Oakland Stroke

[Spoken Intro]
I got something to say, man, you dig?
I mean, you cats been up here rapping
Ain't said nothing about the real thing, you know what I mean?

[Verse 1: D'Wayne Wiggins]
Individually picking out the brothers that jam
Commonly known are people like Sly and Graham
Something kinda special about the grooves they wrote
They all had the flavor of the Oakland Stroke
That's the bass drum kickin', the high-hat lickin'
A groove so hard it makes your feet kickin'
To a dope groove, I mean, a fresh groove
It's a guaranteed hit to make your body move
Others try to hang but they just can't cope
They must come to realize, it's the Oakland Stroke

[Chorus: Dwayne Wiggins, Vanessa Williams]
Yo, miss thang...
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
Uh-huh, uh-huh...Oakland, Californ-i-a

[Verse 2: D'Wayne Wiggins]
If you get the nerve then you might wanna try
You can't hang, you're getting mud in your eye
So don't even flirt or you might get hurt
And you'll wind up looking like dirt
From a dope groove, I mean, a fresh groove
It's a guaranteed hit to make your body move
Others try to hang but they just can't cope
When are they going to realize, it's the Oakland Stroke

[Chorus: Dwayne Wiggins, Vanessa Williams, Raphael Saadiq]
Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke
Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke
Uh-huh, uh-huh
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Make your body move, you can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
("Yeah y'all, come on")
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Now give me something...
("Yeah y'all...")
That's right
Uh-huh, uh-huh

[Verse 3: D'Wayne Wiggins]
Well, to sum it up, all I'm really trying to say
Is that the Oaktown brothers like to do it one way
Funky, greasy, nasty, hard
And never once do we drop our guard
When the bass starts lickin', the high-hats kick in
The guaranteed hit to make feet start kickin'
Others wanna hang but can't cope
It's the Oakland Stroke

What, what, what, what did you say that groove was again?
What'd you say that groove was, man?
("Boy, you shoulda known by now...") The Oakland Stroke

[Refrain: Raphael Saadiq]
(Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke)
(Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke)
(Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke)
(Everybody knows, it's time to Oakland Stroke)

[Outro: D'Wayne Wiggins + Vanessa Williams]
We gon' ride it out this way...
Uh-huh, uh-huh
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
Uh-huh, uh-huh
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
("I know you're gonna dig this")

[Instrumental Break]

Let, let, let me hear you say, "Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na"
("Yeah y'all come on") "Na-na-na-na-na-na-na"
Let me hear you say, "Ah"..."Oh"..."Uh...uh...uh-uh, OW!"
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
Uh-huh, uh-huh
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
Uh-huh, uh-huh
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
Uh-huh, uh-huh
You can't hang...
Uh-huh, uh-huh
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
Uh-huh, uh-huh
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke
Uh-huh, uh-huh
You can't hang...
Uh-huh, uh-huh
You can't cope with the Oakland Stroke