[Hook: KRS-One] We keep showin you, and showin you, and showin you This is what it is! We gon' flow with you, you know it's true, hip-hop This is what it is! We keep showin you, and showin you, and showin you This is what it is! We gon' flow with you, you know it's true, hip-hop This is what it is! [KRS-One] A man once said that the streets are watchin us If this be the truth we must keep hip-hop in us They'll never topple us You done heard them thugs, now it's time to hear from the philosophers Buildings fallin, employment stallin us Now it's time, the future is callin us Television is boring us Radio is whorin us, lurin us with a chorus plus You can't even trust The church, the synagogue, they all deceivin us It's time to believe in us To believe in a hip-hop lifestyle that agrees with us No squeeze or bust (bo! bo!) you find ease with us The DJ's, the MC's is us The ice we've seen enough It's time for hip-hop and this is what it is! [Hook] [KRS-One] You know we lead a movement, it's called "I Am Hip-Hop" Cats debate about it, but I am hip-hop Cats wanna talk about but I am hip-hop My cats in New York like "I am hip-hop" My cats in Atlanta like "I am hip-hop"
Cats in Miami like "I am hip-hop" Chi-Town like "I am hip-hop" All over L.A., "I am hip-hop" Keep the rawness; the gutter the real The movement's growin like corn in the field KRS-One was born with the steel I'm on top of my game like Shaquille O'Neal No surprises, hip-hop come in all sizes Now watch as KRS rises up, up-up, up and away~! Now you critics mouth shut, got nothin to say And that's good for the kids, cause hip-hop This is what it is! [Hook] [KRS-One] Stay focused... focused... Stay focused... oh, oh! Yeah, uh-huh, focused... Yo, look, look! This is what it is Y'all need to stop confusin the kids Makin 'em think you gotta do a bid to be hip-hop Man that ain't it Rob a n***a, k** a n***a, man that ain't sh** How you figure, how murder make you hip? You need to hop to the bookstore and look for Kris Anything by KRS-One Will lead you to peace, to love, to unity & havin fun Y'all know, but, some of y'all don't And some of y'all won't that's why only some of y'all dope The rest of y'all, food for the Gods I eat everything but pop's cause I don't eat lard [Hook] except for the very last three words