Who just don't know
 What plays a factor
 In movin' heads and toes
 It be them hits
 Hangin' out of them stereo kits
 Whether cassette radio or cd bits
 Mix tapes from the best
 Going on and on
 Throughout the city grounds
 To suburban lawns
 Man  we don't play
 Even where we stay
 Videos shows the visuals
 Of jams today
 Coinciding with the rhythm
 Of the heart and neck
 The brakes got you
 In your proper context
 You let your lex or your
 Sixty-four suspension
 Bounce away all your tension
 En route to the club
 Where girls need the quenchin'
 Diamonds on your wrist
 Sunroof top
 But niggas out front
 Makin' guns go pop
 So the spot gets shut
 But on to the next
 'Cause your ears get vexed
 When they don't get the fix cause
 [These are the brakes]
 It be your listenin pleasure
 While you're doin your chores
 [These are the brakes]
 No matter where you from
 It's for you and yours
 [These are the brakes]
 Bringing it back to the brakes
 Like the 'yes yes y'all'
 [These are the brakes]
 So let it be your anthem
 When you're havin' a ball
 Well it's silly of me
 To think that I
 Would never get a chance to see
 A piece of this pie
 I sat dead in front of speakers
 Thinkin' that could be me
 Anticipatin' open microphones
 So I could emcee
 Had a catalogue of raps
 Impressin' all the 'round-the-wayers
 Before I went to bed
 Included rhymes into my prayers
 But that rhyme is all on paper
 I want my song on vinyl plates
 I dreamin' hits and doin' shows
 Makin my niggas spines shake
 Expectin' nuttin but a little bit
 Of radio play
 Gettin diced on 1 and 2's
 By the best djs, hey
 Time was kinda tight
 But still i dotted on the line
 And some expected me
 To start buhlooning in the mind
 Seein' spaces and places
 That i couldn't pronounce
 But still i had the pulleys
 To make all the bullies bounce
 With the blessings of the great
 We took it from state to state
 'Cause we landed on the good foot
 And got our biggest brake cause
 [These are the brakes]
 A mother gets mugged
 By her crackhead son
 "That's the brakes, that's the brakes"
 You're in the wrong part of town
 So the shots make you run
 "That's the brakes, that's the brakes"
 Your best comrades put six tabs
 In your o.e.
 "That's the brakes, that's the brakes"
 Your boyfriend made you a carrier of HIV
 "That's the brakes, that's the brakes"
 Now what's gonna happen
 When the sun don't shine
 I'm buyin tickets aboard
 The caravan of love
 Hey fellas
 See, money don't make shots repel
 I break woes and compose
 Some rhymes to tell
 So when the party's live
 It shouldn't be beef
 Or playin' indian roles
 I guess you thought you was chief
 Seems all broke up
 And now you woke up surprised
 Situation's gettin sticky
 Dead in front of your eyes
 We play the wall
 Similar to tacks
 Until the dj plays
 The necessary track
 In fact as the jam plays on
 Out comes all your bread
 To pay for drinks
 For them girls you want to spread
 Don't be mislead
 When the brakes inside your head
 And have you reminiscing
 On them kids who got you fed
 Until reality reveals a miss
 Who wants to know
 If you can play her real close
 Out on the dance floor 'cause
 [These are the brakes]
 It be your listenin pleasure
 While you're doin your chores
 [These are the brakes]
 No matter where you from
 It's for you and yours
 [These are the brakes]
 Ringin it back to the brakes
 Like the 'yes yes y'all'
 [These are the brakes]
 So let it be your anthem


 When you're havin, a ball