Rakim

You and I will always be together
Peace or war no matter the weather
Me and you like birds of a feather
Til the wind blows us away
We stand tall while they fall together
Gun left I formation like the letter
Modeling the shelter cause we're built for whatever
Til the wind blows us away

From the beginning it felt like we been in love
We took at chance knowing how slim it was
The world is ours now let's split it up
And you know how short life is lets Big it up
Lets get fitted up/Get it in and live it up
Dinner plus the cinema then let's hit the club
Posting up like both of us is spending wads
Cause we didn't get it if it didn't come in him and hers
Chemistry together just like a recipe/Or destiny we was meant to be together
Don't worry bout me going left or doing you wrong
We right for each other it's a beautiful bond
We hug and touch we love and lust
We last through the bashes we cuss and fuss
until we trust that love is just for us
Until it's ashes and ashes and dust to dust

You and I will always be together
Peace or war no matter the weather
Me and you like birds of a feather
Til the wind blows us away
We stand tall while they fall together
Gun left I formation like the letter
Modeling the shelter cause we're built for whatever
Til the wind blows us away

In each others arms
It's like heroin love
That dope fiend forever in love
But it's better than drugs
It's heavy on the heart it's still a risk
But we'll never fall apart we was built for this
Nuttin that we can't sort out, sport up, and thought out
Erase all doubt
Go hard and all out
You and my fam fall out
Most of your family can't stand me
We can't let that cross out our family plans can we
Uhuh, we won't get no love from it let's just keep it 100 til we 100
Stack Grand's til we grandparents
Whatever work but lets hope for the best and expect the worse
Cause we'll have good and bad times together
But the bad will make the good times that much better
So let's absorb it
Til we scrolled out in coffins in 20-12
If the world fall out the orbit

You and I will always be together
Peace or war no matter the weather
Me and you like birds of a feather
Til the wind blows us away
We stand tall while they fall together
Gun left I formation like the letter
Modeling the shelter cause we're built for whatever
Til the wind blows us away

We go together like criminals and crime
Instrumentals and rhymes
Clothes and trends like real G?셲 and dimes
Stone Gems and shine real cream and pies
Chrome rims and rides like ill teams and grind
Like identical designs the pentacle to rise
Flows and ants like skilled dreams and drive
Home in France like a lil??trees and bobs
Close as kin like heels, jeans and thighs
Since I was rocking Giselle?셲 you was hotter than hell
Now it?셲 me and you like Barack and Michelle
Denzel and Pauletta
prevail in all weather
Stand tall while they fail and fall together
Pleasure and the pain the pressure and the hate
Through whatever we together like forever and a day
Checks and dollar signs
The love for paper
Better yet like father time and mother nature

[Intro - Rakim - talking] In the words of the late, great Martin Luther King "How long? Not long" ... Won't be long, uh huh Uh, uh Sing along [Chorus - Rakim] (Tracey Horton) - w/ ad libs (It won't be long, 'til the trouble and the struggle is gone The hustle make the struggle get gone) It's hard to make a move, we strugglin Everybody hate to lose but they love to win (It won't be long, 'til the world sings the words to our song That way we forever live on) Back on my grind, I'm hustlin It's just a matter of time and I'll come up again [Verse 1 - Rakim] They told me hustle never prolong But I got caught up in the struggle like a slow song (uh huh) 'Cause my love and respect for this is so strong I question the state of hip-hop (uh), major labels, etc. and so on (uh) The show'll go on, still fiend to get my blow on But if it's like this, then I might quit But hold on (uh), this can only go wrong but for so long (uh huh) Get right quick or I might flip Try to keep a tight lip, not to complain Ramblin, mind scramblin 'cause patience ain't blockin the pain (uh uh) Mic sick, lyrics is still locked in the brain (uh huh) Like Mike Vick sittin in jail watchin the game (uh) I wait 'til the day I can play my position (yeah) Or should I say the die I obey my addiction (uh huh) Then complete my legacy (uh) Without compromisin my artistic integrity (come on) [Chorus] - w/ ad libs [Verse 2 - Rakim] So when they ask where I go from here (go 'head) The road and the goal is clear (uh) but it's so severe (uh) Sometimes I feel like lettin go, I swear I had setbacks my whole career (straight y'all) Messin with my grind's like messin with my mind But yo, I'm still breathin, so I guess it's just a sign (uh huh) But it's meaning to the message in the lines (word up) Some things happen for a reason like a blessing in disguise But success was in my eyes, the shine was blindin me The fame, a little bit of change, it took some time to see The lesson for the wise, profit more Time to be a record and the prize was poppin off Finally I made a couple of moves, got my own label (got to get it) Me and a couple of dudes, we at the dope table (let's get that money) Took a oath to stay true, now it's an empire Put out the new Rakim album and it's fire [Chorus] - w/ ad libs [Verse 3 - Rakim] Feel like I'm back where I belong when I'm in the booth (uh) Produce and perform at my pinnacle (uh huh) Speak the truth in my songs and my interviews (the truth) For the youth and my dons and my women too (uh huh) Guap insisted, watch your business with a drama dunn (get that money) Hustlers is where we get persona from Gotta get it, not just wish a dollar come We optimistic since Obama won But these days of recession We ain't safe yet (uh huh), pray, a paycheck away from the Great Depression (uh) Major stressin but we wait for blessings Long as the Federal Reserve still paper pressing I wrote the plot for gettin this cabbage in the hood Where the average cat can triple his status in the hood Don't stop, 'til we livin lavish in the hood I'm like Barack with The Stimulus Package in the hood [Chorus] - w/ ad libs [Outro - Tracey Horton] - w/ Rakim ad libs until fade It won't be long, 'til the trouble and the struggle is gone The hustle make the struggle get gone It won't be long, 'til the world sings the words to our song That way we forever live on

