[Chorus: Q-Tip]
The night is on my mind
The sun'll still shine
But the night is on my mind
So parlay while I drop this rhyme

[Verse 1: Q-Tip]
See, jake be gettin' illy when the sun get dark
He be comin' out for heads, but chill, don't let me start
There's activities a-plenty in the nighttime (Nighttime)
For the ghetto child, it seem to be the right time
See, kids be gettin' stuck with jewels or fly gimmicks
Shorty see the action and then start to mimic
Runnin' to the corner, the dice game is blazin'
Lookin' at the loot, it seems so amazin'
Puts the short down, to be exact, one pound
He shakes the stones in his hand, then he lets it down, uh
Scared money don't make none
He threw a trip on the ace, now he's out, son
Hits the local bodega to wolf down a gyro
Son is on a midnight run like De Niro
Spots a shorty rock standin' on his block
The fiends be houndin' him to pump, so he adds to his knot
Conversation that he kicked to the shorty was a sly one
Increased intensity, 'cause damn, she was a fly one
Took her to the crib, there she ran her jibs
About mind upliftment and bein' positive
He yawned and he sighed 'til 1:05
Then he finally realized the honey wasn't live
At least he didn't plan on buildin' for the evening
Threw the FILA on the dome and said, "Come on, yo, we leavin'"
Came out on the scene as he told her to beep him
Saw his man Stan with the blunt in his hand
(Aww, shh), you know the transaction
Brothers gettin' lost in the weed satisfaction
Comin' down the block, man, loud as—
You would swear Redman was inside the truck
As the night seemed darker, cops is on the hunt
They interrupt your cipher and crush your blunt
See, you left your work at home, so they pat you down for nothin'
Why in the hell does 10-4 keep frontin'?
You push to the park even though it's still dark
The kid is nice on the hoop, he said, "I'll spot you, troop"
[Chorus: Q-Tip]
The night is on my mind
The sun'll still shine
But now the night is on the mind
The night is on the mind
The night is on your mind
Ayo, the sun'll still shine
But now the night is on the mind

[Verse 2: Q-Tip]
As for me, I'm a nocturnal animal, dark concentrates
On a young Black man who makes the n***as' speakers shake
The nighttime is busy, it's word to Aunt Kizzy
It's the time we get down, yo, son, you know the sound
The flavas on the top with the rugged beat to back it
The night makes the aura and the jake can't hack it
The way the moon dangles in the midnight sky
And the stars dance around, ayo, I think it's fly
Intensity, most rappers don't see it
Spirit-wise, musically, you gotta be it
Serenity and silence of the sounds and emotions
In the concrete jungle when the sun don't bungle
I think it's hard to find the words on how I feel
I paid about a deuce-twenty for the Ampex steel
But let me slow down, I think I ran my jibs enough
Peace out to the Nation, stay rugged and rough
[Chorus: Q-Tip]
The night is on my mind
The sun'll still shine, huh
The night is on my mind
The night is on my mind
The night is on my mind
Yeah, the sun'll still shine
But now the night is on my mind
Uh-huh, the night is on my mind
The night is on your mind
You know the sun'll still shine
But now the night is on the mind
Yeah, the night is on the mind
The night is on the mind
Ayo, the sun'll still shine
But now the night is on the mind
Yeah, the night is on the mind
The night is on the mind
Ayo, the sun'll still shine

[Outro: Midnight Marauder Program (Laurel Dann)]
Did you know that the rate of AIDS in the Black and Hispanic community is rising at an alarming rate?
Education is proper means for slowing it down