The Lox – Recognize (Audio, Lyrics)

Throwback to The Lox’s “Recognize” track. Listen, stream, read the lyrics, buy, mp3 download the DJ Premier-produced song.

The Lox Recognize

Not long after their Bad Boy debut Money, Power, & Respect turned twenty-three, The LOX celebrate another massive milestone as their sophomore release We Are The Streets closes the door on twenty-one. Their first release on the Ruff Ryders label, many fans have praised The LOX’s second album as their finest work yet, high praise of one of the rap game’s beloved groups. And while there remain plenty of hard bars and classic tunes to parse through in honor of the milestone occasion, it’s hard to ignore the allure of the Eve-sampling, DJ Premier-produced “Recognize.”

In his opening lyrics, Jadakiss says what the masses had been thinking since first hearing him spit bars. “Now I know y’all couldn’t wait to hear ‘Kiss over Premier, Kill you on tape then watch it over a beer,” he raps, sliding over Primo’s head-nodding production. Sheek Louch steps up for the second verse, his explosive flow reminiscent of the classic nineties style. “I give it to you point blank, in your mom’s place,” he raps, in his opening lines. “So like Point Break with a mask on with president’s face.” Closing out is Styles P — “If I knew heaven had a ghetto that was sweeter than here / You know the P would pack his bag and just leave next year,” he spits. “But I got a son to raise so I’ma stay in this hell / And I gotta gun to blaze if you play with the L.”

The Lox – Recognize (prod. DJ Premier)

Lyrics

[Chorus]
Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff Ruff
Huh…Ruff Ryders
Don’t get it twisted y’all (yea yea yea)
Ruff Ryders..(fuck i’m talking about right here)
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
Don’t get it twisted y’all (yea yea yea )
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
Don’t get it twisted y’all

[Verse 1: Jadakiss]
Now I know y’all couldn’t wait to hear ‘Kiss over Premier
Kill you on tape then watch it over a beer
‘Cause you ain’t nuttin but a movie with extensive footage
That’s the reason they gon’ leave you with expensive bullets
Ain’t none of y’all better than LOX
Have all of y’all dressed up in a suit, dead in a box
Me and my niggas get Redd-er than Foxx
And I don’t care if I love you, I still want head in the drop
Niggas runnin’ round talkin’ that Y2K shit
Crackheads’ll still gon’ want that gray shit
That’s why I’mma always cop the yay quick
So I suggest all of y’all stay off J dick
Too hard for MTV, not black enough for BET, just let me be
Give me all my royalty money, and let me re’
And I’mma have O’s for six and halves for three

[Chorus]
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
Don’t get it twisted y’all
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
L to the O to the X
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
Don’t get it twisted y’all
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
L O X niggas
Don’t get it twisted y’all

[Verse 2: Sheek Louch]
Ayo I give it to you point blank, in your mom’s place
So like Point Break with a mask on with president’s face
Clear my space, when big Sheek crash the boards
Y’all ain’t just mark niggas, y’all Hallmark niggas
With all that soft ass writin might as well be in cards
You don’t gamble with your life when I launch these torpedoes
That’ll shoot the crap out your ass at Foxwood Casinos
Just me and my Gambinos drunk as fuck
With a time parking lot DVD in a truck
I been drunk most my life, don’t ask me why
Through ninth grade, I ain’t go to high school
I went to school high
And I don’t care what y’all got, that shit don’t excite me
I’m black and deadly and my burner just like me
And I’m quick to stick one of y’all on tour at the Sheraton
See, what yours can be mine without inheritin’
Give up your chains and them little diamonds in your ear
Is it worth your family cryin’ and the doctor yellin’ “Clear”, huh?

[Chorus]
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
Don’t get it twisted y’all
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
L to the O to the X
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
Don’t get it twisted y’all
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
L O X niggas
Don’t get it twisted y’all

[Verse 3: Styles P]
If I knew heaven had a ghetto that was sweeter than here
You know the P would pack his bag and just leave next year
But I got a son to raise so I’mma stay in this hell
And I gotta gun to blaze if you play with the L-
Dot O – Dot X – Dot at the end
We the niggas that’s gon’ leave with the pot at the end
Never too young to die or too old to live
Ain’t it hard to bust your gun, go home and mold your kid?
I’m ashamed I sell crack but I’mma ryde for the moment
Know the consequence, I’mma die with The Omen
Two is better than one, there’s three of The LOX
Ki in a pot, key in the drop, key to the top
Father, son, and holy ghost of rap
3 in a 1 seein’ a gun and usin’ it, dog
Dope in a six, coke in a five, weed in a four
Ice is for my niggas, but the heat is for y’all

[Chorus]
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
Don’t get it twisted y’all
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
L to the O to the X
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
Don’t get it twisted y’all
Recognize, Recognize, Recognize (Ruff Ryders)
L O X niggas
Don’t get it twisted y’all