Buggin’ Out Lyrics

[Verse 1: Phife Dawg]
Yo, microphone check one, two, what is this?
The five foot assassin with the roughneck business
I float like gravity, never had a cavity
Got more rhymes than the Winans got family
No need to sweat Arsenio to gain some type of fame
No shame in my game cause I'll always be the same
Styles upon styles upon styles is what I have
You wanna diss the Phifer but you still don't know the half
I sport New Balance sneakers to avoid a narrow path
Mess around with this you catch a size eight up your ass
I never half-step cause I'm not a half-stepper
Drink a lot of soda so they call me Dr. Pepper
Refuse to compete with BS competition
Your name ain't Special Ed
So won't you seckle with the mission

I never walk the street thinking it's all about me
Even though deep in my heart, it really could be

I just try my best to like go all out
Some might even say yo shorty black you're buggin' out

[Verse 2: Q-Tip]
Zulu Nation, brothers' last creation
Minds get flooded, ejaculation

Right on the two-inch tape
The Abstract poet incognito, runs the cape
Not the best not the worst and occasionally I curse
To get my point across, so bust, the floss

As I go in between, the grit and the dirt
Listen to the mission listen Miss as I do work, umm
As I crack the, monotone
Children of the jazz so, get your own
Smokin R&B 'cause they try to do me
Or the best of the pack but they can't do rap

For it's Abstract, original
You can't get your own and that's, pitiful

I know I'd be the man if I cold yanked the plug
On R&B, but I can't and that's bugged

[Chorus]
Buggin' out, buggin' out, buggin' out, you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out, buggin' out, you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out, buggin' out, you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out, buggin' out, you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out, buggin' out, you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out, buggin' out, you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out, buggin' out, you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out, buggin' out, you're buggin' out

[Verse 3: Phife Dawg]
Yo when you bug out, you usually have a reason for the action
Sometimes you don't it's just for mere satisfaction
People be hounding, always surrounding
Pulsing, just like a migraine pounding

You don't really fret, you stay in your sense
Camouflage your feeling, of absolute tense

You soar off to another world, deep in your mind
But people seem to take that, as being unkind
"Oh yo he's acting stank," really on a regal?

A man of the fame not a man of the people
Believe that if you wanna but I tell you this much
Riding on the train with no dough, sucks

Once again a case of your feet in my Nike's
If a crowd is in my realm I'm saying -- mic please
Hip-hop is living, can't yank the plug
If you do the result, will end up kind of bugged

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About

Genius Annotation

“Buggin' Out” is attributed as the song responsible for the emergence of Phife Dawg as a notable emcee rapper, who trades verses with Q-Tip.

The song exudes a playful enthusiasm over the jazzy bassline and the iconic “boom-thack” sounding beat.

The song’s music video has been praised as groundbreaking aesthetically and on a conceptual level. It set a new bar and influenced how hip-hop music videos would be made in the industry by future video directors such as Hype Williams. The music video included songs “Buggin' Out” and “Jazz (We’ve Got).”

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Where are the samples on the song from?
Genius Answer

The unmistakable bass sound on the beat is sampled from Jack DeJohnette’s song, “Minya’s the Mooch”:

The drums were taken directly from Dr. Lonnie Smith’s “Spinning Wheel”:

What did A Tribe Called Quest say about "Buggin' Out"?
Genius Answer

One of my favorite songs, to perform, as well. When the album was fresh and new and we were on tour with it—on the Public Enemy tour, matter of fact—that bassline used to come in crazy. So “Buggin' Out” is definitely on that list. We used to start the show with either that or “Steve Biko,” and we used to win.

— Phife Dawg, XXL, 2013

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