God Lives Through
A Tribe Called Quest Lyrics

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God
Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God

There's a million MCs that claim they want some
But see, I create sounds that make your ears go numb
Peace to Sayres Ave, yeah, you know how we go

My best friend Steven at the Home Depot
Laurelton is in the house, I can't forget Southside
Walk past MCs like that girl did The Pharcyde
I'm labeled as the cat's meow, the MC with the know-how
Act like you know, not now but right now
Beast of the East, on MCs, I have a feast
I'd eat that ass like quiche, crack a smile like Shanice
Straight outta Jamaica, seen? Jamaica, Queens
But you could find me out in Georgia, or anywhere in between
Now if my partners don't look good, Malik won't look good
If Malik don't look good, then Quest won't look good
If the Quest don't look good, then Queens won't look good
But since our sounds are universal, New York won't look good
Picture Phife losing a battle, come on, get off it
Put down the microphone, son, surrender, forfeit
Did I hear something 'bout a crew? What they wanna do?
You better call Mr. Babyface so he can bring out the cool in you
Or it'll be a sad love song being sung by Toni Braxton
And I'll dissect you like a fraction
All you wannabe top cat MCs, I'll pop you like a zit
You wanna be the champ, you more like Chief Some-shit
Big up myself every time when it comes to this
Mcs be running scared as if they're watching The Exorcist
I kick more game than a crackhead from Hempstead
My styles are milk, man, you'd think that I was breastfed
You know the steelo when the diggy Dawg is on the scene
I dedicate this to all the MCs outta Queens
That goes for Onyx, LL, Run DMC
Akinyele, Nasty Nas and the Extra P
You need a chart, straight up and down, man, there ain't no other
Nuff respect to all my peeps that made the album cover
Yo, Tip, don't worry none, you know I get the party jumping
Get on the mic and break 'em off a little, little something
Yo, Tip, don't worry none, you know I gets the party jumping
Get on the mic, my man, and break 'em off a little something (ooh)

Oh my God, oh my God (la, la, da, da)
Oh my God, oh my God (shooby, do, do, do)
Oh my God, oh my God (la, la, la, la)
Oh my God, oh my God (shooby, do, do, do)
Oh my God, oh my God (la, la, la, la)
Oh my God, oh my God (shooby, do, do, do)
Oh my God, oh my God (you know I'm on the other, for the top 40)
Oh, my God, oh my God (we gotta do it like this)

We got the funk doody don shit, clearly, it's the bomb shit
So recognize me, kids memorize me
Every day, I be scrounging, really I be lounging
I play the down low, very, very incognito
Aries is my sign, I know that I can rhyme
Sometimes I rhyme in riddles, plus I make the honeys wiggle
Intellect is the major, some heads like to wager
The skills on the hill, overlooking dollar bills
Man, you're crazy, thinking you can phase me
The Ab doesn't study mere nonsense, money
Life seems to need me, MCs seem too cheesy
With their doody-ass renditions of defeating competition
I rock to the roll, man, yes, I'm a soul man
Bet your bottom dollar Vinia will make you holler
As you stand at attention, did I forget to mention?
Mcs will give me twenty if I sense that they act funny
Lyrics are abundant, right there, I sound redundant
Just mentioning the fact that the area is fat
I dwell in the under, so honey it's no wonder
That I get plenty of tail, well I even get white
I'ma bank-hitting head crack, there, money, take that
Breaking niggas off, cut their bank, then I'm off
All my Nikes match my 'Lo hat, beat joint is mad fat
Got the cutter of the box if a kid think he's ox
For tier means creator, the poetry relator
It's hemmed like Betsy Ross, let me tell you who's the boss

Oh my God (la, la, la)
Oh my God (la, la, la)
Oh my God (la, la, la, smooth it out, y'all)
Oh my God (la, la, la)
Oh my God (la, la, la)
Oh my God (la, la, la)
Oh my God (la, la, la)
(La, la, la)

Queens got a
Brooklyn got a
Bronx got a
Staten Island got a
Long Island got the zone
Jersey got a
Philly got a
Milwaukee got a
La got a
Oaktown got a zone

La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la

See I like to get down, Jack

Overall Meaning

The opening lines of A Tribe Called Quest's song God Lives Through are an invocation. The repeated phrase "oh my God," spoken by Q-Tip, serves as a prelude to a rap that addresses the impact and significance of artistic creation. Within the song, rappers Tip and Phife Dawg assert their identity as artists who create sounds that not only evoke a physical response but also tap into something spiritual. The repetition of "oh my God" emphasizes the overwhelming power of music, described as "the funk doody don shit" that is "the bomb shit."

