Criminal Minded Lyrics - A Retrospective - Krs One

Boogie Down Productions will always get paid 

We'll take the wackest song and make it better 

Remember to let us into your skin 

'Cause then you'll begin to master 

Rhymin', rhymin', rhymin' 

Criminal minded, you've been blinded 

Lookin', for a style like mine you can't find it 

They are the audience I am the lyricist 

Sometimes the suckas on the side gotta hear this 

Page, a rage and I'm not in a cage 

Free as a bird to fly up out on stage 

Ain't here for no frontin', just to say a little somethin' 

Ya suckaz don't like me 'cause you're all about nothin' 

However, I'm really fascinatin' to the letter 

My all around performance gets better and better 

My English grammar comes down like a hammer 

You need a style, I need to pull your file 

I don't beg favors, you're kissin' other people's 

I write and produce myself just as fast 

Keep my hair like this, got no time for Jheri curls 

Attractin' only women, got no time for little girls 

'Cause girls look so good 

But their brain is not ready, I don't know 

I'd rather talk to a woman 

'Cause her mind is so steady, so here we go 

I'm not a musical maniac or b-boy fanatic 

I simply made use of what was upstairs in the attic 

I've listened to these MC's back when I was a kid 

But I bust more shots than they ever did 

I mean this is not the best of KRS, it's just a section 

But how many times must I point you in the right direction 

You need protection, when I'm on the mic 

Because my mouth is like a 9 millimeter windpipe 

You're a king, I'm a teacher, you're a b-boy, I'm a scholar 

If this was a class well, it would go right under drama 

See kings lose crowns but teachers stay intelligent 

Talkin' big words on the mic but still irrelevant 

Especially when you're not, college material 

Wake up every mornin' to your Lucky Charms cereal 

DJ Scott LaRock has a college degree 

Blastmaster KRS writes poetry 

I won't go deeper in the subject 'cause that gets me bored 

It's a shame to know some MC's on the mic are fraud 

Sayin' styles like this to create a diss 

But if you listen, who you dissin'? See I am a musician 

Rappin' on the mic like this to me is fine 

'Cause if I really want to battle I will put out a nine 

You can see that Scott LaRock and I are mentally binded 

In other words we're both criminal minded 

We're not promoting violence, we're just havin' some fun 

He's Scott LaRock, I'm KRS-One 

Never off-beat 'cause it don't make sense 

Grab the microphone, relaxed and not tense 

You waited, debated and now you activated 

A musical genius that could not be duplicated 

See I have the formula for rockin' the house 

If you cannot rock a party do not open your mouth 

It's that simple, no phony cosmetics to your pimple 

Take another look because the gear is not wrinkled 

The K, the R, the S, the O, the N, the E 

Sayin' rhyme for eighty-seven not from 1983 

Well versed, to rehearse and my rhymes are my curse 

Originality come first but the suckers get worse 

Allow me to include I have a very stable mood 

Poetic education of a high altitude 

I'm not an MC, so listen, call me poet or musician 

A genius when it comes to makin' music with ambition 

I'm cool, collected with the rhyme I directed 

Don't wanna be elected as the king of a record 

Just respected by others as the man with the solution 

An artist of the 80's came and left his contribution 

On wax, relax, there's 24 tracks 

After years of rockin' parties now I picked up the knack 

Because everythin' that flows from out my larynx 

Takes years of experience and bottles of Beck's 

I cannot seem to recollect the time I didn't have sex 

Is it real or is it Memorex? 

I'm livin' in a city known as New York State 

Sucka MC's gotta wait while I translate 

I hang with real live dreads with knowledge in their heads 

People with ambition and straight up musicians 

Although our lives have been so uprooted 

I have it included, you all get zooted 

So take each letter of the KRS-One 

Means knowledge reigns supreme over nearly everyone 

You look at me and laugh, but this is your class 

It's an all-out discussion of the suckas I be crushin' 

So now you are awakened to the music I be makin' 

Never duplicated, and also highly cultivated 

Don't get frustrated 'cause nothin' has been traded 

Only activated, it came out very complicated 

Not separated, from my DJ, you see my voice is now faded 

I'll see you folks around the way, criminal minded 

Criminal minded, criminal minded, criminal minded