The Jungle Brothers - I Remember lyrics

[ VERSE 1: Mike G ] Remedies for house parties stayed simple and plain Little wine, little music, little Mary Jane Gotta keep the lights dim, so when the people walk in The vibe stays nice and mellow, everybody fits in And everybody hey and ho, are gettin they groove on The record only stops when the lights came on Then they went back off, we continued to groove Then somebody grabbed the mic like they had somethin to prove It was just the spirit got em, it wouldn't let loose There right before our eyes hip-hop was produced The fire kept on burnin like a doggie in heat You couldn't help to feel the flavor as you walked through the streets Everybody had a crew on every block for blocks This seemed to be insurance that the beat won't stop So one day shots ring and it was no one to blame All you thought was would it ever all be the same But if you got the love, baby, won't a damn thing change As long as you remember it always remains [ CHORUS: The Holmes Brothers ] I remember When we used to play shoot-em-up, bang-bang I remember When we used to play shoot-em-up, bang-bang MC's and DJ's (2x) [ VERSE 2: Afrika Baby Bam ] Block parties jam-packed, the first time I heard rap And deejays spinnin breakbeats back These were the last good days of the ghetto It wasn't all about bein jiggy, so save that rap for Jell-O Down on my knees in the street playin skelly Rushin upstairs to see _Graffiti Rock_ on the telly With one eye on the beats droppin I knew that one day would come when I'd be on the mic rockin Every day after school practisin I mixed blues smarts with street smarts, and then started battle rappin But for me it wasn't happenin So I changed up my style, to the ladies been mackin I wrote a rhyme about 'Roxanne, Roxanne' I used to bust it out when I went to a jam My mother read the dirty rap She said, "You ain't gon' go too far expressin yourself like that Disrespectin black women And what's gon' happen when you turn around and try to have your own children?" So I changed up my style once again So me and my moms could still be friends My daddy wasn't buggin out so far Watchin me pretend to be another rap star Through my eyes he saw a child changin Growin up to be a man and leave behind the shootin, bangin [ CHORUS ] [ VERSE 3: Afrika Baby Bam ] Now this one goes out to the ones who set it off And all the pioneers that made it what it was Cause we been doin this for 25 years long So we gotta represent and keep hip-hop strong JBeez, we on a plateau, ain't nothin stoppin us Will with the spirit of God, now watch it jump in us Cause when you cut the roots off the family tree All you leave behind is the sweet memory Right from the start, we did it in the park It wasn't for the money, and it came from the heart But in these days and times, when rappers write rhymes All we think about is signin on the dotted line Me, I been thinkin about the way it used to be When before you was a rapper, you became an MC I'm proud of my heritage, and glad that we made it I still bust rhymes without bein player-hated Standin on the same stage, rockin with the JBeez Was a dream come true for a brother like me Before rap was consumed, and hip-hop was doomed I was bangin on tables, rhymin in the lunchroom I used to walk the street with my ghetto blaster My brothers on the block was startin Zulu chapters You know what I'm talkin about if you go way back And yo, big ups to all my sisters, in the name of rap Cause when it comes to hip-hop, you know you gotta keep it true Take from the old, mix it with the new I used to go by the name of MC Shazaam But now you know me as Afrika Baby Bam [ CHORUS ]