There's a lot of people out here, who just don't know
What plays a factor in movin' heads and toes
It be them hits bangin' 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 '64 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' nothin' but a little bit of radio play
Gettin' diced on 1 and 2's by the best DJ's, 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)
(These are the ones my DJ cuttin')
(These are the brakes) (These are the ones my DJ cuttin')
(These are the brakes)
(These are the ones my-, my-)
(These are the brakes) (my-, my-, my-)
(My-, my-, my DJ cuttin')

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)
Alleged comrades put six tabs in your OE
(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
'Til the DJ play 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 break's inside your head
And have you reminiscing on them kids who got you fed
'Til 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)
For 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

Copyright: BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., MUSIC MANAGEMENT, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Writer(s): Carlos Jimenez, David Jolicoeur, James Moore, Jesse Weaver, Kevin Mercer, Kurt Walker, Lawrence Mack, Lawrence Smith, Reginald Hobdy, Richard Walter, Robert Ford, Russell Simmons, Vincent Mason