I Remember

Bad and the Slang
Remember when we were young, falling in love
With this thing called rap
I remember

I was a kid, just taking shape
Never thought a tape would change my fate
Summer of '85, at my cousin's house
Remember to this day, we was hanging out
Then he hit play, I was amazed
When DMC said that famous phrase
I'm the king of rock, I was obsessed
The only thing in this world that lessened my stress
'87, Rap was my way to relax
Same year heard Ice-T's Doggin' Da Wax
Gotta get that tape, way before CDs
Same year heard PE, BDP, Eric B
LL, Kool Moe Dee, plus Heavy D
All in the same year, lucky me
But when '91 came, my mind was blown
Ice-T dropped O.G., I want that microphone

I remember
Ice-T, Public Enemy, plus Run-DMC
I remember
Black Sheep, De La Soul, Gang Starr
I remember
Beastie Boys, Kool Moe Dee, and Big Daddy Kane
I remember
3Rd Bass, Poor Righteous Teachers, and A Tribe Called Quest

It go, on and on, and it don't stop
The sure shot, 'course I'm talking about my love for hip-hop
I remember the art form bringing the
Purest flows like a Brita water filter
Prominent, dominant, McCoy and I'm real
Spilled from the speakers, the tweakers had no chance
When the boombox was knocking, of course Slang was rocking
Cross colors, Levi's, no Guess, so fresh
Don't test the PTP crew 'cause we have respect
'Bout as much as a teen could have growing up in the 90's
Think it was '91 when I wrote my first rhyme, see
I was watching Lunchroom Battles, that was no joke, took notes
That was still when Bad was good and good was dope
That was also the year so many classic albums dropped
Yeah, I'm old school, I said albums now, check out what I copped
O.G. Death Certificate, Step in the Arena, De La's Dead
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, F'd Up, 4th Saggin', Low End

I remember
NWA, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, plus Eazy-E
I remember
Fat Boys, LL Cool J, and of course the Biz Markie
I remember
The Geto Boys, Scarface, Willie D, and Butch Rick Bill
I remember
The D.O.C., DJ Yella, and The Fresh Prince

'92, '93, I'm starting to write
Rapping in my boombox, never had no mic
'95 Hit, said I better do this soon
'96 Dropped my debut, High Noon
Dropped one more, did a tape with Kane
Hooked up with Slang, started Rearrange
Almost two decades, and I'm still here
And I still will, in twenty more years

Used to blend tunes that I had up in my crates
At my college radio station, I was up with it late
Playing exclusives of that newness
Mid-90's hip-hop was still golden ruling
If I had only knew then
My MC skills would take me places that I hadn't imagined
Like ATL and NY, I would've packed my bags then
As a shorty, rocked backspins and breakdance battled them
Neighborhood kids, really just me and my best friend

I remember
Slick Rick, BDP, Kurtis Blow, even Esham
I remember
Rakim, Arrested Development, and DJ Quik
I remember
Just-Ice, Sir Mix-a-Lot, Digital Underground, Humpty Hump
I remember
Doug E. Fresh, Stetsasonic, and Whodini

Rest in peace to all the rappers who died
And it's impossible to name everyone
But a lot of you, especially from the 80's, mid-90's
Influenced Rearrange in one way or another
And I remember all of you, trust me
Hip-hop encyclopedia, that's what our two brains are
I remember
I remember