The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
This is what, this what they want, huh?
This is what it's all about
Word, time to take Affirmative Action, son
They just don't understand, you kna'mean?
Niggas comin' sideways, thinkin' stuff is sweet, man, kna'mean?
Niggas don't understand the four devils
Lust, envy, hate, jealousy
Wicked niggas, man
Yo, sit back, relax, catch your contact, sip your Cog-ni-ac
And let's all wash this money through this laundry mat
Sneak attack, the new cats in rap worth top dollar
In fact, touch mine's and I'll react like a Rottweiler
Who could relate? We play for high stakes at gunpoint
Catch 'em and break
Undress 'em, tie 'em with tape, no escape
The Corleone, fettuccine Capone
Roam in your own zone, or get kidnapped and clapped in your dome
We got it sewn, The Firm art of war is unknown
Lower your tone, face it, homicide cases get blown
Aristocrats, politickin' daily with diplomats
See, me, I'm an official mack, Lex coupe triple black
Criminal thoughts in the blue Porsche
My destiny's to be the new boss
That nigga Paulie gotta die, he too soft
That nigga's dead on a ki of heroin
They found his head on the couch with his dick in his mouth
I put the hit out
Yo, the smoothest killer since Bugsy, bitches love me
In Queens where my drugs be, I wear Guess jeans and rugbies
Yo, my people from Medina, they will see you when you re-up
Bring your heater, all your C.R.E.A.M. go between us
Real shit, my Desert Eagle got a ill grip
I chill with niggas that hit Dominican spots and steal bricks
My red beam made a dread scream and sprayed a fed team
Corleone be turnin' niggas to fiends
Yukons and ninja black Lexus
'Mega, the pretty boy with mafia connections
It's The Firm, nigga, set it
Yo, my mind is seein' through your design like Blind Fury
I shine jewelry, sippin' on crushed grapes, we lust papes
And push cakes inside the casket at Just' wake
It's sickenin', he just finished bidding' upstate
And now the projects is talkin' that somebody-gotta-die-shit
It's logic, as long as it's nobody that's in my clique
My man Smoke know how to expand coke in Mr. Coffee
Feds cost me two mill' to get the system off me
Life's a bitch but God forbid the bitch divorce me
I'll be flooded with ice so Hell fire can't scorch me
Cuban cigars, meetin' Foxy at the Demars, movin' cars
Your top papi, señor Escobar
In the black Camaro, Firm deep
All my niggas hail the blackest sparrow
Wallabee's be the apparel
Through the darkest tunnel
I got visions of multimillions in the biggest bundle
In a Lex pushed by my nigga Jungle
E-Moneybags got Moët Chandon
Bundle of 62, they ain't got a clue what we about to do
My whole team, we shittin' hard like Czar
Sosa, Foxy Brown, Cormega and Escobar
I keep a phat marquess piece, laced in all the illest snake skin
Armani sweaters, Carolina Herrera
Be The Firm, baby
From BK to the Bridge, my nigga Wiz
Operation Firm Biz, so what the deal is?
I keep a phat jew-el, sippin' Cristy
Sittin' on top of fifty grand in the Nautica van, uh
We stay incogni' like all them thug niggas in Marcy
The Gods, they praise Allah with visions of Gandhi
Bet it on my whole crew is Don Juan
On Cayman Island with a case of Cristal
And Baba Shallah spoke
Nigga with them Cubans that snort coke
Raw though, an ounce mixed with leak, that's pure though
Flippin' the bigger picture
The bigger nigga with the cheddar was mad dripper
He had a fuckin' villa in Manilla
We gotta flee to Panama
But wait it's half-and-half, ki's is one and two-fifth, so how we flip?
32 grams raw, chop it in half, get 16
Double it, times 3
We got 48, which means a whole lot of C.R.E.A.M.
Divide the profit by 4, subtract it by 8, we back to 16
Now add the other two that 'Mega bringin' through
So let's see, if we flip this other ki, then that's more for me
Mad coke and mad leak
Plus a 500 cut in half is 250
Now triple that times three, we got three quarters of another ki
The Firm, baby, Vol. 1, uh
This is what it's all about
Word, time to take Affirmative Action, son
They just don't understand, you kna'mean?
Niggas comin' sideways, thinkin' stuff is sweet, man, kna'mean?
