There's a lot of people out here   Who just don't know   What plays a factor   In movin' heads and toes   It be them hits   Hangin' out of them stereo kits   Whether cassette radio or cd bits   Mix tapes from the best   Going on and on   Throughout the city grounds   To suburban lawns   Man, we don't play   Even where we stay   Videos shows the visuals   Of jams today   Coinciding with the rhythm   Of the heart and neck   The brakes got you   In your proper context   You let your lex or your   Sixty-four suspension   Bounce away all your tension   En route to the club   Where girls need the quenchin'   Diamonds on your wrist   Sunroof top   But niggas out front   Makin' guns go pop   So the spot gets shut   But on to the next   'Cause your ears get vexed   When they don't get the fix cause      [These are the brakes]   It be your listenin pleasure   While you're doin your chores   [These are the brakes]   No matter where you from   It's for you and yours   [These are the brakes]   Bringing it back to the brakes   Like the 'yes yes y'all'   [These are the brakes]   So let it be your anthem   When you're havin' a ball      Well it's silly of me   To think that I   Would never get a chance to see   A piece of this pie   I sat dead in front of speakers   Thinkin' that could be me   Anticipatin' open microphones   So I could emcee   Had a catalogue of raps   Impressin' all the 'round-the-wayers   Before I went to bed   Included rhymes into my prayers   But that rhyme is all on paper   I want my song on vinyl plates   I dreamin' hits and doin' shows   Makin my niggas spines shake   Expectin' nuttin but a little bit   Of radio play   Gettin diced on 1 and 2's   By the best djs, hey   Time was kinda tight   But still i dotted on the line   And some expected me   To start buhlooning in the mind   Seein' spaces and places   That i couldn't pronounce   But still i had the pulleys   To make all the bullies bounce   With the blessings of the great   We took it from state to state   'Cause we landed on the good foot   And got our biggest brake cause   [These are the brakes]   A mother gets mugged   By her crackhead son   "That's the brakes, that's the brakes"   You're in the wrong part of town   So the shots make you run   "That's the brakes, that's the brakes"   Your best comrades put six tabs   In your o.e.   "That's the brakes, that's the brakes"   Your boyfriend made you a carrier of HIV   "That's the brakes, that's the brakes"      Now what's gonna happen   When the sun don't shine   I'm buyin tickets aboard   The caravan of love   Hey fellas   See, money don't make shots repel   I break woes and compose   Some rhymes to tell   So when the party's live   It shouldn't be beef   Or playin' indian roles   I guess you thought you was chief   Seems all broke up   And now you woke up surprised   Situation's gettin sticky   Dead in front of your eyes      We play the wall   Similar to tacks   Until the dj plays   The necessary track   In fact as the jam plays on   Out comes all your bread   To pay for drinks   For them girls you want to spread   Don't be mislead   When the brakes inside your head   And have you reminiscing   On them kids who got you fed   Until reality reveals a miss   Who wants to know   If you can play her real close   Out on the dance floor 'cause      [These are the brakes]   It be your listenin pleasure   While you're doin your chores   [These are the brakes]   No matter where you from   It's for you and yours   [These are the brakes]   Ringin it back to the brakes   Like the 'yes yes y'all'   [These are the brakes]   So let it be your anthem   When you're havin, a ball