Yes yes y'all check it out y'all (repeat 2X)

Chorus: Rakim

(Yo) I find a show rhyme til it's time to go
I'm designed to blow my mind's inclined to flow
Yo my M.O. makin all kind of dough
From the info that Rakim show y'know?

Verse One: Rakim

Yes yes y'all I still fiend by any means
to flow and I go through extremes don't intervene
My adventures show like a three dimensional screen
Cause I mention many things and I'm presentin many scenes
Guess I'm telegraphic, motions energentic
Better tell em forget it, cause I'm telekinetic
Crowds is screamin, I choke the mic and keep squeezin
Styles seemin like I used a thousand words without breathin
Bustin techs like Russian Roulette I doubt you win
Freestyles like hand grenades without the pin
Composin, then leave the mic full of corrosion
Don't test this, or best to expects this explosion
At shows I spit flows with seven deadly venoms
Killin syllables with poisonous synonyms in em
Ideas is blowin, mics is blowin
from what I'm showin, see it, I keep it goin when I'm flowin

Chorus

Verse Two: Rakim

When I'm flowin, theoretically speakin like a drummer
I take you through the streets to the parks in the summer
or illustrate, a time and place you never been in
and make you focus on the future after seein the beginning
And my style wilds, like Miles on the trumpet
Volume dial was kind of low, need to pump it
Up another notch turn the dial til it stops
More watts you got, more things to watch
Third eye's wide open, you're focused on the theory
Keep scopin til you hear me, words is spoken clearly
It's no smokescreens on the scenes that I'm showin
Man I keep it goin, damn I keep it flowin

Chorus 2X

Verse Three: Rakim

Two pages cause panic, freestyles is frantic
Thoughts is organic, flow is aerodynamic
Mic is volcanic, rhymes spread across the planet
I send out the scribe now the vibes gigantic
Now, I'm internationally known, mental capacities blown
I hope your microphone's accident prone
Raw footage is shown, but only showin scenes of my own
Leavin your periphereal vision in a zone
But not the twilight, from the insight that I write
and recite, in my mic'll be bright, cause I like
the night glowin, it's out of sight when I'm showin
Man I keep it goin, damn I keep it flowin

Chorus 2X

Verse Four: Rakim

Yo, accurate tactics "Make Em Clap to This"
When I "Move the Crowd", my "Rhythm" still don't miss
Breeze through melodies cause "It's Been A Long Time"
My "Lyrics" is "Fury" and rappers hate to hear me rhyme
Every antidote that I quote, is "No Joke"
Nobody's smilin "In The Ghetto" from the notes I wrote
My high techniques wreck and disrepect beats
Have you "Follow-in The Leader" up and down the streets
So "Kick Along" as I rip a song with pull
As the rhyme goes on I get "Paid In Full"
It's Rakim, I'm indicatin rhymes for the showin
Check it out y'all, I keep it goin when I'm flowin

Chorus 2X

Straight up, Rakim Allah the Fiend of the Microphone still flowin
You know? One love to ? comin through your livin room soon, straight up
?, one love
The whole tri-state, one love
Rakim Allah baby, y'know?
It's on, what, check it out y'all, check it out

Yes yes y'all, check it out y'all (repeat 2X)

*(Yo) I find a show, rhyme til it's time to go
I'm designed to blow, my mind's inclined to flow
Yo, my M.O., makin all kind of dough
From the info that Rakim show, y'know?

