I said hear me now, listen what I say
They said "stick it up mister
Hear what I say sir
Put your hands in the air sir
And you will get no hurt mister
You do what I say sir
Just what I mean sir
Get your hands in the air sir
Then you will get no hurt no"
I said yeah, listen what I say
I said hear me now, listen what I say
Second thing they say I must join the officer
Third thing they say
"Son, give me your number now"
He said "what's your number?"
I don't answer
He said "what's your number, man?"
I don't answer
He said "what's your number now?"
He said "what's your number now?"
I said "hey 54-46, that's my number"
"54-46, that's my number"
I said yeah, listen what I say
I said hear me now, listen what I say
"Stick it up mister, hear what I say sir"
"Get your hands in the air sir, and you will get no hurt sir"
He said "Turn out your left pocket"
"Give me a clean shirt sir"
"Take off your shirt sir"
"I ain't got no ratchet now"
"Stick it up mister, hear what I say sir"
"Get your hands in the air sir, and you will get no hurt now"
The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music.
Frontman Toots Hibbert, who died in 2020, was considered a reggae pioneer on par with Bob Marley. His soulful vocal style was compared to Otis Redding, and led him to be named by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 Greatest Singers. After Hibbert's death, the Maytals indicated that they would continue as a working group.
Their 1968 single "Do the Reggay" was the first song to use the word "reggae", coining the name of the genre and introducing it to a global audience. The Oxford English Dictionary credits Toots and the Maytals in the etymology of the word "Reggae". According to Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, "The Maytals were unlike anything else ... sensational, raw, and dynamic."
