[Chorus]
For one moment, that it's too soon to forget
For one moment, that it's too soon to forget
[Intro]
Man, duke, I was in love with this girl, duke
I was tore up, dog, I'm tellin' you, man...
Shit is wild, man, for real
It's, she's from, let me tell you about her
[Verse 1]
Yo, in she came with the same type game
The type of girl givin' out the fake cellphone and name
Big fame! She like cats with big thangs –
Jewels chipped, money clip, phone flip, the 6 Range
I seen her on the ave., spotted her more than once
Ass so fat that you could see it from the front
She spot me like paparazzi, shot me a glance
In that Catwoman stance, with the fat booty pants – hot damn!
"What's your name, love? Where you came from?"
Neck and wrist laced up, very little make-up
The Schwinns at the Reebok gym tone your frame up
Is sugar and spice the only thing that you made of?
I tried to play it low key, but couldn't keep it down
Asked her to dance and she was like, "Yo, I'm leavin' now"
An hour later, sounds from Jamaica –
She's sippin' Cris' straight up, skankin', windin' her waist up
Scene 2 — my fam's throwin' a jam
Fareed is on the stand, big things is in the plans
The brother Big Mu makes space for me to move
"Ayo, this my man Mos, baby, let me introduce"
Yo, it's the same pretty bird who I had priorly observed
Tryin' to play me for the herb ("Yeah, that's her")
Shocked as hell, she couldn't get it together
I just played along and pretended I never met her
"How you feelin'?" "Oh, I'm fine," "My name is Mos," "I'm Sharice"
"I heard so much good about you, it's nice to finally meet"
We moved to the booth reserved for crew especially
And honey love ended up sittin' directly next to me
I'm type polite, but now I'm lookin' at her skeptically
'Cause baby girl got all the right weaponry
Designer fabric, shoes, and accessories
Chinky eyes, sweet voice is fuckin' with me mentally
We conversated, made her laugh — yeah, you know me, bro
Even though I know the steelo, she wild sweet, yo
I'm 'bout to murk, I say peace to the family
She hop up like, "How you gon' leave before you dance wit' me?"
[Chorus]
For one moment, that it's too soon to forget
For one moment, that it's too soon to forget
[Interlude]
She blew my whole head with that, duke, I was like, "Word?!"
I was like, "Yeah, aight, come on then, let's go..."
Niggas was mad, niggas was so sick, I tell ya
Yo, honey was so blazin', she was just...
Yo, she looked like Jayne Kennedy, word bond – to my mother, man
She was that ill, man
She take me to the dance floor and she start whisperin' to me...
[Verse 2]
"Yo, let me apologize for the other night, I know it wasn't right
But, baby, you know what it's like –
Some brothers don't be comin' right"
"I understand, I'm feelin' you –
Besides, 'Can I have a dance?' ain't really that original"
We laughed about it, traipsed her arms across my shoulder blades
They playin' Lovers Rock, I got the folded fingers on her waist
Heatin' my blood up like the Arizona summer
Song finished, and she whisper, "Honey, let's exchange numbers"
Scene 3 — weeks of datin', late night conversation
In the crib, heart racin', tryin' to be cool and patient
She touched on my eyelids, the room fell silent
She walked away smilin', singing Gregory Isaacs
Like – " If I don't, if I don't have you... "
Showin' me her tan line and her tattoo
Playin' Sade, "Sweetest Taboo"
Burnin' candles, all my other plans got cancelled
Man – I smashed it like a Idaho potato
She call me at my J.O. – "Come now," I can't say no
Ginseng tree trunks, rockin' the P-funk
Cockin' her knees up, champion lover, not ease up
Three months — she call, I feel I'm runnin' a fever
Six months — I'm tellin' her I desperately need her
Nine months — flu-like symptoms when shorty not around
I need more than to knock it down, I'm really tryin' to lock it down
Midnight, we hook up and go at it
Burn a stoge and let her know, "Sweetheart, I got to have it "
She tellin' me commitment is somethin' she can't manage
Wake up the next morning, she gone like it was magic – gahdamn it!
