"Water" lyrics - THE ROOTS

THE ROOTS

"Water"

(Leonard Hubbard / Ahmir Thompson / Tariq Trotter)

[Intro: Black Thought]
South Philly, Northside
Oakland, Texas
Georgia, Black people
Ugh, ugh, ugh, yo
Worldwide, it's for my nigga
Know what I'm saying? Yo
Dumb and blind

[Verse 1: Black Thought]
They say a record ain't nothing if it's not touching, gripping
Draw you in closer, make you want to listen to it
And if you real ill at making music, the listener feel like he living through it
That's how my nigga do it
I met Slacks back in Lyte, '91, rapping
We went to Millersville to get away from gun-clapping
It ain't last; I be in class dreaming 'bout
Fifty thousand fans up in the stands, screaming out:
"Encore!" Yo, I'm headed back to Philly
Nigga, you rollin' with me? I'm tryna get busy
We walked dogs that was off the chain
Lot of times, at the shows, people hardly came
I just took it in stride as part of the game
But inside, people down with me started to change
It was a couple things: lil' syrup, lil' pills
Instead of riding out on the road, you'd rather chill
I know the way the pleasure feel-I'm not judging
But still I'm on a mission, yo, I'm not bugging
I got fam that can't stop drugging, they can't sleep
They can't stick to one subject, they can't eat
It's people steady coming at me out in the street
Like, "'Riq, yo, what up with your peeps?" It gets deep, nigga

Yo, we done been through many meals, a couple of deals
We done shared clothes and wheels, killed mics and reels
We done rocked shows abroad and slept on floors
Tryna figure what the fuck we getting slept on for
Or what we walking with the weapon for
Weighted by the gravity law
You'd know it if you came up poor, my nigga
Picture the bus up north
You know we made of everything outlaws are made of
I'm far from a hater
And I don't say I love you, 'cause the way I feel is greater
And M-Ila, you a poet, son, you a born creator
And this'll probably dawn on you later
It's in your nature, lyrics all on your walls like they made of paper
You got to find out where your talent take you
You might fuck around, finally make it
And that's real, but-

Yo, I want you all to understand: I come from South Philly
And when I walk the street, it's like a pharmacy
They got all type of shit anybody could get
It go from H to X to loosie cigarettes
For my ghetto legend, known for lil' sheist' running
Copped codeine by the quarts and keep comin'
Dumbing, just embracing the dope, like it's a woman
You burning both sides of the rope and just pulling, tugging
In between Islam and straight thugging
Laying every day around the way and doing nothing
See 'em looking, shaking their head, and start shrugging
If they don't got a man like mine, they got a cousin
Ayo, you better be a true friend to him
Before this shit put an end to him
Or give a pen to him
Or lock him in the studio with a mic
'Cause on the real, it might save his life-keep telling 'em!

[Chorus:]
Yo, you need to walk straight, master your high
Son, you missing out on what's passing you by
I done seen the streets suck a lot of cats dry
But not you and I, my nigga, we got to get
Come on-over, over the water
Come on-over, over the water
Yo, water, come on, water
Ugh, ugh-ugh, ugh-ugh
Yo, you need to walk straight, master your high
Son, you missing out on what's passing you by
I done seen the streets suck a lot of cats dry
But not you and I, my nigga, we got to get
Come on-over, over the water
Come on-over, over the water
Yo, water, come on, water
Ugh, ugh-ugh, ugh-ugh

[Part 2: "The Abyss"]

[Intro: Samples]

[Instrumental]

[Outro: Samples]

[Part 3: "The Drowning"]

[Instrumental]