Feb. 13, 19961 viewer139.3K views
How Many Mics Lyrics
[Intro: Wyclef Jean]
Pick up your microphones, ha-ha
Pick up your microphones, yo
[Chorus: Wyclef Jean, Wyclef Jean & Lauryn Hill]
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Say, me say many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
[Verse 1: Lauryn Hill]
I get mad frustrated when I rhyme
Thinkin' of all them kids that try to do this for all the wrong reasons
Seasons change, mad things rearrange
But it all stays the same like the love doctor, strange
I'm tame like the rapper, get red like a snapper when they do that
Got your whole block saying "True dat"
If only they knew that it was you who was irregular
Sold your soul for some secular muzak that's wack
Plus you use that loop over and over
Claiming that you got a new style, your attempts are futile
Ooh, child, you puerile, brain waves are sterile
You can't create, you just wait to take my tapes (Bing)
Laced with malice, hands get calloused
From gripping microphones from here to Dallas
Go ask Alice if you don't believe me, I get in her visions like Stevie
See me ascend from the chalice like the weed be
Indeed we like Khalid Muhammad, MCs make me vomit
I get controversial, freak your style with no rehearsal
Au contraire mon frère, don't you even go there
Me without a mic is like a beat without a snare
I dare to tear into your ego
We go way back like some ganja and pelequo
Or ColecoVision, my rhymes make incisions in your anatomy
And I'll back this with Deuteronomy
Or Leviticus, God made this word, you can't get with this
Sweet like licorice, dangerous like syphilis, yeah
Pick up your microphones, ha-ha
Pick up your microphones, yo
[Chorus: Wyclef Jean, Wyclef Jean & Lauryn Hill]
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Say, me say many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
[Verse 1: Lauryn Hill]
I get mad frustrated when I rhyme
Thinkin' of all them kids that try to do this for all the wrong reasons
Seasons change, mad things rearrange
But it all stays the same like the love doctor, strange
I'm tame like the rapper, get red like a snapper when they do that
Got your whole block saying "True dat"
If only they knew that it was you who was irregular
Sold your soul for some secular muzak that's wack
Plus you use that loop over and over
Claiming that you got a new style, your attempts are futile
Ooh, child, you puerile, brain waves are sterile
You can't create, you just wait to take my tapes (Bing)
Laced with malice, hands get calloused
From gripping microphones from here to Dallas
Go ask Alice if you don't believe me, I get in her visions like Stevie
See me ascend from the chalice like the weed be
Indeed we like Khalid Muhammad, MCs make me vomit
I get controversial, freak your style with no rehearsal
Au contraire mon frère, don't you even go there
Me without a mic is like a beat without a snare
I dare to tear into your ego
We go way back like some ganja and pelequo
Or ColecoVision, my rhymes make incisions in your anatomy
And I'll back this with Deuteronomy
Or Leviticus, God made this word, you can't get with this
Sweet like licorice, dangerous like syphilis, yeah
[Chorus: Wyclef Jean, Wyclef Jean & Lauryn Hill]
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do I rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do you rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
[Verse 2: Wyclef Jean]
I used to be underrated, now I take iron
Makes my shit constipated, I'm more concentrated
So on my day off, with David Sonenberg I play golf
Run through Crown Heights screaming out, "Mazel tov!"
Problem with no man, before Black, I'm first human
Appetite to write like Frederick Douglass with a slave hand (Bing)
Street pressure, word to papa, I ain't goin' under
One day I'll have a label and make deals with Tommy Mottola
Mama always told me, "You're one in a million"
Always watch your back, never tangle with Haitian Sicilians
Now I got a record deal, "How does it feel?"
I'm never gonna survive unless I get crazy like Seal
'Cause the whole world's out of order
So at night, the fiends dance on grease with John Travolta
One got slaughtered as he coughed blood from his mouth
The other tried to duck and caught a left with my Guinness Stout
Brother, brother, can't you get this through your head?
This is set up by the feds, they're scoping us with their infrareds
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do I rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do you rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
[Verse 2: Wyclef Jean]
I used to be underrated, now I take iron
Makes my shit constipated, I'm more concentrated
So on my day off, with David Sonenberg I play golf
Run through Crown Heights screaming out, "Mazel tov!"
Problem with no man, before Black, I'm first human
Appetite to write like Frederick Douglass with a slave hand (Bing)
Street pressure, word to papa, I ain't goin' under
One day I'll have a label and make deals with Tommy Mottola
Mama always told me, "You're one in a million"
Always watch your back, never tangle with Haitian Sicilians
Now I got a record deal, "How does it feel?"
I'm never gonna survive unless I get crazy like Seal
'Cause the whole world's out of order
So at night, the fiends dance on grease with John Travolta
One got slaughtered as he coughed blood from his mouth
The other tried to duck and caught a left with my Guinness Stout
Brother, brother, can't you get this through your head?
