A Tribe Called Quest - Peace, Prosperity & Paper lyrics

All we want in this life
Is peace, prosperity and a little paper
Objects, they seem greater
But I'm sure we overcome when
We illin' on a drum

We in a world that places
Heavy emphasis on money synthesis
Y'all can be my witnesses
That a fella fascination with money has grown
To the point that he will shit on his own
We got to have it y'all
It's not a Spike Lee cinematic
A piece of paper making niggas get dramatic
But the money doesn't come automatic
Gotta motivate ourselves to go and grab it
We got to get it y'all
In an orderly fashion
Some cats go about it with too much passion
We got to mediate our greedy levels
'Cause the lust of currency can have
Us sleepin with the devil
Gotta recognize it, realize the power
That this little ma huckin piece
Of paper will devour
Man can be greater than the thing he creates
See, I'mma do my thing and see
How much I can scrape
Yo, I'd rather have respect than money
No doubt but listen to me y'all
I want the mass amount
That the Sesame Street Dracula can't Count
So that I can give my
People when that thing surmounts
To higher levels of being so when I'm MC-ing
I hope to see you there steady G-ing
(say word)
But the only way we can truly reach that goal
Is finding true inner peace
And prospering souls it's like that


Here comes your royal highness
One of Queens finest believe me, honest
You know you can't stop it
Come on son, never leave your mic 'round me
True MC for real, ask my man Shaheed
Strictly focused on what I'm in
This rap game for not for fame and screwing
Every whore after whore
With all that AIDS stuff going round
Tell me how that sound
Rather hit the studio and hear
Some beats that pound
Now, don't get me wrong
I love honeys galore
But see hip-hop's my bread and butter
'Cause that's what I get paid for
See this is what I wanted
Allah helped me to get it
And if the beat is wicked
You know Malik will rip it
From the bottom of my heart
That's where the love starts
The love for breakdancing
My love for the art
And with this love I do hip-hop from the soul
A real MC
Who never sweats how many copies are sold
Yeah, I want to go gold, platinum, uh huh
Etcetera but why put out some wackness when
No one will respect ya? I'm staying true
Nuff respect to those that paved the way
From Bambaataa down to Shah that be my DJ
Without my peeps I don't know how
The hell I'd make it, word
Sometimes I feel that my career
Is headed for the curb
One love for lending hand and
Giving all your help
Believing in me when I didn't
Believe in my own self
The Abstract with whom I'm
Always making rugged tunes
Kid Hood resting in heaven
I hope to see you soon
I keep things hot and this
Year they're even hotter big Mu and Shah
One day I'll take my shahada out