Yes yes y'all, I still fiend by any means
to flow, and I go through extremes don't intervene
My adventures show like a three dimensional screen
Cause I mention many things and I'm presentin many scenes
Guess I'm telegraphic, motions energentic
Better tell em forget it, cause I'm telekinetic
Crowds is screamin, I choke the mic and keep squeezin
Styles seemin like I used a thousand words without breathin
Bustin techs like Russian Roulette I doubt you win
Freestyles like hand grenades without the pin
Composin, then leave the mic full of corrosion
Don't test this, or best to expects this explosion
At shows I spit flows with seven deadly venoms
Killin syllables with poisonous synonyms in em
Ideas is blowin, mics is blowin
from what I'm showin, see it, I keep it goin when I'm flowin

* Repeat

When I'm flowin, theoretically speakin like a drummer
I take you through the streets to the parks in the summer
or illustrate, a time and place you never been in
and make you focus on the future after seein the beginning
And my style wilds, like Miles on the trumpet
Volume dial was kind of low, need to pump it
Up another notch turn the dial til it stops
More watts you got, more things to watch
Third eye's wide open, you're focused on the theory
Keep scopin til you hear me, words is spoken clearly
It's no smokescreens on the scenes that I'm showin
Man I keep it goin, damn I keep it flowin

* Repeat (x2)

Two pages cause panic, freestyles is frantic
Thoughts is organic, flow is aerodynamic
Mic is volcanic, rhymes spread across the planet
I send out the scribe now the vibes gigantic
Now, I'm internationally known, mental capacities blown
I hope your microphone's accident prone
Raw footage is shown, but only showin scenes of my own
Leavin your periphereal vision in a zone
But not the twilight, from the insight that I write
and recite, in my mic'll be bright, cause I like
the night glowin, it's out of sight when I'm showin
Man I keep it goin, damn I keep it flowin

* Repeat (x2)

Yo, accurate tactics "Make Em Clap to This"
When I "Move the Crowd", my "Rhythm" still don't miss
Breeze through melodies cause "It's Been A Long Time"
My "Lyrics" is "Fury" and rappers hate to hear me rhyme
Every antidote that I quote, is "No Joke"
Nobody's smilin "In The Ghetto" from the notes I wrote
My high techniques wreck and disrepect beats
Have you "Follow-in The Leader" up and down the streets
So "Kick Along" as I rip a song with pull
As the rhyme goes on I get "Paid In Full"
It's Rakim, I'm indicatin rhymes for the showin
Check it out y'all, I keep it goin when I'm flowin

* Repeat (x2)

Straight up, Rakim Allah the Fiend of the Microphone still flowin
You know? One love to ? comin through your livin room soon, straight
up
?, one love
The whole tri-state, one love
Rakim Allah baby, y'know?
It's on, what, check it out y'all, check it out

[DJ Premier scratches hook]

(Hardcore...real ill niggas)
(I'm internationally known)
(When I be on the mic)

(Hardcore...real ill niggas)
(I'm internationally known, yo)

(Hardcore...real ill niggas)
(I'm internationally known)
(When I be on the mic)

(Hardcore...real ill niggas)
(So all hail the honorable)

It's to my real ill niggas, heavyweight hitters
Dough getters, fifty ways to make figures
My niggas, that come on the spot to feel sisters
Like they hear real spitters and kids on the zigga-ziggas
When it's ugly, then the club is lovely
Thugs be sipping Henessey and bubbly
To my comrades that keep it flaming hot
On dangerous blocks, claiming spots
Where the goal is to be one of the top-ranked soldiers
Forty-five holders, one of the high rollers
Get respect in the hood, credit is good
Knock it down lumberjack style, baby, extra wood
Rock it all night long, the bang-a-thon baby
Keep hanging on, we like it with the lights on
Don't have to blow twenty thou' to get to know honey's style
Show her the town, steal her heart, no money down


(Hook)

How about some hardcore, yeah we like it raw for sure
Broads on the floor, wall to wall
There's more at the door, players ball to score
'Cause this right here is for all of y'all
Rakim and Primo, yo I got what you need bro
You go see a show, smoke an L, mean yo
And deejays play hits with hard bass kicks
And then they display tricks like The Matrix
Make the record fly undetected by the naked eye
So just feel the vibe 'cause your ears never lie
Nowadays deejays bags of tricks, graphic
On some behind the back shit, catch it and scratch it
Classic, this kid got his craft mastered
Hands is mad quick like he mix with magic
Spin it back and forth and grab it, and know just where it is...
There it is

(Hook)

To my elite peeps with the murderous mystiques
I hit the streets with beats and they critique for weeks
They be like "How that kid Ra reach the peak?"
Pull out the heat and use my technique to speak
It's dangerous, sit calm and explain to kids
What part of the game this is and foreign languages
They hold Ra's events in different continents
Put my lyrical contents in monuments
In ghetto garments, I rock a towel like a pharaoh
Mind travel, design style like apparel
My fashions last long as a lifetime
Cause I can see the future when the god write rhymes
They're mad cause I managed to reign so long
Like their chance to make money done came and gone
This is strictly for my listeners on the corners at night
And the sisters that be keeping this right, when I be on the mic

(Hook)

What's going on?