This is set up by the feds, they're scoping us with their infrareds
[Chorus: Wyclef Jean, Wyclef Jean & Lauryn Hill]
How many mics do you rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do I rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
[Verse 3: Pras]
Too many MCs, not enough mics
Exit your show like I exit the turnpike
Dice and dynamite like Dolemite
Double-deuce delight, I don't Dick Van Dyke
Star light to star bright, the freaks come out at night
Like my man Wyclef (I wear my sunglasses at night)
And my panache will mosh your entourage
Squash the squad and hide their bodies under my garage
And when the cops come lookin, I be bookin' to Brooklyn
Leave the trails broken, flippin' tokens to Hoboken
A clean getaway like Alec Baldwin
Driving in my fast car playing Tracy Chapman
[Chorus: Wyclef Jean & Lauryn Hill]
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Say, me say many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do you rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do I rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do you rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do I rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
[Verse 3: Pras]
Too many MCs, not enough mics
Exit your show like I exit the turnpike
Dice and dynamite like Dolemite
Double-deuce delight, I don't Dick Van Dyke
Star light to star bright, the freaks come out at night
Like my man Wyclef (I wear my sunglasses at night)
And my panache will mosh your entourage
Squash the squad and hide their bodies under my garage
And when the cops come lookin, I be bookin' to Brooklyn
Leave the trails broken, flippin' tokens to Hoboken
A clean getaway like Alec Baldwin
Driving in my fast car playing Tracy Chapman
[Chorus: Wyclef Jean & Lauryn Hill]
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Say, me say many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do you rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do we rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
How many mics do I rip on the daily?
Many, money, say, me say many, many, many
[Outro: Wyclef Jean]
Many, many, money, many, many, many
Many, many, money, many, many, many
[Interlude]
Yo, as I was sayin', look
Yo, yo, hold up kid, hol' up, hol' up (Yo, man)
Yo, ready or not, kid (Yo, yo, I gotta tell you somethin', man)
They gon' move on us (If they do, but, yo)
And we gotta get prepared
We gotta get the forces together, man (I gotta do what I gotta do, man)
We gotta get our family together (I'ma haul ass down to Mexico, yo)
Ready or not, man (Word is born)
Ready or not they gon' move on us
So I tell you what, better safe than sorry
Let's be ready
Many, many, money, many, many, many
Many, many, money, many, many, many
[Interlude]
Yo, as I was sayin', look
Yo, yo, hold up kid, hol' up, hol' up (Yo, man)
Yo, ready or not, kid (Yo, yo, I gotta tell you somethin', man)
They gon' move on us (If they do, but, yo)
And we gotta get prepared
We gotta get the forces together, man (I gotta do what I gotta do, man)
We gotta get our family together (I'ma haul ass down to Mexico, yo)
Ready or not, man (Word is born)
Ready or not they gon' move on us
So I tell you what, better safe than sorry
Let's be ready
About
Genius Annotation
In this song, the Fugees brag about their rap skills and prove their haters wrong.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
What did Jerry Wonder say about the song?
Genius Answer
The whole thing about that record was a record that was supposed to go out on a mix tape. They actually put it on a mixtape. It was the first record anybody heard from The Score. How Many Mics it was on the mixtape, next thing you know people are going crazy over it. We’re like, “Get the fuck out of here.” That was one of the best first records. That’s one of my favorite records on The Score
Jerry Wonder via Complex
- 1.Red Intro
- 2.How Many Mics
- 3.Ready or Not
- 4.Zealots
- 5.The Beast
- 6.Fu-Gee-La
- 9.The Score
- 10.The Mask
- 11.Cowboys
- 12.No Woman, No Cry
- 13.Manifest/Outro
- 16.Mista Mista
Credits
Producers
Writers
Mixing Engineer
Mixed At
Engineer
Recording Engineer
Recorded At
Booga Basement Studio, (East Orange, New Jersey)
Released on
February 13, 1996
Songs That Sample How Many Mics
Ein Stift ein Takt by Lakmann & Rooq, WNYU 89.1 FM: NY Live - 2Face (A-Butta & L-Swift) Freestyle in the Winter of 1996 over Fugees - “How Many Mics” by Mr. Mayhem & DJ Riz (Ft. 2Face (A-Butta & L-Swift)), Pick It Up by Egreen x Nex Cassel, Looking Back by Terra Firma (Ft. Kas Solo), Freestyle 1 by L'Morphine, Conceited Bastard by Ras Kass, Many Many by Cham, SEASONS by Altered St8s of Consciousness, Don't You Even Go There by Demigodz (Ft. Louis Logic), The Score by Fugees (Ft. Diamond D), Deutschrap by Massive Töne, Can't Get It by Dynamite Deluxe, Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage? by Blawan, Troppo Vicino by Frah Quintale (Ft. DJ Breeda), The Nicest (Instrumental) by I.G. Off & Hazadous & Seasons by CunninLynguists (Ft. Masta Ace)
Songs That Interpolate How Many Mics
Gorilla by Little Simz, Grünt Hors-Série 日本 🇯🇵 (Japon) by Grünt (Ft. 2zer, Alpha Wann, Doums, Framal, Mekra, Nekfeu & Népal), Glory by Kanye West & Dr. Dre (Ft. Snoop Dogg), The Tower by Sa-Roc, Cleo by Rapsody, Where Fugees At? by Wyclef Jean, More L3assr (Freestyle) by Lionbad, How You Been? by Thundamentals (Ft. Jace Excell), The Rules (Remix) by Jimmy Nice (Ft. One Day) & Phillies by Luniz (Ft. Poppa LQ)
Tags
Comments
Sign Up And Drop Knowledge 🤓
Genius is the ultimate source of music knowledge, created by scholars like you who share facts and insight about the songs and artists they love.