A Tribe Called Quest - Peace, Prosperity & Paper Lyrics

All we want in this life
Is peace, prosperity and a little paper
Objects, they seem seem greater
But I'm sure we'll overcome when we illin' on the drum
All we want in this life
Is peace, prosperity and a little paper
Objects, they seem seem greater
But I'm sure we'll overcome when we illin' on the drum

We in a world that places heavy emphasis on money synthesis
Y'all can be my witnesses
That a fella fascination with money has grown
To the point that he will shit on his own
We got to have it, y'all, its not a Spike Lee cinematic
A piece of paper making niggas get dramatic
But the money doesn't come automatic
Gotta motivate ourselves to go and grab it (then go get it)
We got to get it, y'all, in an orderly fashion (uh, say word)
Some cats go about it with too much passion (uh)
We got to mediate our greedy levels (or what?)
'Cause the lust of currency can have us sleeping with the devil (true)
Gotta recognize it, realize the power
That this little motherf-ing piece of paper will devour (come on)
Man can be greater than the thing he creates
See, I'ma do my thing and see how much I can scrape
Yo, I'd rather have respect than money, no doubt
But listen to me, y'all, I want the mass amount
That the Sesame Street Dracula can't count
So that I can give my people when that thing surmounts
To higher levels of being, so when I'm MC-ing (what?)
I hope to see you there steady G-ing (say word)
But the only way we can truly reach that goal
Is finding true inner peace and prospering souls
It's like that (uh)

All we want in this life
Is peace, prosperity and a little paper (yeah, yeah)
Objects, they seem seem greater
But I'm sure we'll overcome when we illin' on the drum (Big Mu in the house)
All we want in this life (turn the party out)
Is peace, prosperity and a little paper (yeah, yeah)
Objects, they seem seem greater
But I'm sure we'll overcome when we illin' on the drum

Here comes your royal highness, one of Queens' finest
Believe me, honest, you know you can't stop it
Come on, son, never leave your mic 'round me
True MC, for real, ask my man, Shaheed
Strictly focused on what I'm in this rap game for
Not for fame and screwing every whore after whore
With all that AIDS stuff going 'round, tell me how that sound
Rather hit the studio and hear some beats that pound
Now, don't get me wrong, I love honeys galore
But see hip-hop's my bread and butter, 'cause that's what I get paid for
See this is what I wanted, Allah helped me to get it
And if the beat is wicked, you know Malik will rip it
From the bottom of my heart, that's where the love starts
The love for break dancing, my love for the art
And with this love, I do hip-hop from the soul
A real MC, who never sweats how many copies are sold
Yeah, I want to go gold, platinum, uh-huh, etcetera
But why put out some wackness when no one will respect ya
I'm staying true 'nough respect to those that paved the way
From Bambaata down to Shah, that be my DJ
Without my peeps I don't know how the hell I'd make it work
Sometimes I feel that my career is headed for the curb
One love for lending hand and giving all your help
Believing in me when I didn't believe in my own self
The Abstract with who I'm always making rugged tunes
Kid Hood resting in heaven, I hope to see you soon
I keep things hot and this year they're even hotter
Big Mu and Shah, one day, I'll take my shahada
Out