My shit is on Harrison Ford Frantic
My "911"'s unanswered by my fly Taurus enchantress
Next week, Mu hit me up, "I saw Sharice at the Kitty Club
With some bangin' ass Asian, playin' 'lay it down and lick me up'"
[Outro]
Can you believe that shit, dude?
G, I was like... "what???"
Ohhh, man, I was so sick, I was sooo sick, yo
I ha--I had no idea, that shit caught me like, "Baow!"
Fucked up in the game, man – I was really feeling shorty...
Mos tries to play it cool in front of Ms Fat Booty but can’t hide his thirst. He attempts to spit game but she brushes him off, telling him that she’s about to leave. But later that night he spots her drinking Cristal and dancing to reggae (skanking and winding your waist are reggae moves).
This is the first of several references to Jamaican music in the song. Mos also mentions the genre lovers rock and the singer Gregory Isaacs in the next verse.
Like the actual dish, smashed potatoes!
This is a sample from the song ‘One Step Ahead’ by Aretha Franklin.
Mos Def consumes ginseng, smokes weed, and listens to P-funk while having sex.
Genseng is well know for its energy boosting effects and use as an aphrodisiac.
Many urban dictionary entries define “tree trunk” to mean “large penis”, however “trees” is often used as a euphemism for weed.
Who doesn’t like P-funk?
Lovers rock is a style of reggae that was popular in the 70s and 80s. In contrast to the consciousness of roots reggae and the aggression of dancehall, lovers rock has a slower, more melodic sound and romantic lyrics. Perfect for a bit of bump and grind in the club.
Gregory Isaacs' “If I Don’t Have You”, mentioned later in this verse, is a good example of the style.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/watch?v=evpNaZeJXBk
Coincidentally, Sade (also mentioned later) released an album called Lovers Rock the following year.
After not hearing from Ms. Fat Booty for a while, Mos gets word from his boy Big Mu (he’s the guy that introduced them earlier).
Mu reports the twist ending: Sharice has been spotted at a strip club dancing lasciviously with a beautiful Asian woman.
What this means, precisely, is a bit ambiguous. Is Sharice in a relationship with this woman? Has she become a dancer at a strip club, or was she just “performing” for fun? Is this supposed to suggest that she has fled the prospect of heterosexual commitment for wild, pansexual hedonism? Or are we to understand that she was a bisexual all along, and possibly also in a relationship with this “banging ass Asian” the whole time? The twist ending we get in the song raises far more questions than it answers.
Steelo is slang for style; someone’s aura. That someone (Yasiin Bey) is often the object of desire, a particular individual who just has the kind of charisma that stands out.
He knows he typically would be considered a “player” and can get around and had some sort of “swag” that he can use to be successful with women, but he finds this one in particular to be extremely sweet and implies that he thinks he’d enjoy more of her company
It is a reference to the chorus of Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs' song “I Got To Have It.”
The following line is most likely annotated incorrectly as the “Schwins”
“The swims at the Reebok ‘Gym’, tone your frame up”.
Is the more accurate annotation as the Reebok Sports Club in Manhattan is equipped with swimming pools.
Mos Def who admits to have “spotted her more than once”, may have witnessed her in a bikini, utilizing the perks of a very pricey Reebok Sports Club pool package membership,
while also critiquing that the swimming may have assisted in shaping her attractive physique.
DUKE DENNIS IS SO TUFF MUSTARD PRIME TROLLFACE MANGO
It’s been said that a woman who’s beautiful first thing in the morning is one to keep. Sharice seems to have nice jewelry, hardly any makeup, and a well cared-for physique. She’s a fairy tale. No real women look this good…
Also the last line is from the popular nursery rhyme What Are Little Boys Made Of
Everything Yasiin has seen so far is Sugar and spice. He’s wondering if there’s anything about her that’s not amazing.
The ‘swims at the Reebok Gym’ is a reference to the Reebok Sports club on 160 Columbus Ave, Implying Sharice is in shape, a result of working out.
Mos Def is introducing her as someone who knows how to keep men at a distance. Giving out a fake number and even a fake name suggests she’s used to attention but has no intention of letting every guy actually get close to her. It also sets up her mysterious, hard-to-get character before Mos gets caught up in her himself.
