Verse 1

Sweatin, trippin, flippin out
cuz the end of the quarter is comin about
been workin hard, been givin my all
but don’t know if I will survive to the Fall
My grades have been slippin I haven’t been getting
all of the rest that I should have been getting
stayin up at nights and writing these papers
skippin my sleep, like tireds a weapon
prepare’n for tests
and must do my best
but snatchin an “A” is about finesse
pages are turnin
under duress
arangin my classes as pieces in chess
algebra’s hard
balls to the walls
equations and fractions that never resolve
this history beast been climbin my back
and fillin my head with these figures and facts
taxed—by—economics—whao!!!
G.D.P.—A—Downward—Slope
not time to relax or work on my raps
Read—another—Greenspan—Quote!!!
pull out my hair
send up a prayer
run through the halls, like I just do not care
I’m into the red
My teachers are scared
I’ve disappeared, my friends think I’m dead
but I’m into these books
Library nooks
Data Bases and Internet crooks
Doing research
Read till it hurts
distracted by all these girls in their skirts
but this is college
I’m here for the knowledge
Virginia Wolf and Governor Wallace
haji me mashite
maikeru des
uroshiku onegai ishi mas
I’m losing my mind
I’m all out of time
and smellin like funk, cuz I’ve been on the grind
I’ve fallen behind
Papers aren’t done
No! I’m not fine! Can’t walk a straight line
Assignments are due
I know that I’m through
what else can I do
but head into class and do what I do
the best that I can
& just mark them all TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!……………

Verse 2

Final exams, are the part of the plan
when it’s time to prove, that I understand
the books that I’ve read, have to be in my head
to earn the degrees, that I, have declared
but, how to compute
and take to the root
memories that I have stuffed in my boots
and pull them all out
to mark them all down
under the pressure could fail and drown
a quest that besets, even the best
of the students that outshine the rest
text books are written
without any rhythm
no wonder, they are so hard to remember
boring and dry
hard to apply
lacking any appeal to the eye
hard to begin
worse to revisit
who hears students who ask for revision
some-how-I-know-I’m-goona-choke
bottom-line-against-the-ropes
remember my raps, the lyric syntax
bet-I-could-win-if-they-were-FLOWS!!!
So, I reach in the stack
of books in my pack
searching for lines to turn into raps
the rhymes start droppin off of the page
lines start poppin brand new ways
I’m out of the maze
out of the haze
these words are my own, I’m shocked and amazed
I’m using my brain
what once was a game
has become a tool that will earn me an A
the Gregor Wendells
and Charles Darwins
The Natural Selections, I wrote them all in
I remember the names
I remember the dates
I remember the ways they have led us to change
I’m prepared to test
I am at my best
and because I am ready, I am done with the stress
So, I walk into class
Recalling my raps
It helps to relax, to focus on that
and I have a plan
so, at the exam
Confidence churns to prove that I have
grasped the material
the words and the math
my professors taught me
to ace the exam