The Roots — I Remain Calm

[Hook x4] I remain calm, lyrically, I got the bomb When you put me on, I remain calm [Verse 1: Malik B.] It's the 'I Remain Calm', but for jerks that erk Come out my humble, go berzerk And make you swallow your smirk I splurge most and bash, capacities mass I fascinate as I assassinate and show task Characters and egos get crushed in trust And my words stampede like herds in the dusk Cream of all crops, topics I drop with Trotter When heated up, I gets hotter 'cause I'm proper You never knew the levitude the clever few Different tax for revenue, man, if you ever knew The tac-tic, strategies of word ca-pa-bil-ities, display, decease The rhythm, and man, how it swerved and curved Made a nigga's dream but his hope deferred and stirred Dig the mentals, Papermate, Bic's and No. 2 pencils My credentials flow on instrumentals I write an anthem, throw a tantrum and remain handsome Mysterious vibes like I was The Phantom Erupt abruptly, then conduct, amaze You're fucked when the lyrics get buck because I graze Never animosity, on my property Niggas acropoly, or they feel extreme monstrosity Wreak and leak out the verbals, Akhi, don't forget it The chief of edit, the Malik'll shred it, yeah, I said it! [Hook x4] I remain calm, lyrically, I got the bomb When you put me on, I remain calm [Verse 2: Black Thought] That nigga Thought flows like a river, I deliver styles like Domino's Eyes closed, I inhale equality, follow me now, son Listen, my divisions advance, I surpass one half of the rap mass The other half want my autograph Because I got soul, plus a ghetto stroll similar to Shaft It's the mic rapers, splittin' Phillies in the cellar My a capella verse can stomp, I delete comp My rated-X larynx wrecks your context I'm complex, confusin', lyrically amusin' I drink brews then when I'm groovin', I'm no longer human I'd like to take this time to give a shout to all the money makers In the house galore, they help me turn it out I whip the cap to the back, I'm laid back like your gramps I make niggas embarrassed like they spendin' food stamps I take my time when I rhyme lovely, me, nah like ugly Like, God, we get odd to ill rhythms Rappers thinkin' of steppin' up, what the fuck you doin? I amplify the hymn to bring your empire to ruin Who's your girl screwin', fellas? Jealous because I'm fly? Keep my sneakers dry when you cry-baby See, I can have you headin' for the border like a refugee from Haiti Aiyyo, this brother drivin' my cab tried to flip Sayin', "Pay me in advance" - I asked him if he ever danced In the dark with the rap devil Black Thought See, niggas who get caught off guard remain scarred Ear to ear, with headphones remainin' on they domes, they hear I resound and astound and scare I reign terror into another nigga rap era My rhymes sedate, I lubricate like Aloe Vera I'm extreme, restin' in the land of the plot and the scheme Peace to Bed, Shedroch and the Equal Team [Hook x12] I remain calm, lyrically, I got the bomb When you put me on, I remain calm