What's happening it's been so long what's going on
And what's going wrong? The good old days are gone
You forgot your plot and your plans as a young man
You invented a scam even you don't understand

You rig the enigma can't figure it out
You change the route now you're in doubt
You use to cut class smoked grass still passed
Figured you was all that but that ain't last;

The times is harder, the drugs is heavier
You say whatever, the more, the merrier;
Smoke chokes your dreams and blurs your scenes,
Now a young man fiend change his plan to schemes;

No more good times, no more time,
Too far to find, you're almost blind,
You can't see what spot that the trap is in
(Hey bra!)What's happening!

You had it mapped out, your plans get torn,
You stayed up for days and now your dreams are gone
You said you quit, stated your word is bond
(Hey bro) what's going on?

What's going on?

My neighborhood don't look so good
I'll find a way out.. yeah, I would if I could,
But the government is doing a project
so I live in the projects;

Where we fight for elbow room to the doom,
Try to live long but you die too soon,
I might not be alive to see 25,
Taught at ten to make money and strive;

I sold tapes at school and made some ends
Met a lot of skins and even made some friends,
Cool, 'cause now I got a crew to run wit,
Break a couple of rules, have crazy fun wit;

But every now and then, they give my knuckle game a test,
But I won't fess, I just get rid of the stress!
And then shake hands like a man,
'Cause it's a family thing, only the crew would understand!

But you had a one on one fight wit drugs,
When we ain't cool no more, we buss slugs,
Clip after clip, until one of us is gone
(Hey bra!) what's going on?

Yo, what's going on?

The crime rate in New York State elevate,
A city filled wit hate, more deaths accumulate,
Drug wars daily, a lot of blood spilt,
Kids on the playground shot down and kilt!

Nobody wants to live on the 1st floor no more
'Cause stray bullets explore!
We're killing ourselves off slowly but surely,
And at the end of the year, I'm sure many more'll be

Rubbed out in a quest for clout
The rest'll be drugged out, this is bugged out!
Half of the projects is dead or locked up,
Kids getting kidnapped and then found chopped up.

Human abortion create distortions
And that's just a portion, you know that we're lost when
Babies are addicted to drugs when they are born!

(Hey bra!) what's going on?
(Hey bra!) what's going on?
(Hey bra!) what's going on?

[Tracey Horton - Intro] (Rakim)
La-da-da-dah, la-da-da-dah
La-da-da-dah, la-da-da-dah (Uh...yeah...)
(This is for the haters...keep hatin)
La-da-da-dah, la-da-da-dah
La-da-da-dah, la-da-da-dah
(It's what we call money music, right here)
(Uh, yeah, let's go in)

[Rakim - Verse 1ne]
I perform in cities, hoods, and slums, the best seller is drugs
And money is the only thing that get love
They say don't let it make you, but that's how they rate you
And the more you got, the more they hate you (That's okay too!)
Just don't get in the way, 'cause at the end of the day
My agenda's make sure I get them ends to get paid (uh-huh)
So I'm stackin grands 'til the math expand
It's the man with the master plan
Since the Bambino, cash made my path cross with evil
Uno dos cinco on a crowded corner rollin c-lo
To chips and the chick in the casino pourin Cliquot
'Cause now I make music for the c-notes
From New York to Puerto Rico, California to Rio
Hit the streets like the kilo but I'm legal
It's swga like I walk with heat though with all my people
But it's just me and my alter ego

[Chorus: Tracey Horton]
I walk these streets, wit my mind on my plan
It's alright if you don't understand
I walk these streets, think like I got a gun in my hand
'cause hatin is the nature of man
(Sometimes I wanna, stop the cameras, just pop the hammer
Box the innocent bystander and his man up)
I walk these streets, think like I got a gun in my hand
It's alright if you don't understand
Just stay outta my waaaay

[Maino - Verse 2wo]
MAINOOOOO~!
Yo, one for my comrades, two for my family
Three for the day that I run into my enemies
We gon' make a movie, the world gon' remember me

I survived it all dawg, what the hell you tellin me?
I remember days when, I was young and aidin
Cuttin class, chasin ass, couldn't pass grades and
Chillin on the block then, listenin to Rakim
Back of his album filled up with Killer Ben
Supreme Magnetic and I wasn't athletic
But I ran around with the Tre-8 Magnetic
Money on my mind, crack vials in my Levi's
Been a dog since I had the cream colored Filas (Hahahah!)
Yeah, yeah, we fly, seen it all with these eyes
Gunplay and drugs if you put my mind on rewind
Fast forward my life, ya boy done MADE IT!
If I could do it over, I wouldn't CHANGED IT!

