says your dead by manana
Pop babies whisperin' that there's a body dropped, behind the lot
Police blew up the spot and locked the whole block
Medina is the east side of town lounge never till we yawnin'
Gun players regular front page is the bonus
Life will keep existing while I'm shitin' on the corners
Life will keep existing while I'm shitin' on the corners

[Wyclef] Chorus:
Everyone wants to be a cowboy
Grab your guns boy
Forty-five by my side,
No the nigger dies.

Retour





No Woman, No Cry
[Wyclef]
A dedication to all the refugees worldwide
One time say, say, say

I remember when we used to sit in the government yard in Brooklyn.
Observing the crookedness as it mingled with the good people we meet.
Good friends we had,
Good friends we've lost along the way.
In this great future you can't forget your past, So dry your tears
I say And to my peeps who passed away,

No woman, no cry, no woman no cry, say say say.
Hey little sister don't shed no tears
No woman no cry say say say.

I remember when we used to rock in a project yard in Jersey,
And little Georgie would make the firelight,
As stolen cars passed through the night
And then we'd hit the corner store for Roots, paper, and brew.
My drink's my only remedy
For pain of losing family, but while I'm gone Shorty

Everything's gonna be alright, everything's gonna be alright,
Fugees come to the dance tonight, everything's gonna be alright,
O everything's gonna be alright,
The gun man's in the house tonight,
But everything's gonna be alright.

Chorus:
Oh ah oh ah
Oh ah oh ah
Oh ah oh ah
Oh ah oh ah
Oh ah oh ah
Oh ah oh ah
Oh ah oh ah

[Wyclef]
No woman no cry, no woman no cry.
Hey, little sister, don't shed no tears
No woman no cry say say say.

I remember when we used to sit in a government yard in Trenchtown.
The hypocrites as they mingled with the good people we meet.
Good friends we had Oh good friends we've lost
Along the way hey.
In this great future,
You can't forget your past so dry your tears I say
And no woman no cry. No woman no cry say say say.
Hey, little sistser, don't shed no tears
No woman no cry and to my peeps who passed away

Chorus:
Oh ah oh ah
Oh ah oh ah
Oh ah oh ah
Oh ah oh ah
Oh ah oh ah

Retour





Manifest/Outro
[Wyclef]
I woke up this morning
I was feeling kind of high
It was me, Jesus Christ and Haile Selassie
Selassie said greetings in the name of the most high,
Jah Rhastafari,
Christ, took a sip of the Amaretto,
Passed it down the table said today I'll be betrayed by one you 12
disciples
Give me a clue who could do this to you?
The kid on the block who makes less money than you.
Crooked cops pulled up, they offered him 30 pieces of silver
All he got to do is deliver the savior
Right on Bergen St. from bad luck to good luck
My cup runneth over, pass it down, guzzle up
The time has arrived, the prophecy will manifest
I saw death, I got scared, butterflies on my chest
Father if possible, pass this cup before me,
But it's too late I chose my destiny in Gethsemane.

[Lauryn]
You see I loved hard once, but the love wasn't returned
I found out the man I'd die for, he wasn't even concerned
And time it turned,
He tried to burn me like a perm
Though my eyes saw the deception, My heart wouldn't let me learn
From um, some, dumb woman, was I,
And everytime he'd lie, he would cry and inside I'd die.
My heart must have died a thousand deaths
Compared myself to Toni Braxton thought I'd never catch my breath
Nothing left, he stole the heart beating from my chest
I tried to call the cops, that type of thief you can't arrest
Pain suppressed, will lead to cardiac arrest
Diamonds deserve diamonds, but he convinced me I was worth less
when my peoples would protest,
I told them mind their business, cause my s*** was complex
More than just the sex
I was blessed, but couldn't feel it like when I was caressed
I'd spend nights clutching my breasts overwhelmed by God's test
I was God's best contemplating death with a Gillette
But no man is ever worth the paradise MANIFEST