Niggas don't understand the four devils
Lust, envy, hate, jealousy
Wicked niggas, man
Yo, sit back, relax, catch your contact, sip your Cog-ni-ac
And let's all wash this money through this laundry mat
Sneak attack, the new cats in rap worth top dollar
In fact, touch mine's and I'll react like a Rottweiler
Who could relate? We play for high stakes at gunpoint
Catch 'em and break
Undress 'em, tie 'em with tape, no escape
The Corleone, fettuccine Capone
Roam in your own zone, or get kidnapped and clapped in your dome
We got it sewn, The Firm art of war is unknown
Lower your tone, face it, homicide cases get blown
Aristocrats, politickin' daily with diplomats
See, me, I'm an official mack, Lex coupe triple black
Criminal thoughts in the blue Porsche
My destiny's to be the new boss
That nigga Paulie gotta die, he too soft
That nigga's dead on a ki of heroin
They found his head on the couch with his dick in his mouth
I put the hit out
Yo, the smoothest killer since Bugsy, bitches love me
In Queens where my drugs be, I wear Guess jeans and rugbies
Yo, my people from Medina, they will see you when you re-up
Bring your heater, all your C.R.E.A.M. go between us
Real shit, my Desert Eagle got a ill grip
I chill with niggas that hit Dominican spots and steal bricks
My red beam made a dread scream and sprayed a fed team
Corleone be turnin' niggas to fiends
Yukons and ninja black Lexus
'Mega, the pretty boy with mafia connections
It's The Firm, nigga, set it
Yo, my mind is seein' through your design like Blind Fury
I shine jewelry, sippin' on crushed grapes, we lust papes
And push cakes inside the casket at Just' wake
It's sickenin', he just finished bidding' upstate
And now the projects is talkin' that somebody-gotta-die-shit
It's logic, as long as it's nobody that's in my clique
My man Smoke know how to expand coke in Mr. Coffee
Feds cost me two mill' to get the system off me
Life's a bitch but God forbid the bitch divorce me
I'll be flooded with ice so Hell fire can't scorch me
Cuban cigars, meetin' Foxy at the Demars, movin' cars
Your top papi, señor Escobar
In the black Camaro, Firm deep
All my niggas hail the blackest sparrow
Wallabee's be the apparel
Through the darkest tunnel
I got visions of multimillions in the biggest bundle
In a Lex pushed by my nigga Jungle
E-Moneybags got Moët Chandon
Bundle of 62, they ain't got a clue what we about to do
My whole team, we shittin' hard like Czar
Sosa, Foxy Brown, Cormega and Escobar
I keep a phat marquess piece, laced in all the illest snake skin
Armani sweaters, Carolina Herrera
Be The Firm, baby
From BK to the Bridge, my nigga Wiz
Operation Firm Biz, so what the deal is?
I keep a phat jew-el, sippin' Cristy
Sittin' on top of fifty grand in the Nautica van, uh
We stay incogni' like all them thug niggas in Marcy
The Gods, they praise Allah with visions of Gandhi
Bet it on my whole crew is Don Juan
On Cayman Island with a case of Cristal
And Baba Shallah spoke
Nigga with them Cubans that snort coke
Raw though, an ounce mixed with leak, that's pure though
Flippin' the bigger picture
The bigger nigga with the cheddar was mad dripper
He had a fuckin' villa in Manilla
We gotta flee to Panama
But wait it's half-and-half, ki's is one and two-fifth, so how we flip?
32 grams raw, chop it in half, get 16
Double it, times 3
We got 48, which means a whole lot of C.R.E.A.M.
Divide the profit by 4, subtract it by 8, we back to 16
Now add the other two that 'Mega bringin' through
So let's see, if we flip this other ki, then that's more for me
Mad coke and mad leak
Plus a 500 cut in half is 250
Now triple that times three, we got three quarters of another ki
The Firm, baby, Vol. 1, uh
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
Affirmative Action Lyrics as written by Inga D. Marchand Nasir Jones
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust Ave, Cloud9
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Sick song. First time i heard it, it's was like " damn! ". Anyway, the hole song is fucking epic.
its not U-conn's, its Yukons, like the truck
sick song. love foxy's verse.
How does this song only have 2 comments? This song is so crazy. Four of the illest MC's to touch the mic ever on one song!
i must agree. crazy song. and foxy was 17 when she helped make it.
ya there are a few minor infractions but overall correct. Dope lyrics. I once heard that Nas used to write Foxy's verses. don't know how true it us but who knows. She still kills the song though.
this is one of my favorite Nas songs, It Was Written is one of my all time favorite CDs i have ever heard, everytime i listen to Nas this song has to be played