[Chorus]

[Rakim - Verse 3hree]
(Ay, good lookin out my dude)
Aiyyo Maino, it's the same ol' same ol'
Don't matter if you in it for the fame or you lay low
Haters gon' hate but, it's okay though (Keep doin what you ddo)
The angle is make sure the payroll stay swoll
Big faces, cake dough and di-nay-ros
Rubels, yen yang, euros and pesos
Seven digit figures, tryna make more zay-ros
Spray holes in whoever in the way so (Stay outta my waaaay)
While I count the next bundle (that's right)
"All means necessary," Malcolm X hustle
A threat yet humble, about to flex muscle
Get a big amount then I'm in and out the next jungle
'Cause every other day, I'm in another state
It's like I cross the thin line between love and hate
But I gotta eat, gotta get another plate
So I'm on my cake walk for the cake

[Chorus]

Just stay outta my waaaay..
(It's what they do..)
Just stay outta my waaaay..

[Rakim]
Yeah, it's the god Rakim
Word up, I'm blazin this out to all my comrades
Ya know what I mean? From the gslums of New York, to the gutters all over the world
This is for y'all,
Through my travels I try to take righteous steps
Because right or left could mean life or death
No matter how trife it get, my sights is set
But it's twice the threat when the ?nights is death?
My mental windows refuse to close, they get exposed
To the neighborhood info where the poison wind blows
A deadly plague spreading negativity, viciously
Unto every city be in ghetto misery
Don't let it get to me, the writer be left to die
But it get mesmerize if it catch your eye
Shines enormous, from pure revered cool's and garments
But it's torment, jealousy drug wars or warring
Tallying, slowly turning into barbarians
More scary when the whole boulevard's carrying
Living in the world of sin, my ghetto girls and men
Waiting for the world to end

[Chorus: x2]
"Trying to paint a perfect picture and excel"
"In case you didn't know"
"Never moving backwards"
"Complicated"
"Know what I mean?"

I see destruction, even little kids trust none
They bust guns, that's what they get a rush from
When I see em, we build and have a real discussion
"Yo Ra, what's the jewel of the day?" "What up, son"
"You got ambition?" Shorty said, "Man listen
I got demands for living, can't stand division
Make grands on my mission, till everything glisten
Women in the Expedition, no plans for prison
In a vision the city get, 2 milleni G
Sitting in my MSC sipping Hennesy
Getting high, and watch life pass me by"
So I asked him why, wit a fast reply
He said "I'm living just to die without any feelings
So I wait here for my Maker till it's time to go
Wit this dime I know
Wit all of her girls and all of my men's
Waiting for the world to end"

[Chorus: x2]

Shorty was taught to keep his head to the sky, and never cry
But the streets left him to die, now it's death in his eye
Living a sin of hitmen, a sinister grin
From be-ginning to end, in it to win
Evil rebels, doing what we doing in the ghetto
Thinking if we was thorough we can deceive the devil
You can't win, your life be end, try again
Shorty said, "Why we born again to die again?"
That's what I said when I realized I had a gift
To uplift and be one of Allah's advocates
Teach the youth and speak the truth
Show em what peace can do when ?ill? reach for you
And my reward won't be jewels or cheese, it's even better
I can be one of the greatest MC's ever
If I tell em they intelligent women and great men
And live, stop waiting for the world to end

[Chorus: x2]

"I'm raging, ripping up the stage an'
Don't it sound amazing, know what I mean?"
"Don't it sound amazing, know what I mean?"
"Rakim"

Levantore!
Yeah, it's just ghetto, kid test the devil to hit the next level
Wish they was a rebel with cerebral metal
Inflex the bezzle with the peddle to the metal
In a thug's paradise where love have a price
So we love for life like thugs love the night
They sell drugs for ice for the Benz with bug lights
Some hug mics to the world, hung like parasites
The likes lethal, the mics lead you
A sneak preview, watch what we do and what the hood teach you
I still see through the eye of a needle
So I can watch people cause slug backwards is evil