[Pras]
Gun-clap Shell cap,
Got them crawling on they back
Come through with the Fu
They be who the F**k is that
It's unpredictable, when my tongue performs like Jujitsu
Cut you with my lyrics, stab you with my pencil
Lethal injection, witness protection
Refugee camp's under investigation
Gunshot bursts in all directions
For the wack MC's we read your revelations
Discharge through your pores
Get raw and kill Boors
I can Capleton when I'm on a Tour
Some manifest, with slugs in they chest
God bless all the Cowboys in the Wild Wild West

Retour





Fu-Gee-La
[Wyclef]
We used to be number 10
But now we're permanent one
Wyclef, Preacher's Son, Ichi bang,
Listen Mrs. Tin Can
I'm your candy handy man
Me without you is like American without the Band Stand
Cool fellow, dancehall stay mellow,
All that guntalk who would have thought you died yellow
Damn, another hero wannabe
Now he sleeps with his friends in the mortuary
Dude, I find it rude, when you intrude,
My pistol nozzle hits your nasal,
Doo doo comes out your anal
Just because your buff, don't play tuff
Cause I'll reverse the earth and turn your flesh back to dust.

[Lauryn] Chorus:
Ooooh La La La,
It's the way that we rock when we're doing our ting
Oooh La La La, It's the natural LA that the Refugees Bring
Oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Laaah, Sweeeeet Thing

[John Forté]
I stay high off the Fu-Gee-La
Bust when we rush,
Through you must, know ruckus
Crew got G's like the refu's
So F who
Ever want to test
Bring me stress,
West coast back to east,
Grab my toast when I reach
Truly curvin', swervin, lifestyle is urban,
Sippin' Bourbon, surviving
We real to keep the word when
A boy want fa testthis set
Then you get wet-up
Just a bit to unprepared to to shoot him fair bet

[Lauryn]
Fake bullets can't scar me
I can smell the weak out like safari
Play you out like Atari
Sacrifice you Hari Kari
And I'm sorry,
To every single rapper, Dick and Harry
Saying they want to spar me
Cause how thick my repertoire
And my memoir be
Reminding me of eating Calamari in the Khalahari with a band of
Rhastafari.
Ha Ha Ha Ha, You shouldn't diss refugees, and
Ha Ha Ha Ha, You whole sound set's bootie , and

[Lauryn] Chorus:
Oooh La La La, It's the way that we rock when we're doing our ting
Oooh La La La, It's the remix sound that the Refugees Bring
Oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Laaah, Sweeeeet Thing

[Pras]
I sit 90 degrees underneath palm trees,
Sitting in the cool breeze in the West Indies
Flea to sea, Ship my keys
On the Santa Maria, sip Sangria with senoritas
(They keep telling me this and telling me that)
They smile in my face then they talk behind my back
But what they lack is the facts about my stats
My rap impact will kill you softly like Roberta Flack

[Wyclef] (2x)
Ayo, What's goin' on
Armageddon come you know we soon done
Gun by my side just in case I gotta rump
A boy on the side of Babylon,
Trying to front like he's down with
Mount Zion.
[Lauryn] Chorus:
Oooh La La La, It's the way that we rock when we're doing our ting
Oooh La La La, It's the remix sound that the Refugees Bring
Oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Laaah, Sweeeeet Thing

Retour





Mista Mista
Mista mista
Can I get five dollars
So I can get something to eat
HELL NO MOTHERFUCKA
You can't get no money from me
Cause everytime I give you a dollar
You go get shot up with more and more needles
And you tell me that you're drug free
Drug Free
Mista mista
I haven't ate anything for a week
Can I get a quarter?
HELL NO MOTHERFUCKA
What can a quarter get you?
Nothing motherfucka
You are just fucked up
Off them fucked up drugs
You know you need to leave alone
But you keep telling me that you're drug free
MOTHERFUCKA
You ain't drug free, you're a fiend
And everytime I try to help you
You pretend as if it's okay
Then later on in the week
You go back to shootin' needles, to sniffin'
Oh mf, but you told me you were DRUG FREE
DRUG FREE
You ain't drug free motherfucka
So you damn well, can't get no motherfuckin money from me