De La Soul — Stakes is High Live at Tramps NYC 1996

[Intro: De La Soul] Ayo, we gon' do this shit called "Stakes is High" Stakes is high, stakes is high Everybody wanna feel the vibe, everybody wanna feel the vibe Everybody wanna feel the vibe, everybody wanna feel the vibe, what Everybody wanna feel the vibe, everybody wanna feel the vibe You say vibe, everybody say vibrations Stakes is high, you know them stakes is high Everybody say vibe, now everybody say vibrations Stakes is high, you know them stakes is high Everybody say vibe, now evеrybody say vibrations Stakes is high, you know them stakes is high [Verse 1: Posdnous] Thе instamatic focal point bringing damage to your borough Be some brothers from the east with some beats that be thorough Got the solar gravitation, I'm bound to pull it I gets down like brothers are found ducking from bullets Gun control means using both hands in my land Where it's all about the cautious livin' Migrating to a higher form of consequence, compliments Of strugglin', that shouldn't be notable Man, every word I say should be a hip-hop quotable [Verse 2: Trugoy the Dove] I'm sick of bitches shakin' asses I'm sick of talkin' about blunts Sick of Versace glasses Sick of slang Sick of half-ass awards shows Sick of name brand clothes Sick of R&B bitches over bullshit tracks Cocaine and crack Which brings sickness to blacks Sick of swoll' head rappers With their sicker-than raps Clappers and gats Makin' the whole sick world collapse The facts are gettin' sick Even sicker perhaps A stickabush to make a bundle to escape this synapse [Verse 3: Posdnous] Man, life can get all up in your ass, baby, you better work it out Let me tell you what it's all about A skin not considered equal A meteor has more right than my people Who be wastin' time screaming who they've hated That's why the Native Tongues have officially been re-instated [Chorus: De La Soul] Vibes, everybody say vibrations. come on Stakes is high, you know them stakes is high when you dealin' with the Vibes, everybody say vibrations Everybody wanna feel the vibe, everybody wanna feel the vibe Now everybody wanna feel the vibe, everybody wanna feel the vibe Say vibe, come on, y'all, vibration, come on Stakes is high, you know them stakes is high [Verse 4: Posdnous] Yo, it's about love for cars, love for funds Loving to love mad sex, loving to love guns Love for opposite, love for fame and wealth Love for the fact of no longer loving yourself, kid We living in them days of the man-made ways Where every aspect is vivid These brothers no longer talk shit Ayo, these niggas live it 'Bout to give it to you 24/7 on the microphone Plug One (Plug One, Plug One) No offense to a player, yo, I don't play And if you take offense, fuck it, got to be that way J.D. Dove, show your love, what you got to say? [Verse 5: Trugoy the Dove] I say G's are making figures at a high regard And you niggas dying for it nowadays ain't odd (It ain't odd) Investing in fantasies and not God Welcome to reality, see, times is hard People try to snatch the credit, but can't claim the card Showing out in videos, saying they cold stars See, shit like that'll make your mama cry Better watch the way you spend it 'Cause the stakes is high [Chorus: De La Soul] You know them stakes is high When you dealin' with the vibe Now everybody say vibrations Everybody wanna feel the vibe, everybody wanna feel the vibe Stakes is high, you know them stakes is high [Verse 6: Trugoy the Dove] I think that smiling in public is against the law (What?) 'Cause love don't get you through life no more It's who you know and "How you, son?" And how you gettin' in, and who the man holding Yo, and how was the skins, and how high Yo, what up, huh? I heard you caught a body Seem like every man and woman shared a life with John Gotti (But they ain't organized!) Mixing crimes with life enzymes Taking the big scout route And niggas know doubt Better than they know their daughters and their sons, y'all [Verse 7: Posdnous] Yo, people go through pain and still don't gain Positive contact just like my main man Who got others cleaning up his physical influence His mind got congested He got a nine and blew it Neighborhoods are now hoods 'cause nobody's neighbors Just animals surviving with that animal behavior Under I, who be rhymin' from dark to light sky Experiments when needles and skin connect No wonder where we live is called the projects When them stakes is high you damn sure try to do Anything to get the piece of the pie Electrify Even die for the cash But at last I be out even though you wantin' more This issue is closed like an elevator door But soon re-opened once we get to the next floor [Outro: De La Soul] Of the vibe Now everybody say vibration Hey, stakes is high, you know them stakes is high Let me hear you say vibe Now everybody say vibration The stakes is high, you know them stakes is high Here we go Vibe, now everybody, vibrations Stakes is high