Levantore!
Yo, what's this? Yo bust this. Yo it's time to up lift
They think all we do is bust clips and puff splifs
And plush whips and clutch chips and touch chicks
Flont rocks like Fort Knox and hog blocks
Taunt cops with more props and we want not
Panhandling with your mans and them
Scrambling, gambling, plans to win
While the cops clock em, thieves flock em
Women watch em, traders wanna top em
Ay yo what's the problem
Before the narcs knock em opposite players plot to rob em
The ghetto got em, my man said it's rough at the bottom

Levantore!
Ghetto alert, let's do whatever work to get rid of the curse
We went from 1st to America's worst
On this competitive turf, now let's inherit the earth
There's more prize for one another, and call shots
12:00 til the next ball drop
All year around plus they shuffle non stop
You think it's rough at the bottom, it's even rougher on top
My peeps gonna have to reach and turn for me
And everybody's side of the street'll be celly
Ain't nothing funny, burn plenty and burn money
And earn money and watch the century turn 20

Levantore!
We all should, from the woods to the big city and the small hood
Everybody should be welcome to the ball if we all could,
But we fall cause we brawl, yo it ain't all good
We need to play right, stay tight with ya air alight
Keep your game tight, no need to play trife
Get cheese from the daylight to the late night
And it's shouldn't take death to appreciate life
Before a lot parish, we got to cherish if Allah let us
Let's give prop and merits till the block flourish
In this metropolis, stay on top of this
You know what the prophet is, be prosperous

Levantore!
Now we networking
Respect the next person, it'll be less hurting
Or left lurking, while we kept our dreads working
Connect set for certain, total networking
Last chance to advance and stash grands
If you have plans to have fam and mad land
Own shine, condone crime or hold 9s
I know what the problem is, killing our own kind
To my flame throwers, train sober, remain soldiers
Stay sane so these pretty dames can hold us
Terror terrain rollers and Range Rovers so the train goers
Claim your fame, maintain, till your game's over

Levantore!
Ghetto alert, let's do whatever work to get rid of the curse
We went from 1st to America's worst
On this competitive turf, now let's inherit the earth
There's more prize for one another, and call shots
12:00 til the next ball drop
All year around plus they shuffle non stop
You think it's rough at the bottom, it's even rougher on top
My peeps gonna have to reach and turn for me
And everybody's side of the street'll be celly
Ain't nothing funny, burn plenty and burn money
And earn money and watch the century turn 20
Levantore!

Jeah.. uhh.. it's what I do for a livin nigga
Eat for a livin nigga (watcher)
That's how I live for a livin nigga.. (watcher)
Okay, let's do this (the watcher)

[Verse One: Jay-Z]
Things just ain't the same for gangsters
But I'm a little too famous to shoot these pranksters
All of these rap singers claimin they bangers
Doin all sorts of twisted shit with they fingers
Disrespectin the game, no home trainin or manners
I was doin this shit when you was shittin Pampers
I was movin them grams 'fore you, knew what a hand that hand was
Duckin the vans, radars, the scanners
'Fore you knew what hard white to tame was
I was hittin the turnpike, aight with the bammers
I was nice with my hands, cuss aight with them hammers
I was prickin my finger 'fore you knew what a Fam was
I had it laid out 'fore you knew what a plan was
Three hundred mill' later, now you understand us
Y'all ain't see us comin through Vegas
You ever seen so much cham' bust in one night
Grand fucked up one fight
I was on the Peter Pan bus
You was Peter Pan up in your room, y'all fuckin with whom?
Allowed me to be taught
You cowards is just now learnin the shit that we talk
You niggaz ain't know about a Robb Report
Bout a high speed Porsche, i.e.
You niggaz ain't know how to floss 'til I came through the door
like "Eric B. for Pres," respect me in this BITCH!
You can't disrespect us cause you got a little check cut
You was suckin for so long, fuckin your little neck up
Now you too big for your britches, you got a few little bitches
You think you Hugh Hefner, you just ridiculous
I blew breath for you midgets, I gave life to the game
It's only right I got the right to be king
Niggaz that got life really like what I sing
Cause they know is he really like, niggaz feel my pain
Know the shit I DON'T write be the illest shit that's ever been recited
in the game word to the hyphen in my NAME!
J, A, Y, DASH, Hoffa
The past present nigga the future, proper
The holy trinity of hip-hop is us
We give, Dre his props BUT that's where it stops
It's the Roc

