["Check the rhime y'all","Check the rhime y'all","","With speed, I'm agile plus I'm worth your while","One hundred percent intelligent black child","You on point Phife?","On job remaining, no I'm chaining 'cause I misbehave","You on point Tip?","Record company people are shady","All the time, Tip","","","SC, y'all check it out y'all","We used to kick routines and presence was fittin'","I'm just a fly MC who's five foot three and very brave","I slayed that body in El Segundo then 'Push it Along'","","Check the rhyme y'all","","Check the rhime y'all","That we used to make spiffy like Mr. Clean?","Check it out, out","A special shot of peace goes out to all my pals, you see","Now if you say my style is wack that's where you're dead wrong","Virginia, check the rhime y'all","My optic presentation sizzles the retina","","Yo, Phife, you remember that routine","All the time Phife","Now here's a funky introduction of how nice I am","In London, check the rhime, y'all","","I kicks the mad style so step off the frankfurter","","It was I, the Phifer","Check it out, check it out","","What you say Hammer? Proper","Got the scrawny legs but I move just like Lou Brock","Back in the days on the boulevard of Linden","You on point Phife?","Check the rhime y'all","My crew is never ever wack because we stand strong","But off to better things like a hip hop forum","","It was I, The Abstract","You see, my aura's positive, I don't promote no junk","Industry rule number four thousand and eighty","Or you'll be crazy sad and alone","So just clean out your ears and just check the word","You on point Tip?","And let your words rip","I'm like an energizer 'cause, you see, I last long","You on point Tip?","Well, it's kind of simple, just remain your own","Pass me the rock and I'll storm with the crew and Proper","Play tapes y'all","And me, The Abstract","I come correct in full effect, have all my hoes in check","","And give the dead some life","","So kids watch your back 'cause I think they smoke crack","Check the rhime","Well, then grab the microphone","All the time, Tip","So you gots to run the pigeon","Yo, all the time Phife","Rap is not pop, if you call it that then stop","I receive the message and you will play the sender","Check it out, check it out","You'd be a fool to reply that Phife is not the man","And before I get the butt, the jim must be erect","Check the rhime y'all","All the time, Tip","Check the rhime y'all","Check the rhime y'all","How far must I go to gain respect? Um","","Check the rhime y'all","And a middle finger goes for all you punk MC's","We used to kick routines and the presence was fittin'","","Um, um, a tidbit, um, a smidgen","Those fly routines on your cousin's block","The rhymes were so rumpin' that the brothers rode the 'zack","","","Yeah, all the time Phife","Tell your mother, tell your father, send a telegram","You on point Phife?","","So play the resurrector","Okay, if knowledge is the key then just show me the lock","","I don't doubt it, look at how they act","'Cause you know and I know, that you know who I am","I don't get the message","And me, the five footer","NC, y'all check the rhime y'all","Check the rhime y'all","See, I'm far from a bully and I ain't a punk","Back in days on the boulevard of Linden","They get vexed, I roll next, can't none contest me","","Extremity in rhythm, yeah, that's what you heard","","Check the rhime y'all","Yo, Tip you recall when we used to rock","'Cause I love it when you wack MC's despise me","Um, let me see, damn I can't remember","",""]
Performed by: A Tribe Called Quest Written by: Roger Ball; Jay Davis; John W Davis; Malcolm Duncan; Kamaal Ibn John Fareed; Steve Ferrone; Alan Edward Gorrie; Ali Shahe Jones-Muhammad; Owen Onnie Mcintyre; Minnie Riperton; Richard J. Rudolph; Hamish Stuart; Malik Taylor; Leon Ware
Credits: Ball, Roger (Songwriter); Davis, Jay (Songwriter); Davis, John W (Songwriter); Duncan, Malcolm (Songwriter); Fareed, Kamaal Ibn John (Songwriter); Ferrone, Steve (Songwriter); Gorrie, Alan Edward (Songwriter); Jones-Muhammad, Ali Shahe (Songwriter); Mcintyre, Owen Onnie (Songwriter); Riperton, Minnie (Songwriter); Rudolph, Richard J. (Songwriter); Stuart, Hamish (Songwriter); Taylor, Malik (Songwriter); Ware, Leon (Songwriter); JAZZ MERCHANT MUSIC (Publisher); UNIVERSAL MUSIC - Z TUNES LLC. (Publisher)
"Check the Rhime" was the first single from A Tribe Called Quest's second album The Low End Theory. It is one of A Tribe Called Quest's most famous songs and is well known for lines such as Q-Tip's "Industry rule #4,080: Record company people are shady". The Beastie Boys have a similar lyric in their song 'In A World Gone Mad' rapping "Citizen rule number 2080/Politicians are shady"
In 2008, it was ranked number 30 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
The music video starts out in front of a house and moves to a cleaners store where the group is seen performing on the roof in front of a large crowd as Q-Tip and Phife trade lines. In the video Phife is wearing a Cleveland Indians hat.
