Respect (2005 Remaster)

No big up our gunmen, seen? (Big up, big up)
Cuh dis ah '94 when ah RAA fi kill people and kyaan dun
Nuh waan pussy hole hold di kaanah
Watch this, lawd

Me holla respect, to all the gunmen dem
Gunmen alone, keep gunmen friend
Fire bun, fi all the informer dem
Informer lone keep informer friend

1970-somethin', I don't sweat the date
My moms is late so I had to plan my escape
Out the skins, in this world of fly girls
Tanqueray and Hennessy until I cold hurl (uh, uh)
Ten months in this gut, what the fuck?
I wish moms'd hurry up so I could get buck
Wild juvenile rippin' mics and shit
New York, New York, ready for the likes of this, uh, yeah

Then came the worst date, May 21st
2:19, that's when my mama water burst
No spouse in the house so she rode herself
To the hospital, to see if she could get a little help
Umbilical cord's wrapped around my neck
I'm seeing my death and I ain't even took my first step
I made it out, I'm bringing mad joy
The doctor looked and said, "He's going to be a Bad Boy"

Me holla respect, to all the gunmen dem
Gunmen alone, keep gunmen friend
Fire bun, fi all the informer dem
Informer lone keep informer friend

Now I'm 13, smokin' -, makin' cream
On the drug scene, - a football team
Riskin' ruptured spleens by the age of 16
Hearin' the coach scream ain't my lifetime dream, I mean
I want to blow up, stack my dough up
So school, I didn't show up, it - my flow up
Mom said that I should grow up and check myself
Before I wreck myself, disrespect myself

Put the drugs on the shelf? Nah, couldn't see it
Scarface, King of New York, I want to be it
Rap was secondary, money was necessary
Until I got incarcerated, kinda scary
C74-Mark 8 set me straight
Not able to move behind the great steel gate
Time to contemplate, damn, where did I fail?
All the money I stacked was all the money for bail

Me holla respect, to all the gunmen dem
Gunmen alone, keep gunmen friend
Fire bun, fi all the informer dem
Informer lone keep informer friend
Watch mi respect, to all the gunmen dem
Gunmen alone, keep gunmen friend
Fire bun, fi all the informer dem
Informer lone keep informer friend

'94, now I explore new horizons
Mama smile when she see me, that's surprisin'
Honeys is tantalizin', they freak all night
Keep duckin' cops on the creep all night
As I open my eyes and realizin' I changed
Not the same deranged child stuck up in the game

And to my niggas livin' street life
Learn to treat life to the best, put stress to rest
Still tote your vest, man, - be trippin'
In the streets without a gat? Nah, nigga you're slippin'
If I'm trippin' on The F with weed on my breath
Original hustler with the muffler on the -
Respect to the mack's and the Ac's
To the freaks in the Jeeps, lick - to my peeps

Me holla respect, to all the gunmen dem
Gunmen alone, keep gunmen friend
Fire bun, fi all the informer dem
Informer lone keep informer friend
Watch mi respect, to all the gunmen dem
Gunmen alone, keep gunmen friend
Fire bun, fi all the informer dem
Informer lone keep informer friend

Now this is Diana King doing a Yankee thing
In a Biggie Small's thing, do it, Jah
Have mercy
The gunman inna di party
And everybody feel irie
And everybody just follow me, follow me, follow me

Have mercy
The wul ah we in ah di party
And everybody look irie
Now di man them sexy, sexy, sexy
Do it!

No mercy fuh nuh big up unnu self
Cuh we nuh watch nothin' to say or see
Hardcore ting we ah deal with
Oh yes, we are the best