[Intro: Pete Rock]
Uh, yeah (Straighten it out)
Uh-huh, we got (Straighten it out)
Pete Rock and (Straighten it out)
C.L. Smooth (Straighten it out)
And we’re here to tell you to (Straighten it out)
And that’s a fact, baby (Straighten it out)
Now you’re gonna kick some lyrics (Straighten it out)
Like this, come on
[Verse 1: C.L. Smooth, Pete Rock]
Walk the fine chalk line and put the needle to the grind (Yeah)
Representin’ one kind, seeing eye for the blind (Uh)
Witness what I carry on bears a further purpose (Uh-huh)
From how we do slam a few, then you want to purchase (Yеah)
A dialogue of funk, you love to pop it in your trunk
I win, more disciplinеd than a Shaolin monk (Woo)
Pete Rock and C.L., well set to spark it (Uh-huh)
The powerful target to destroy the black market (Yeah)
But when you say black, listen, I don’t know, you lose me (What?)
I guess another beggar can’t afford to be choosey
I come to the maximum, artist on a major label
Any duplication of this one is fatal
On 1-2-5, I gotta hit ya live (Yeah)
Beat your ass with my tape, any race or shape (Uh-huh)
‘Cause if they got mine, they got yours, too (What?)
But together here’s what we gotta do
[Chorus: Pete Rock]
Tell ’em (Straighten it out)
Ah yeah (Straighten it out)
(Say what?) (Straighten it out)
That’s right, y’all (Straighten it out)
(Say what?) You got to (Straighten it out)
Everybody must (Straighten it out)
(Say what?) (Straighten it out)
Yeah (Straighten it out)
It’s like that (Say what?)
[Verse 2: C.L. Smooth, Pete Rock]
The funk legacy I pass on, clearancy for high rates
Every time we sample all the past time greats (Yeah)
Stick it in the SP-1200 beat, I make a loop
Lovely, way to troop in a Lexus coupe (Uh-huh)
Just a little bit, set to make a whole lot happen
The musical inside my rappin’ (Yeah)
Written by the C.L., produced by the P.R
And add in any credit that you heard thus far (Uh-huh)
I start from scratch, ’cause the bassline’s critical (Yeah)
Better than the original who first made it (Uh-huh)
Now you want to sue me, but fans never boo me (Yeah)
Believe I know the times, we been broke, too, G (That’s right)
Here’s another sample clear, see ya, get the hell outta here
Like a bootleg, you’re over for the year (Woo)
You’ll only get the credit where the credit is due
So, listen, what I shout out is true
[Chorus: Pete Rock]
Yeah (Straighten it out)
You gots to tell ’em to (Straighten it out)
(Say what?) (Straighten it out)
You got to tell ’em to (Straighten it out)
(Say what?) (Straighten it out)
That’s right (Straighten it out)
Come on (Say what?) (Straighten it out)
That’s right (Straighten it out)
Straighten it out (Say what?)
[Verse 3: C.L. Smooth, Pete Rock]
Like the strands of lamb’s wool, I’m thinkin’ that’s said
Here to go to the head and count the locks on a dred (Yeah)
I and I’d ‘mit to verify, goin’ to multiply
A theory many thought a conspiracy
Here to let you know that it applies to all of us
You’re no exceptions to the rule and that’s a plus (Ow)
‘Cause who Jah bless, let no one curse
Straighten out what I be about, reckon above the clout
And let the management work for me
Because I don’t need the unnecessary hostility
A proper marketing plan so we can gobble up the dough
Straighten it out, so everybody know
The kids are official with the purpose of a smooth surface
Kickin’ the service one time to make ’em nervous
We’re finally here and very long overdue
Pete Rock, this one’s for the crew
[Chorus: Pete Rock]
You gotta (Straighten it out)
Everybody must (Straighten it out)
(Say what?) You gotta (Straighten it out)
Everybody must (Straighten it out)
(Say what?) (Straighten it out)
You got to (Straighten it out)
Come on (Say what?) (Straighten it out)
All Black people must (Straighten it out)
(Say what?)
[Outro: Pete Rock]
(Straighten it out)
Everybody must (Straighten it out)
The YG’s, they must (Straighten it out)
The Hilltop, they must (Straighten it out)
The whole money-earnin’ must (Straighten it out)
Everybody must (Straighten it out)
Come on
Ah yeah (Straighten it out)
Ah yeah (Straighten it out)
Ah yeah (Straighten it out)
Ah yeah (Straighten it out)
Ah yeah (Straighten it out)
Ah yeah (Straighten it out)
Ah yeah (Straighten it out)
Ah yeah (Straighten it out)
Ah yeah (Straighten it out)