[Chorus: Truth Hurts]
I know, you got your eyes on me
I feel you watchin me
But it ain't hard to see that you can't see me
You try, but what you think you saw
Ain't what you thought you saw
You bed-da off not lookin at all
(Everywhere that I go, ain't the same as befo')
(People I used to know, just don't know me no mo')
(But everywhere that I go, I got people I know)
(Who got people they know, so I suggest you lay low)

[Verse Two: Dr. Dre]
I'm still on top of the game
Still droppin flames, still cock and aim
Still at the top had the Roc for the fame
over setbacks, there's been a lot since I came
You seen it all, how I got, how I gained
The momentum when it dropped, how I got through the pain
When I roll and shock, they watched me reclaim
the streets, they made a special spot for my name
Dre, haters wanna stop to my reign
But the music lives in me, every drop in my veins
The pride and the pain
All the way back from the rise of my name
See the world clear through the eyes of the mane
See the world chear for the rhymes that I gave
When the beat bangs it'll drive them insane
The eyes that I played
The best to emerge in the game is The Watcher

[Chorus]

[Verse Three: Rakim]
I'm "Rated R," my brain contains graphics thangs
It turn traumatic teens into addicts, and fiends
It's like, watchin a movie through a panoramic screen
Which means, I can see the whole planet in the scene
Cash is the topic, the object, a fatter pocket
Some take the crack and chop it, but those that haven't got it
take away the added profit, it's catastrophic
I take the gat and cock it, and I'll sit back and watch it
These New York streets is ugly, I keep it gully
The world is mine and can't nobody keep it from me
Yo, my neighborhood is never sunny
In the place where the number one cause of death is money
You can try copin
I've seen enough shit to leave your frame of mind broken
I'm still alive and scopin
Be another hundred years 'til my skies close in
And I'ma die with my eyes open, the watcher [echoes]

[Chorus]

*singing* Ahhhh, ahhhh, ahhhh...
*whistle*
"Ghetto Music" --) KRS-One
(here we go...)

"Yo" --) Mobb Deep
"And my name is Rakim..." --) The R
(repeat 5X)

Yo, the saga begins, my eyes is the photography lens
Properly push pens, and show quality gems
The horrors be grim, but yo maybe tomorrow we win
If we follow the trends and keep count of the dollars we spend
I want a mahogany Benz, I want lottery ends
I want property, friends, plus my hobby is skins
If I decide we in sin, then my prophesy ends
But the God'll begin, watchin my odyssey spin
in the place where war be, based on a true story
Territory was made for me to pursue glory
Blast alone masses in zones have to be sewn
Every capacity blown, I'm internationally known, yo

*Chorus A*
So all hail the honorable, microphone phenomenal
Persona is unbombable?, trust me son
I continue like a saga do, bringin you the drama to
allow you that the chronicle has just begun

*Chorus B*
"The saga begins" --) Mobb Deep
"The soul controller, Rakim" --) Rakim
"Set it off... yo, the saga begins" --) Mobb Deep
"Still say a rhyme after the next one" --) Rakim
(repeat 2X except 8th line is "You know that I'm the soloist" --) Rakim)

Yo, my never-ending epic, got the world spinning hectic
I quickly spread it, till the whole city's infected
Suspense that I supply intensify
Then commence as my daily events go by
You get involved in this, paragraphologist
Narratin novelist, market this, sound marvelous
I'm the star in this, which means the author's authentic
Most definite, every episode's a epidemic
So when you research, check it, here go the evidence
They represent with lyrical negligence for presidents
My science existed, without the fiction
Every inscription is a special edition

*Chorus A*, *Chorus B*

Yo, the legacy lives, let em see what the pedigree is
Mega-thesis, blessin these kids with extra features
The depth's deep as, the deepest sea is
Telepathy increases melody gets speakers, telekinesis
Ideas appear as clear as, pictures in movie theaters
Lyrics you hear it, devestating the way you ear it
So stay tuned for sequels, part two's and more
So soon you and your peoples can bumrush the store
The names have changed the game remain the same
How one came to reign on his claim to fame
No stoppin this I'm droppin this with hip-hop in this
And when the topic is topicless, then I'm writing the apocalypse

*Chorus A*, *Chorus B*

*variations of Chorus B to fade*

*singing* Ahhhh, ahhhh, ahhhh...
*whistle*
"Ghetto Music" --> KRS-One
(here we go...)

