Respect Lyrics

[Intro: Diana King & The Notorious B.I.G.]
No big up our gun men, seen? (Big up, big up)
Cuh dis ah '94 when ah RAA fi kill people and kyaan dun
Nuh waan pussy hole hold di kaanah
Watch this, lawd

[Chorus: Diana King]
Me holla respect, to all the gun men dem
Gun men alone, keep gun men friend

Fire bun, fi all the informer dem
Informer lone keep informer friend

[Verse 1: The Notorious B.I.G.]
1970 something, nigga I don't sweat the date
My moms is late so I had to plan my escape
Out the skins, in this world of fly girls
Tanqueray and Hennessy (Uh) until I call Earl (Uh)
Ten months in this gut, what the fuck?
I wish moms would hurry up so I could get buck
Wild juvenile ripping mics and shit
New York, New York, ready for the likes of this
Then came the worst date, May 21st
2:19, that's when my mama water burst
No spouse in the house so she rode for self
To the hospital, to see if she could get a little help
Umbilical cord's wrapped around my neck
I'm seeing my death and I ain't even took my first step

I made it out, I'm bringing mad joy
The doctor looked and said, "He's going to be a bad boy"
[Chorus: Diana King]
Me holla respect, to all the gun men dem
Gun men alone, keep gun men friend

Fire bun, fi all the informer dem
Informer lone keep informer friend

[Verse 2: The Notorious B.I.G.]
Now I'm thirteen, smoking blunts, making cream
On the drug scene, fuck a football team
Risking ruptured spleens by the age of sixteen
Hearing the coach scream ain't my lifetime dream
I mean, I want to blow up, stack my dough up
So school I didn't show up, it fucked my flow up
Mom said that I should grow up and check myself
Before I wreck myself, disrespect myself

Put the drugs on the shelf? Nah, couldn't see it
Scarface, King of New York, I want to be it
Rap was secondary, money was necessary
Until I got incarcerated, kinda scary
C74-Mark 8 set me straight
Not able to move behind the great steel gate
Time to contemplate, damn, where did I fail?
All the money I stacked was all the money for bail

[Chorus: Diana King]
Me holla respect, to all the gun men dem
Gun men alone, keep gun men friend

Fire bun, fi all the informer dem
Informer lone keep informer friend
Me holla respect, to all the gun men dem
Gun men alone, keep gun men friend

Fire bun, fi all the informer dem
Informer lone keep informer friend
[Verse 3: The Notorious B.I.G.]
Ninety-four, now I explore new horizons
Mama smile when she see me, that's surprising
Honeys is tantalizing, they freak all night
Keep ducking cops on the creep all night
As I open my eyes and realizing I changed
Not the same deranged child stuck up in the game
And to my niggas living street life
Learn to treat life to the best, put stress to rest
Still tote your vest man, niggas be tripping
In the streets without a gat? Nah, nigga you're slipping
If I'm dipping on The F with weed on my breath
Original hustler with the muffler on the TEC

Respect to the macks in the Ac's
To the freaks in the Jeeps, lick shots to my peeps

[Chorus: Diana King]
Me holla respect, to all the gun men dem
Gun men alone, keep gun men friend

Fire bun, fi all the informer dem
Informer lone keep informer friend
Me holla respect, to all the gun men dem
Gun men alone, keep gun men friend

Fire bun, fi all the informer dem
Informer lone keep informer friend

[Post-Chorus: Diana King]
Now this is Diana King doing a Yankee thing
In a Biggie Smalls thing, do it, Ja
Have mercy!
The gunman in all de party
And everybody feel irie
And everybody just follow me, follow me, follow me
Have mercy
The wul ah we in ah de party
And everybody look irie
Now di man them sexy, sexy, sexy

Do it

[Outro: Diana King]
No mercy fuh nuh big up unnu self
Cuh we nuh watch nuh this girl seen?
The hardcore thing we ah deal with
Oh yes, we are the best
No other guy can test

[Skit: The Notorious B.I.G. & Faith Evans]
Shit, Mami, damn, why you actin like that, man?
'Cause I don't be doin' this
I'm sayin', you know it ain't nothin'
It's just part of sex, ya know'm saying
But you know I don't do this
I don't even know how to do this

I'm just sayin', jus— just a little peck Mami, for daddy
Just a little peck
Like that?
That's what I'm sayin', yeah
You know I don't be doin' this though
You know that

Whatever bitch!

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About

Genius Annotation

Biggie runs down his life story, including a whole verse on his birth. If you don’t feel like watching Notorious, just check this out

The beat was produced by Poke and P. Diddy, and samples “I Get Lifted” by KC & The Sunshine Band

Q&A

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

What did The Notorious B.I.G. say about "Respect"?
Genius Answer

Poke: “It wasn’t me by myself. It was me and Tone who made that beat. The credits read [Poke for Trackmasters] but that was a me-for-my-team kind of deal. If Tone was making records, it was Tone for our team. It’s not like we didn’t do it as a Trackmasters unit.

Sometimes, because we had certain relationships, we used to do records outside of Trackmasters. But it wasn’t really outside of that; it was just that I had the relationship so I did that. We all knew Puff. I put Poke for Trackmasters, which was our team.

Back then, credits used to get fucked up all the time. Labels would get it fucked up, period. Especially if you didn’t have management or a good administration staff behind you making sure that everything is right.

As we started building our staff and getting our company together, we got good administrators so credits would read better, publishing rights would read better. Everything would be under control. But if it’s just you and your man, especially if you’re 20 years old and you don’t know shit, everything would get fucked up. That’s why sometimes credits got messed up.

If you don’t have a good staff, you can get railroaded really fast. That’s one of the things that artists and producers have big problems with trying to make records. It’s a daunting task but someone has to stay on top of it in order for you to get your just due.”

Tone: “I never liked ‘Respect.’ I didn’t like Diana King.”

Poke: “It’s just finding hot loops to use. Let’s try this kind of thing, press play, this shit is hot. Trying to fill niches on the album. Which slots work best kind of thing. And it just worked out.

When Puff make records he tries to make what he considers the 15 best and keep 12. He was going through that whole thing. And it was really the tail end of the album and we were trying to find slots. Let’s do this kind of thing. And Biggie was a beast.”

Tone: “He was a kid too though.”

Poke: “He was happy.”

Tone: “He was just rapping. Once the music business really becomes a part of your life, you start to realize some of it’s not fun anymore. I think when Biggie was making that album, being up in Scarsdale at Puffy’s house, he was just having fun. He was just spitting and taking direction. And that was it.”

Poke: “And you know, Puff whole thing was like, ‘Let me put everybody in the same house and get everything I need to so I don’t have to run around different places.’ So that’s what happens. Mary, Craig Mack, Biggie, Usher, everybody in the same fucking house. Let’s go. He put together the fucking unit. We played, we joked, we made records.

When we made those records, we got snowed in Scarsdale at Puffy’s house. We couldn’t leave. We were there for two and a half, three weeks snowed in. It was a ridiculous snow storm. We could not get out.”

via Complex

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