KRS-One — Sound Man

[Refrain] (fresh) The real hip-hop is (fresh) x8 [Verse 1] Bass, treble, c’mon, look around, man The thump, the level, all that’s the sound man When the boom bap dumps hard on the ground, man It’s a good sound, man, that’s never caught pounding Fingers on levels, eyes on the session Pump the bass bottom, give me more of that compression Sound engineer it, you’ve got to have the ear and You’ve got to know what you hear, never overbearing You bring the sound blaring hot like you ain’t caring The level’s in the red, but no, you ain’t staring You pushing more bottom, you make the sound crack Like the snare going “blap” on a boom boom bap Sound man, I hear you, better yet, I see you Yeah man, you free to adjust the EQ Pump up the reverb, mess with the delay Gimme more [?] and turn up the DJ [Refrain] The real hip-hop is The real hip-hop is (fresh) x3 [Verse 2] From the time I come out, I do a line check I spit a freestyle to get you in the right mind set It ain’t time yet to spit a rhyme yet My right frequency the sound man he didn’t find yet So while he searching for it, I’ll keep on working on it We want that big sound before they close the curtain on it So let’s turn it up, so let’s turn it up Don’t be afraid, turn it up, word is up We wanna thank the sound people that’s with me When the music is low, they turn it up quickly When the sounds are low, they brighten and lift me When the feedback comes, they killin’ it swiftly The sound can be tricky when you see me play No computers, just a mixer and some [?] DJs Never no frontin’, we showin’ all y’all something Sound man, just keep the music bumpin’ It ain’t nothing [Refrain] The real hip-hop is The real hip-hop is (fresh) x3 (fresh) [Verse 3] I’ma keep rapping while tours they keep happening Got a [?] of rhymes for people to keep [?] Boom bap beats with rhymes to keep attractin’ ‘em That’s why the sound man gots to have rap in ‘em Cordless, hardwire, fifty-eight mics Wring ‘em out ‘cause all rappers don’t sound alike I found a light, it’s at the end of the rear It’s the sound engineer that really cares about what he hears It’s the bass and snares, he understands the music He’s a fan of the music, he makes plans for the music He sets the EQ, how his hands gonna choose it It’s not a band, but he still plans for the acoustics This is the sound man that I be looking for These are the dudes that I request when I’m booking tours So if you like the sound of this brown man Give it up for the sound man Overstand [Refrain] The real hip-hop is The real hip-hop is (fresh) x7 Give it up for the sound man Give it up for the sound man