[Verse 1: Jump-rope rhyme female MC, Harlem cadence, drumline marching] Hundred thirty-ninth, and the hydrant's runnin' wide Same cracked curb every summer on the uptown side Tina on the other end, we been turnin' since we're eight Got a clock in our wrists, and we never come late Little girls in a line with the beads in their hair Jump in on my count, and I keep 'em in the air But the boys from the court come across in a pack Talk a whole lot of shit, then they jump in our track So I turn it a hair, turn it faster, little more Watch a grown man tangle up and go kiss the damn floor Tina grins on her end, and I grin on mine Two ropes, one rule, everybody's on my time [Hook: jump-rope rhyme female MC, snares rattling] Two ropes in my hands and the whole block in a ring You can jump in if you're brave, but I'm runnin' everything Any boy who think he's quick, put your back against the wall I'm the turner, baby, I decide how fast you fall [Verse 2: jump-rope rhyme female MC, tighter, the quad toms answering] Here comes Junior with a chain and some brand new kicks Says, "That's a girls' game," jumps in, makes it six I go double on the speed, and the chain flies up Now he's sittin' on the stoop with his pride in a cup Then the twins from Lenox say they'll jump it as a pair I turned 'em into one big knot up in the air Every summer the same, every boy hits the ground And I chalk him on the curb while the girls go around [Hook: jump-rope rhyme female MC, snares rattling] Two ropes in my hands and the whole block in a ring You can jump in if you're brave, but I'm runnin' everything Any boy who think he's quick, put your back against the wall I'm the turner, baby, I decide how fast you fall [Verse 3: jump-rope rhyme female MC, the drumline driving harder] Then a Bronx boy, Dante, with his laces tied wrong Asks me real polite if he can jump to my song I said, "Sure," and I smiled, and I cranked it to a blur He's still up, still grinnin', and he don't even stir Tina's yellin', "Slow it down!" and I'm turnin' like a fool Twenty minutes, thirty minutes, and I'm breakin' my rule 'Cause he's lookin' right at me every time that he lands And my wrists start to shake, and it ain't in my hands [Playground Meter: jump-rope rhyme female MC, schoolyard rhyme over the drumline] Dante, Dante, jump it high Count to twenty, touch the sky Count to thirty, don't you stop Count to forty, let it drop [Outro Verse: jump-rope rhyme female MC, the drumline marching on] Ropes hit the sidewalk, and the hydrant's still spray Fourteen summers undefeated, and I threw it away I decide how fast you fall, that's the rule on this street Turns out the turner's the one who got knocked off her feet [Hook: jump-rope rhyme female MC, snares rattling] Two ropes in my hands and the whole block in a ring You can jump in if you're brave, but I'm runnin' everything Any boy who think he's quick, put your back against the wall I'm the turner, baby, I decide how fast you fall [End]
