I Was There Lyrics
Do it Marley, ha!
Killin 'em, you killin 'em! (Where were you?)
I wanna talk about these rap historians
Y'all better get it together (Where were you?)
I be readin your books (Where were you?)
Y'all better get it together, word up
When Hot 97 started, I was there
When Rap City got started, I was there
When KDAY got started, I was there
When Jive Records got started, I was there
When Yo! MTV Raps started, I was there
When The Source magazins started, I was there
When Cedric and Seda started, I was there
When Biggie was doin his album, I was there
When Tookie Williams was buried, I was there
'73, Cedar Park, I was there
One-twenty-three park, I was there
You ain't tellin me the history cause I was there
[Hook]
I WAS THERE! (And where were you?) (Where were you?)
(And where were you?) (Where were you?)
(And where were you?) (Where were you?)
(Where were you?)
When Moe Dee challenged LL, I was there
When that bus blew up in London, I was there
When Death Row challenged Bad Boy at the Source Awards
In New York at the Garden, yup, I was there
When Kwame Toure, formerly known as Stokely Carmichael
Was passin on, I was there
When Nelson Mandela was freed from prison
And spoke out at Yankee Stadium in New York, I was there
For all the births of my children, I was there
When the Rodney King uprisings happened I was there
These objective rap historians tryin to document
Hip-hop from outside forget it, I was there
[Hook]
[KRS-One]
LOOK! The Jive Records label, I was there
The Columbia Records label, I was there
The Elektra Records label, I was there
The Warner Brothers Records label, I was there
The Koch Records label, I was there
The Capitol Records label, I was there
I know about they contracts cause I was there
I wrote and rewrote most of 'em when I was there
I ain't readin a book or recitin a hook
I am hip-hop itself cause yup I was there
Y'all need to get it together with hip-hop's history
And get it right, cause yup I was there
About
The Song appeared on KRS One and Marley Marls album “Hip Hop Lives” from 2007. Marley Marl and KRS One’s Boogie Down Production had a beef in back in the eighties about where Hip Hop started. A reason for this Album is also “to show the Kids that Hip Hop beefs ar not so serious” as Marley Marl said. Another proof for the reunion is that they sampled a part of MC Shans “the Bridge” in this song (MC Shan was also beefing with KRS). The Lyrics are about the fact that many books have been written about the “roots” of Hip Hop and KRS believes that such books can only be written by people who where there, who witnessed it. (http://www.whosampled.com/sample/view/36641/KRS-One-Hip%20Hop%20Lives_MC%20Shan-The%20Bridge/).
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 1.It’s Alive (Intro) (Missing Lyrics)
- 3.Nothing New
- 4.I Was There
- 5.Musika
- 7.Over 30
- 8.M.a.r.l.e.y. (Skit) (Missing Lyrics)
- 11.Victory
- 13.All Skool
- 14.House of Hits