Gang Starr — Cause and Effect

[Verse 1] You ain't livin' right punk, I'll have to school you Not rule you, but I'll say, yo, you fool yourself When you try to deny and defy written laws This means your cause has lost Think about it, take the time, and even ponder longer Then let your mind start to wander Go black and track the facts about all of your mistakes It only takes to one to make fate Pick up your life, clean up your act, and get a legal plan You can or be an evil man Caught, and then you claim you're not responsible The choice was yours, when the fun's gone you will realize That you don't get somethin' for nothin', why you bluffin'? Others even brothers are stuffin' their pockets With honest cash, they'll laugh, so don't knock it Jock it, 'cause the Guru must stop it I'll jab you, smack you, crack -- you're demolished You must acknowledge -- life is like a college in itself Get a degree in reality Or you will be upon it like a lawn you'll be walked on Gone, never to see or be the same again Friend, 'cause the time you spend Bringin' down yourself, bringin' down the pace Bringin' down your friends, bringin' down the race Will have your life in a wreck And homeboy life is cause and effect [Premo scratches] [Verse 2] Exactly what you put in boy, you will get out of it The energy released comes back, there is no doubt of it So when you thrive to connive and contrive foolish deeds This means you'll bleed from greed Dig the rhyme and dig the thought of what'll happen You're nappin', you're gonna fall off the map 'n' Lie out, and cry out, why? You got the short end of the stick 'Cause you ain't too quick to run tricks Open your mind, widen your sight, get out of your rut Move, and get the lead out of your butt 'Cause you can't live without a plan to get freshed chump And you shouldn't stand to let Anything sway you from the path you know is truthful Chill, because you know the chosen youth will Take over, and control the whole so don't blow it Know it, 'cause the Guru must show it I'll teach you, reachin' each so you're enlightened Emcees are frightened, by what I write in my songs 'Cause I express what I manifest While some of you fall down to the ground with breakdowns Never to see or be the same again Friend, because the time you spend Bringin' down yourself, bringin' down the pace Bringin' down your friends, bringin' down the race Will have your life in a wreck And homeboy life is cause and effect [Premo scratches] [Verse 3] You're still playin' games lame, I'll have to end you Straight to the gate of fate, so you can claim your doom Will you decay as you pay in repentance I light my sentence like incense Breathe in, expel your fears as you marvel Heed what I feed, you won't starve, you'll make it But if you don't, you will be finished You'll dissapear, you will diminish Never to see or be the same again Friend, because the time you spend Bringin' down yourself, bringin' down the pace Bringin' down your friends, bringin' down the race Will leave you bugged and upset 'Cause homeboy life is cause and effect Cause and effect! [Premo scratches] [Outro] Once again, Premier and the Guru It's like that