The song touches on a variety of themes, many of which ultimately come back to the idea of artistic expression as a form of transcendence. Q-Tip references his upbringing in Queens, giving a shout-out to his home borough and the many rappers who have emerged from there, including LL Cool J, Run DMC, and Onyx. He also highlights the importance of community, both in terms of making music and simply staying true to oneself. As Q-Tip raps, "If Malik don't look good, then Quest won't look good." This emphasis on loyalty and mutual support is contrasted with the competitive rhetoric of many other rappers of the time, who sought to assert their dominance over others.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Ali Shaheed Jones-Muhammad, Kamaal Ibn John Fareed, Malik Izaak Taylor

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip-hop group formed in St. Albans, Queens, New York, in 1985, originally composed of rapper and main producer Q-Tip, rapper Phife Dawg, DJ and co-producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and rapper Jarobi White. The group is regarded as a pioneer of alternative hip hop music.

In 1991, the group released its jazz-influenced second album, The Low End Theory, regarded for helping shape alternative hip hop in the 1990s. In 1998 Read Full BioA Tribe Called Quest was an American hip-hop group formed in St. Albans, Queens, New York, in 1985, originally composed of rapper and main producer Q-Tip, rapper Phife Dawg, DJ and co-producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and rapper Jarobi White. The group is regarded as a pioneer of alternative hip hop music.

In 1991, the group released its jazz-influenced second album, The Low End Theory, regarded for helping shape alternative hip hop in the 1990s. In 1998, the group broke up shortly before releasing its fifth album, The Love Movement, but in 2006, the group's original members reunited and toured the United States. In 2016, the group released its sixth and final album, We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service, which was still incomplete when Phife Dawg died suddenly in March 2016, and was completed by the other members after his death. A Tribe Called Quest was the most commercially successful act in the Native Tongues collective, with all six of its albums certified either gold or platinum.

John Bush of AllMusic called them "the most intelligent, artistic rap group during the 1990s." The Source gave the group's debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990), a perfect rating of five 'mics,' marking the first time that the magazine awarded the rating. In 2005, A Tribe Called Quest received the Founders Award at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards, and two years later, the group was honored at the 4th VH1 Hip Hop Honors. In 2017, the group was awarded the Brit Award for International Group.

AllMusic critic John Bush called A Tribe Called Quest "without question the most intelligent, artistic rap group during the 1990s", further stating that the group "jump-started and perfected the hip-hop alternative to hardcore and gangsta rap." At a time when James Brown drum breaks and P-Funk basslines dominated hip hop production, the group successfully bridged the gap between jazz and hip hop, incorporating bebop and hard bop samples and recording with double bassist Ron Carter. The group's production influenced their contemporaries, thus changing the sound of hip hop; Dr. Dre produced his highly regarded debut The Chronic after being inspired by The Low End Theory, and Pete Rock stated, "There were times when I would walk into a record store and see Tip sitting on the floor with his glasses on, going through albums, looking for beats ... I was like, 'This guy is serious.' Being around [the group] made me step up and become even more serious than I was".

Lyrically, A Tribe Called Quest has been regarded for addressing many social issues through Q-Tip's philosophical viewpoints and Phife Dawg's everyman perspectives. People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm influenced several hip hop artists; Scarface asserted that it "really made me want to rap", and Pharrell Williams expressed that it was "the turning point [which] made me see that music was art." Kierna Mayo, former editor-in-chief of Ebony, said that The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders "gave birth to neo-everything. ... That entire class of D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, and Lauryn Hill—and moving on to André 3000, Kanye West, and Talib Kweli—everything that is left of everything begins with Tribe." The group has also been credited for helping launch the solo careers of Busta Rhymes, J Dilla and Consequence.

The group was the subject of the acclaimed 2011 documentary film Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, directed by Michael Rapaport.

Studio albums
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990)
The Low End Theory (1991)
Midnight Marauders (1993)
Beats, Rhymes and Life (1996)
The Love Movement (1998)
We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service (2016)