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"