remember that
(Rakim remembers)
Remember that?
Turn the beat up, I get lost in the mind come across
The rhyme kick my feet up, then I find myself in time
I was on a train, destination Marley Marl's domain
I entertained things'll never be the same
DJ's are conveyed if the label OK it
Teddy Ted and Special K was the first ones to play it
On the radio, with the crazy flow
I pay dues until it pays me dough to do a show
When I'm at the helm I cover the whole realm
In control and leave your soul overwhelmed
Under the influence of beats and instruments
Lyrics make it intricate and elements are tense
When you was playin' Pac Man it was the jams I packed
Peeps would swarm when I was performing black, I'm all that
Back before they turned hip-hop to rap
It always a place to party at, remember that?
I remember the spots that used to be hot
Just like the roof top, a place that only few can rock
On a wild ass block, yeah you find me there a lot
Until you hear gunshots, that's when the fun stops
Here come the cops, time to go home, get in order
'Cause I'll be back in Manhattan if somethings happenin at the Latin Quarter
House of Havoc when it came to fourteen carat
And if you had it, yeah, kids'd try to grab it
It's cool at the Red Parrot, we was doin' it there
I was the first one to rip it at the Union Square
Me and DJ Red Alert did work
A crazy concert, a lot of kids got hurt
I did encores at the Encore, they wanted more
I kicked a freestyle til I heard the crowd roar
Like the Funhouse, Bronx Center never endin black
Place to be was the Brooklyn Armory, remember that?
Open the door, let the crowds in, over twenty thousand
Wildin' music's loud and microphone's growlin'
Tickets are sold out, parties is packed and on tour
Rippin' basketball arenas back then
Even after-parties, posses of players and hotties
Everybody was Gotti, spreadin' bucks like shotties
Spendin' cash, to make a good time last
Thoughts that I had give me a blast of the past
Memories of unforgettable times on my mind
Dollar signs and melodies and incredible rhymes
The people I met, and the sets that got wrecked
All the mics I checked, most of all life's effects
And peace to all the people I grew up around
In the streets back when beats had a rougher sound
I used to be wild me and my crew sit back and we smile
Keep piles of pictures filed in case I go senile
'Cause some things are just too good to be forgot
Like your neighborhood block or your favorite spot
Certain records always seem to make me reminisce
And when it hits, and then it clicks, remember this
My life flashed before me I'm there from the sounds
I hear pinpoint the year, it's perfectly clear
I like the way it went down and alla that, in fact
It mean a lot, cause you can't bring it back, remember that