New School

Revelations, mediation, elevation
A new school education
It takes preparation, application, dedication
A new school education
It takes revelations, mediation, elevation
A new school education
It takes preparation, application, dedication
A new school education

Live from the university of rhymes and beats
Welcome to the new school please find ya seats
This is New York City, summer '93
Hip-hop gained steam while the hydrants leaked
Into the heart of a movement that revived the streets
Seeds grew into trees that made the sidewalk breathe
With their free speech leaves
That were scattered at my feet
We were addicts for the beat
Seeking knowledge from the tree
When the apple fell free
We praised Afrika Bambatta
For the product that made
The New York summer heat hotter
As a young toddler hypnotized by a tribe
It's no surprise I live and die by the rhyme
It was all by design that spoken word poetry was
Glistening divine on a breakbeat
Takes me back to 228th street
It's crazy, I was a hip-hop baby
But now I make hip-hop cause hip-hop made me
Who I am

It takes concentration, imagination
Inspiration, a new school education
It takes information, communication
Collaboration, a new school education
It takes concentration, imagination
Inspiration, a new school education
It takes information, communication
Collaboration, a new school education

My flow grooves on the record like grooves on a record
And I'm glued to the measures like jewels in the treasure
When you do this for pleasure, you can choose where ya headed
Never lose my direction when I use my reflections
To assess, make corrections and create new connections
Bridging thoughts with a message
Til the new school's erected
With the tools we've selected
Any fools disrepecting then this roof won't protect em
I'm tryin to teach a lesson
Class is in session
Attention, detention
I forgot to mention, uneducated MCs
Ya need to do your research, cite your sources properly
Don't wanna hear no free verse, deserves a bibliography
Plagiarized quotables, and word idea robbery
Someone else's property
I'll paint a pretty picture turn a rhyme into photography
Sculpt flows like pottery
A scene into mahogany
Ya follow me?

It takes revelations, mediation
Elevation, a new school education
It takes cooperation, determination
Transformation, a new school education
It takes revelations, mediation
Elevation, a new school education
It takes cooperation, determination
Transformation, a new school education

Nowadays the games changing on a constant basis
And I find it hard to keep pace with the times
I'm tying to stay faithful to the basics
Maintain my relation
To the forefathers and the foundation
Mounting frustration
Making it hard to make an assessment
On art that was once desperate, now it's blessed with
The finer things, and it's all reflected
In designer dress shit, the cash throwing
Girls with they ass showin
I catch inspiration from just watchin the grass grow
No wonder my rhyme rhythm flows like a waterfall
Or river forevermore
Clever how I order more prose
If the jam stays funky like toes
I was born to
You could see it's no coincidence
I rock the microphone like earthquakes rock residence
Let's settle this, I'm here to teach one lesson
It's that hip hop lives this is rock hard evidence

It takes revelations, mediation
Elevation, a new school education
It takes preparation, application
Dedication, a new school education
It takes concentration, imagination
Inspiration, a new school education
It takes information, communication
Collaboration, a new school education