Stages

R.E.K.S [Scratch Hook x2] [Nas] "As far as rap go Times have changed I spent time in the game, kept my mind on fame" It's the [Large Professor] "Stages and phases that we go through" It's the [Large Professor] "Stages and phases that we go through" [Guru] "Stages" [Verse One] Ayo, once upon a time when no C.E.O.'s Before cassette, CDs and MP3 downloads There lived corner ciphers, writers who craft flows Snipers tagged up on the iron horse doors Talkin' way back, before platinum replaced gold Goin' through the stages, the phases of hip hop Niggas threw they dukes up, beefin' with they foes Cheeba they would blow to the ceilin' in them old days Before they rocked Gucci shades or them throwbacks We need the soul back, waitin' on the days It was VCR, Kodak, hi-top fades Seein' rap age with no respect for the old cats Birth of an art form before the age of the dot com Classic boom bap lead the hard on Stages we go through Old school to the new Seein' the past in the present day view [Scratch Hook x2] [Nas] "As far as rap go Times have changed I spent time in the game, kept my mind on fame" It's the [Large Professor] "Stages and phases that we go through" It's the [Large Professor] "Stages and phases that we go through" [Guru] "Stages" [Verse Two] Yo, once upon the present Evident how the game shift lane We try to adapt as time change The majors in peril, the Internet the devil And the answer to, "Who got next?" now in the stereo Bezel's replace time clocks on the necklace Then Nas went reckless, handin' us rap's burial Everyone you know either rap or in production When past rap discussion, y'all cats be frontin' No respect for those who paved ways to make this a billion dollar business I feel y'all should witness A rebirth, with each verse I give it Advisory lyrics Distribute middle fingers to the censors Since it's senseless to say niggas, will pick respect, over image Fact over fiction Past division from east to west, lead to homicide These modern times have me lost in my mind [Scratch Hook x2] [Nas] "As far as rap go Times have changed I spent time in the game, kept my mind on fame" It's the [Large Professor] "Stages and phases that we go through" It's the [Large Professor] "Stages and phases that we go through" [Guru] "Stages" [Verse Three] Ayo, once upon the future I see it through telescopes They want me to be calm and chill, tell 'em "nope" I am hope for what lacks in rap Reks is actually that piece missin' division Bringin' what really matters back Open your cataracts See focus is quarterbacks in forth quarters, where your true rappers at? They told 'em, "You can never come back to run rap, you had your chance." Did an advance, Reks you washed up Watch the show off for Showoff, mop up Your butt with your so so bars till they so so large Professor's flow so beyond Cranium walls, you catch the next rhyme on the rewind Your mind on the decline We shine like the bling on the v-line Or sweater vest's, Reks is next on the feline Childhood to adolescence to where we met "Stages and phases" - Large Professor Age is experience [Large Professor talking] Yeah, R-E-K-S. Large Profess and Statik Selek. What it is? [Scratch Hook] [Large Professor] "Stages and phases that we go through" It's the [Large Professor] "Stages and phases that we go through" [Nas] "As far as rap go" "Times have changed" "I spent time in the game" "What defines my name" [Large Professor] "Cause one day you're A and the next you may Have a brand new topic and see a new way" "Stages and phases that we go through" "Have a brand new topic and see a new way"