Express Yourself

(album: Straight Outta Compton - 1988)

[Dr. Dre:]
Yo, man... There's a lot of brothers out there flaking and perpetrating
But scared to kick reality.
[Ice Cube:]
Man, you've been doing all this dope producing.
You had a chance to show 'em what time it is...
[Dr. Dre:]
So, what you want me to do?
Express yourself...

[Dr. Dre:]
I'm expressing with my full capabilities,
And now I'm living in correctional facilities,
'Cause some don't agree with how I do this.
I get straight, meditate like a Buddhist
I'm dropping flava, my behaviour is hereditary,
But my technique is very necessary.
Blame it on Ice Cube... Because he says it gets funky
When you got a subject and a predicate.
Add it on a dope beat
And that'll make you think.
Some suckers just tickle me pink
To my stomach. 'Cause they don't flow like this one.
You know what? I won't hesitate to dis one
Or two before I'm through.
So don't try to sing this!
Some drop science
While I'm dropping English.
Even if Yella
Makes it a-capella
I still express, yo, I don't smoke weed or a sess.
'Cause its known to give a brother brain damage.
And brain damage on the mic don't manage
Nothing
But making a sucker and you equal.
Don't be another sequel...

Express yourself...
Express yourself...
Come on and do it...

Express yourself...
Express yourself...
Come on and do it...

Now, getting back to the PG.
That's program, and it's easy.
Dre is back. Newjacks, I mean hollow,
Expressing ain't their subject
Because they like to follow
The words, the style, the trend,
The records I spin.
Again and again and again
Yo, you on the other end.
Watch a brother playing dope rhymes with no help.
There's no fessing and guessing
While I'm expressing myself.
It's crazy to see people be
What society wants them to be. But not me!
Ruthless...
Is the way to go
They know.
Others say rhymes that fail
To be original.
Or they kill where the hip-hop starts,
Forget about the ghetto
And rap for the pop charts.
Some musicians curse at home
But scared to use profanity
When up on the microphone.
Yeah, they want reality.
But you won't hear none.
They rather exaggerate, a little fiction.
Some say no to drugs and take a stand,
But after the show they go looking for the dopeman.
Or they ban my group from the radio.
Hear NWA and say "Hell no! ".
But you know it ain't all about wealth.
As long as you make a note to...

Express yourself...
Express yourself...
Come on and do it...

Express yourself...
Express yourself...
Come on and do it...

Express yourself...
From the heart.
'Cause if you wanna start to move up the chart
Then expression is a big part of it.
You ain't efficient when you flow
You ain't swift, moving like a tortoise.
Full of rigor mortis.
There's a little bit more to show
I got rhymes in my mind, and better like an embryo.
Or a lesson all of 'em expression
And if you start fessing
I got a Smith and Wessun
For you.
I might ignore your record
Because it has no bottom.
I get loose in the summer. When in spring and autumn
It's Dre on the mic, getting physical.
Doing the job
NWA is the lynch mob!
Yes, I'm a cob?
But you know you need this.
And the knowledge is growing
Just like a fetus, or a tumor.
But here's the rumor:
Dre is in the neighborhood
And he's up to no good.
When I start expressing myself,
Yella, slam it!
'Cause if I stay funky like this I'm doing damage.
Or I'm a be too hyped,
And need a straight jacket.
I got knowledge and other suckers lack it.
So, when you see Dre, a DJ on the mic,
Ask what it's like.
It's like we getting hype tonight.
'Cause if I strike
It ain't for your good health.
But I won't strike if you just...

Express yourself...
Express yourself...
Come on and do it...

Express yourself...
Express yourself...
Come on and do it...

Express yourself...
Come on and do it...
Come on and do it...
Come on and do it...
Come on and do it... [music fades]