There's a lot of people out here

Who just don't know

What plays a factor

In movin' heads and toes

It be them hits

Hangin' out of them stereo kits

Whether cassette radio or cd bits

Mix tapes from the best

Going on and on

Throughout the city grounds

To suburban lawns

Man, we don't play

Even where we stay

Videos shows the visuals

Of jams today

Coinciding with the rhythm

Of the heart and neck

The brakes got you

In your proper context

You let your lex or your

Sixty-four suspension

Bounce away all your tension

En route to the club

Where girls need the quenchin'

Diamonds on your wrist

Sunroof top

But niggas out front

Makin' guns go pop

So the spot gets shut

But on to the next

'Cause your ears get vexed

When they don't get the fix cause

[These are the brakes]

It be your listenin pleasure

While you're doin your chores

[These are the brakes]

No matter where you from

It's for you and yours

[These are the brakes]

Bringing it back to the brakes

Like the 'yes yes y'all'

[These are the brakes]

So let it be your anthem

When you're havin' a ball

Well it's silly of me

To think that I

Would never get a chance to see

A piece of this pie

I sat dead in front of speakers

Thinkin' that could be me

Anticipatin' open microphones

So I could emcee

Had a catalogue of raps

Impressin' all the 'round-the-wayers

Before I went to bed

Included rhymes into my prayers

But that rhyme is all on paper

I want my song on vinyl plates

I dreamin' hits and doin' shows

Makin my niggas spines shake

Expectin' nuttin but a little bit

Of radio play

Gettin diced on 1 and 2's

By the best djs, hey

Time was kinda tight

But still i dotted on the line

And some expected me

To start buhlooning in the mind

Seein' spaces and places

That i couldn't pronounce

But still i had the pulleys

To make all the bullies bounce

With the blessings of the great

We took it from state to state

'Cause we landed on the good foot

And got our biggest brake cause

[These are the brakes]

A mother gets mugged

By her crackhead son

"That's the brakes, that's the brakes"

You're in the wrong part of town

So the shots make you run

"That's the brakes, that's the brakes"

Your best comrades put six tabs

In your o.e.

"That's the brakes, that's the brakes"

Your boyfriend made you a carrier of HIV

"That's the brakes, that's the brakes"

Now what's gonna happen

When the sun don't shine

I'm buyin tickets aboard

The caravan of love

Hey fellas

See, money don't make shots repel

I break woes and compose

Some rhymes to tell

So when the party's live

It shouldn't be beef

Or playin' indian roles

I guess you thought you was chief

Seems all broke up

And now you woke up surprised

Situation's gettin sticky

Dead in front of your eyes

We play the wall

Similar to tacks

Until the dj plays

The necessary track

In fact as the jam plays on

Out comes all your bread

To pay for drinks

For them girls you want to spread

Don't be mislead

When the brakes inside your head

And have you reminiscing

On them kids who got you fed

Until reality reveals a miss

Who wants to know

If you can play her real close

Out on the dance floor 'cause

[These are the brakes]

It be your listenin pleasure

While you're doin your chores

[These are the brakes]

No matter where you from

It's for you and yours

[These are the brakes]

Ringin it back to the brakes

Like the 'yes yes y'all'

[These are the brakes]

So let it be your anthem

When you're havin, a ball