Wyclef Jean: Amadeus

In the hood they used to tell me,
You ain?t gonna go far man
I used to be like what?
They said Wyclef Jean you ain?t gonna go far
Rappers don?t rap in, play it the guitar
I started off a battle emc, but a wise man told me
If you gonna make money, you gotta learn to write your sheet music
Yeah, like Amadeus gotta write like Amadeus boy,
Amadeus gotta write like Amadeus boy,
Amadeus gotta write like Amadeus
Write my own sheet music like Amadeus

You thought I was a ballerina cause you seen me shake my hips with Shakira, Shakira
Started off in the underground, from mind on the stereo, now I?m surround sound
From here to Bangkok, ahead of my time like Jimi Hendrix playing Woodstock
Playing hoodstock before I had the dreadlocks
Used to reminisce ?out the music and sell crops
Grow my own crops, living in the pj
When angel Gabriel said it?s all a masquerade
Eyes with no face, sneakers with no lace
Feel the earth spinning but I?m standing in the same space
Started off, as a battle emc, yeah, but a teacher once told me
Man if you gonna make money, you gotta learn to write your sheet music
Yeah, like Amadeus gotta write like Amadeus boy,
Amadeus gotta write like Amadeus boy,
Amadeus gotta write like Amadeus
Write my own sheet music, yeah, yeah
That?s what I?m talking bout yeah
Let me take you all back, yeah

Let me take you back to when I broke full
My first battle, in high-school
I mean I barely spoke English, so I flipped it in Spanish:
Bita amiga, Buenos dias senorita
Como estas us he is su familia?
Foes and enemies meaning the same in dictionary
This ain?t Pictionary
All you see is a cemetery
But the girls man they still ain?t convinced
They got convinced when I flipped it in French
Quand je mas de la valeur de la monde,
Je ne crai on peu mal avec moi
Quand je fel amour de ma vie, toujour a le?
Me and ??? in the hood, worked in a beauty saloon
For ek he was a courion, like na na na na ???
Yeah, every day in the hood I wrote a verse
I used to battle in front of my daddy church
I got a brother that rap, sister that sing
Cousin that sling, uncle upstate, time on the bank
Beef on the block, war with the crops, farmers with crops
Shovels in they hands, screaming legalize the peter tuck
Even got hip hop cops follow me red dot
Keep a camcorder, just in case they wanna frame the author
Freedom of speech keep teach good times
Keep an iron ??? under the seat, just in case your hoodie?s a white sheep
They used to burn crosses, but now they can?t approach me
Cause my mansion?s haunted with Malcolm X?s ghost

I used to be a battle emc, but a wise man told me
If you gonna make money, you gotta learn to write your sheet music
Yeah, like Amadeus gotta write like Amadeus boy,
Amadeus gotta write like Amadeus boy,
Amadeus gotta write like Amadeus
Write my own sheet music like Amadeus.