The Future Lyrics

[Sampled vocals]
Or... or... they will be lost (the future)
Or... or... they will be lost (the future)

[Verse 2: Dave]
So do you understand it now? Well try standin' over
Seven box sets, reppin sixteen years
This rap career ain't work, it's the life in-between
Bedtime 'til the next said time and date
Know the name and salute them dudes
Put the nutrient in rap when they cook them foods
Gotta be like eighteen million heads served
Shit, imagine if there wasn't no us huh?
So I'd like to take the time to shout out the JB's
Next on my list is A Tribe Called Quest
Latifah my Queen, Monie Love, Dres and Mr. Lawnge
Chi-Ali, hold your head God bless

Never ring chasin, the permanent tat
In this rap shit, y'all are just temporary lick-ons
Fadin in the days to come
While the name De La and the legacy built lives on


[Outro: Sample]
We are singing (sing it out now)
You this message (sendin you a message y'all)
Through our music (through the music)
Reaching for a, brave and brighter new tomorrow
(another day y'all) is the future (it's the future)
(it's the future) We must make it (we gotta make it)
Safe and happy, for the children (for the children)
You little brats

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About

Genius Annotation

The opening of The Grind Date. It samples “A Better Tomorrow” by Switch

Q&A

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

What did De La Soul say about "The Future"?
Genius Answer

I feel one of our best ingredients is that we’re open to change and we are open to what really goes on now in the present. That’s what “The Future,” that first song says, “We are your past, present and future.” We are not one of those groups that gets stuck in the fact that we were so successful in ‘89 and had this life altering album that we have to stick around and only make music like that.

— Posdnuos, MVRemix, 2004

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