With a hard break, and funk supplied by a Dennis Coffey loop (from "Getting it On"), this is a quality opening slice on Public Enemy's first album. Shocklee and Terminator X make heavy use of a sample of squealing tyres to create the distinct impression of being driven down by a manic, but stone cold sober Chuck D, in a huge steel car from the '60s or '70s.
The best possible way to enjoy this tune (msg me if you actually do it):
Get hold of a copy of Carmageddon for the PC, the original one. Play, or cheat, until you can use Otis P Jivefunk's car. This appears very similar to a heavily modified blood-red 1966 Oldsmobile '98' convertible. It has low-ride suspension, a ghetto interior, kill-blades and a leopard-skin roof. (A pity that it's got whitewalls, rather than blackwalls, and is actually supposed to be a 'Caddy Fat Cat'.) Notably, this is one of the best vehicles in the game. Now put the album on as loud as you can, and start driving this insanely cool car very fast around a fun urban map (like 'Downtown Devastation'). Add IGLOOFUN to taste.
For some reason, the combination of an old-school 'controversial violence' video game with this oh-so-dope piece of old-school hip-hop, is an incredibly intense audiovisual high. Causin' them pain... ran 'em over and down... five-oh tailin' on my tip - it all just makes perfect sense. Tasteless, juvenile perhaps, but somehow deeply meaningful and harmonious too. It's a song about running people over! It's a game about running people over! I'd be disappointed to find that rather than a perfect coincidence, Carmageddon's authors deliberately evoked the spirit of the song with Otis' character.
Anyhow, funky car crash!
(Flavor Flav:)
Uh-oh Chuck, they out ta get us man
Yo, we gotta dust these boys off
(Chuck D:)
In this corner with the 98
Subject of suckers - object of hate
Who's the one some think is great
I'm that one - (Flav:) son of a gun
Drivin' by - wavin' my fist
Makin' 'em mad when I'm goin' like this
Top gun - never on the run
(Flav:) They know not to come cause they all get some
Goin' quicker in the speedin' lane
Jealous can't do it and it's causin' them pain
Caught in my smoke - all they did was choke
Look at my spokes - you know I'm no joke
Out that window - middle finger for all
Jealous at my ride, stereo and blackwalls
Suckers they got the nerve and gall
(Flav:) To talk 'bout the car when they're walkin' tall
Chorus:
Suckers to tha side
I know you hate my 98
(Unison:)You're gonna get yours
(x2)
Pullin' away - every day
Leavin' you in the dust
So you know I get paid - on the mile ego trip
And five-oh tailin' on my tip
Watch me burn rubber - fall in my flame
This episode is always the same
Seein' no comp comin' like I'm blind
All left back - trailin' my behind
I go faster cops try to shoot me
They'll get theirs when they try to get me
I'll let it go - my turbo
Run 'em in the river cause they're movin' too slow
Laughin' hard at their attempt
So what if the judge charged me contempt
I'll rub my boomerang - 'cause I'm feelin' proud
And I wouldn't even hear it cause my radio's loud
(Chorus x2)
Cruisin' down the boulevard
I'm treated like some superstar
You know the time so don't look hard
(Flav:) Get with it - the ultimate homeboy car
All you suckers in the other rides
Wherever I'm comin' get you my side
My 98 is tough to chase
If you're on my tail - better watch your face
Smoke is comin' when I burn
Rubber when my wheels turn
A tinted window - so super bad
Lookin' like the car the Green Hornet had
It's the reason I'm ahead of the pack
It's the reason I left them back
It's the reason all the people say
My 98 Olds blows 'em all away
My 98 Oldsmobile is...
My 98 Oldsmobile's so...
My 98 Oldsmobile is...
My 98 Oldsmobile's like...
(Chorus x2)
Understand - I don't drive drunk
My 98's fly - I don't drive no junk
No cop got a right to call me a punk
Take this ticket - go to hell and stick it
Put me on a kick butt - line up, times up
This government needs a tune up
I don't know what's happenin' - what's up
Gun in my chest - I'm under arrest
Sidewalk suckers wanted to spill me
So I got my crew and posse
Took their girls and got them to thrill me
Stepped outside - got in my ride
Drove them around an' I looked around town
Caught 'em out there cold - ran 'em over and down
They didn't get me and that's the truth
(Flav:)Cause the 98-O is bulletproof
My 98 Oldsmobile's so...
My 98 Oldsmobile is...
My 98 Oldsmobile's so...
My 98 Oldsmobile's like...
Lyrics
Chuck D (
Carlton Ridenhour), producer
Hank Shocklee
4'05"
Original performance copyright
Def Jam recordings
1987, from the album
Yo! Bum Rush the Show by
Public Enemy.
Sampled by: The
Beastie Boys, in
Egg Man: vocal sample, "You're gonna get yours!"
Source: http://www.publicenemy.com/lyrics/lyrics/youre-gonna-get-yours.php