Mos Def gives us a quick rundown of the kind of status symbols that catch her attention: flashy jewelry, cash, a slick phone and a Range Rover. After saying she likes cats with “big thangs,” he immediately shows what that lifestyle looks like in practice. The rapid-fire list makes the whole thing feel like a checklist for the type of guy she goes for.
Reggae singer Gregory Isaacs released the lovers rock classic “If I Don’t Have You” in 1981.
Although they’d been talking and getting along, Mos was understandably cautious after being dissed by Ms. Fat Booty on their first meeting. So he was shocked when she asked him to dance.
He played it cool though and accepted her offer. Everyone else was jealous that he got to dance with her.
her ass probably was HELLA THICK
“The Sweetest Taboo” was a big hit for Sade back in 1985
(Sade must have dug this song–they released an album called Lovers Rock about a year after Mos released Black on Both Sides)
Mos' bro Big Mu introduces him to a girl. Turns out it’s the same girl that dissed him the other night.
For the younguns out there, herb is 80s/90s slang for a fool or a sucker. When Ms. Fat Booty turned down a dance with Mos by feeding him that line about leaving the club, she was trying to play him for a herb.
Side Note: The last line is often misheard as “trying to play me for the herd”. But check out the video – the words appear right on screen.
As with much of the rest of this song, Mos is making another reggae allusion. Deborahe Glasgow released a song called “Champion Lover” (and later more famously in collaboration with Shabba Ranks called “Mr. Loverman” on Rappin' With the Ladies), about a man whose sexual prowess allows him to go all night long.
This is a sample from the song “One Step Ahead” by Aretha Franklin.
Though this is not the hook in “One Step Ahead” this section of Franklin’s vocals are key to the song, even if it’s just one section. They represent Yasiin’s obsession and eventual dependency on Ms. Fat Booty all throughout the song, from where his sexual attraction and moments with Ms. Fat Booty lead to a connection he finds unique, he falls in love with her, even if it’s only sexual connection.
Yasiin can’t keep himself from her after the first time they met, he couldn’t afford to stop, and eventually needed to keep her locked to him, no one else could have her, asking her to marry him, but she would end up rejecting him, because Ms. Fat Booty cannot handle a serious relationship.
It’s what makes Ms. Fat Booty so compelling, where both characters of Yasiin and Ms. Fat Booty seem to see the relationship differently. Ms. Fat Booty only sees Yasiin as one of her most loyal sexual partners, but Yasiin is completely obsessed and confuses his obsession with love.
what can you do when the ass is so fat that you can see it from the front?
ACCEPTED COMMENT: By 911, he is referring to the “emergency situation” pages he sent her that she did not respond to because she didn’t call him back. He can’t mean urgent texts because this song came out in ‘99.
Swagg pagers.
fly Taurus enchantress… Ms. Fat Booty apparently is a Taurus (beauty, romance, sentimentality, sensuality are taurus traits). She also captivated him with her dopeness. He is ‘open’ at this point, and can’t get a hold of her.
Yasiin is bewildered as he spots Sharice in the strip club being frisky. What!?
“J.O.” = Job.
- if beckoned, Mos Def would forgo making money at WORK, just to make love to Ms Fat Booty Sharice.
“Ginseng tree trunk” = strong erection. Ginseng root has long been used as a natural aphrodisiac for men, way before Viagra.
Here an excerpt from Yahoo reads:
“Ginseng is literally called the root of desire. Ginseng extracts have been known to initiate sexual attraction … desire and passion“
“Rocking the ‘P’-Funk”
oft used as a double entendre for George Clinton’s band “Parliament Funkadelic”, and a very common vulgar term for a womans sexual organ.
Here, “P-Funk” is a euphemism for Pussy.
Scene Two takes place at a party thrown by Mos’s crew.
The Fareed mentioned here could be Q-Tip (who changed his name to Kamaal Fareed when he converted to Islam). At this point in the video there is a brief shot of two guys on stage – one of them looks a lot like Tip.
She is also very infamous for being one of the very first celebrities to have a sex tape of her leak. Guy’s were hyped to see it!
Reference to the movie frantic.
While attending a medical conference in Paris, Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) is horrified when his wife, Sondra (Betty Buckley), is abducted from their hotel room while he is taking a shower.