"Yo" --> Mobb Deep
"And my name is Rakim..." --> The R
(repeat 5X)

Yo, the saga begins, my eyes is the photography lens
Properly push pens, and show quality gems
The horrors be grim, but yo maybe tomorrow we win
If we follow the trends and keep count of the dollars we spend
I want a mahogany Benz, I want lottery ends
I want property, friends, plus my hobby is skins
If I decide we in sin, then my prophesy ends
But the God'll begin, watchin my odyssey spin
in the place where war be, based on a true story
Territory was made for me to pursue glory
Blast alone masses in zones have to be sewn
Every capacity blown, I'm internationally known, yo

*So all hail the honorable, microphone phenomenal
Persona is unbombable?, trust me son
I continue like a saga do, bringin you the drama to
allow you that the chronicle has just begun

**"The saga begins" --> Mobb Deep
"The soul controller, Rakim" --> Rakim
"Set it off... yo, the saga begins" --> Mobb Deep
"Still say a rhyme after the next one" --> Rakim
(repeat 2X except 8th line is "You know that I'm the soloist" -->
Rakim)

Yo, my never-ending epic, got the world spinning hectic
I quickly spread it, till the whole city's infected
Suspense that I supply intensify
Then commence as my daily events go by
You get involved in this, paragraphologist
Narratin novelist, market this, sound marvelous
I'm the star in this, which means the author's authentic
Most definite, every episode's a epidemic
So when you research, check it, here go the evidence
They represent with lyrical negligence for presidents
My science existed, without the fiction
Every inscription is a special edition

* Repeat

** Repeat

Yo, the legacy lives, let em see what the pedigree is
Mega-thesis, blessin these kids with extra features
The depth's deep as, the deepest sea is
Telepathy increases melody gets speakers, telekinesis
Ideas appear as clear as, pictures in movie theaters
Lyrics you hear it, devestating the way you ear it
So stay tuned for sequels, part two's and more
So soon you and your peoples can bumrush the store
The names have changed the game remain the same
How one came to reign on his claim to fame
No stoppin this I'm droppin this with hip-hop in this
And when the topic is topicless, then I'm writing the apocalypse

* Repeat

** Repeat

Try to identufy the man in front of ya
But it ain't the role, the gear, or the money, the
swift intellectionist with pleny, ya
bite, if it's dark I'll spark every one of ya,
I throw a mic in the crowd, it's a question,
I got the answer..it includes directions:
"Go manufacture a mask, show me after
a glass of a master that has to make musical massacre..."
Attack your wack 'till it's handicapped,
you'll never hold the mic again, try to hand it back,
cuz every rapper that comes, I cut off his thumbs,
put a record to his neck, if he swallows it hums!
Slice from ear to ear-so 'till can hear better,
Before he bleed to death, here, hear every letter!
and you can see quick and thick the blood can get
if you try to change the style or the subject;
as I get deep in the rhyme I'm becomin' a
emcee murderer...before I'm done, I'm a
prepare the chamber, the torture's comin' up,
Trip through the mind, at the end you'll find it's
the punisher....

Kill 'em again!

I hold the mic as hostage, emcees are ransome,
rhymes'll punish 'em cuz they don't undertsand 'em,
I heat up his brain, then explain then I hand him
a redhot microphone...that's how I planned 'em,
rhymes call information(?), unite midnught(?),
like a platoon putting bullet wounds in the mic,
if ya curse me, it ain't no mercy,
give him a autopsy, killed by a verse of me,
I took a kid and cut off his eyelid,
kill him slow so he could see what I did,
and if he don't understand what I said,
I'm pushing his eyeballs way to the back of his head
so he can see what he's getting into,
a part of the mind that he never been through,
a journey is coming cuz ya getting sent to
a place harder to find but it's all in the mental,
I ran a brainscan to locate his game plan,
when I'm through with his brain he ain't the same, man!
did he lose his mind or lost in his mind,
but this ain't the lost and found because ya can't find
your foundation; coasting, your mind is
drifting, in slow motion..frozen,
looks like another murder at the Mardi Gras, B!
Too late to send out a search party,
once ya out of ya head then ya can't get back,
I give 'em a map, but he still get trapped, so
prepare the chamber, the torture's coming up,
trip through the mind, at the end you'll find it's The Punisher....

Kill 'em again!

Dangerous rhymes (are) performed like surgery,
Cuts so deep you'll be bleeding burgundy,
My intellect wrecks and disconnects your cerebral cortex,
your cerebellum is next!
Your conscience becomes sub-conscious,
soon your response is nonsense....
the last words are blurred...mumbled then slurred,
then your verbs are no longer heard,
you get your lung fried so good you're tongue-tied,
he couldn't swing or hang so he hung 'till he died,
reincarnate him...and kill him again...again and again...again and again...
I leave him in the mausoleum so you can see him,
I got a dead-MC'ing museum,
when I create 'em, I cremate 'em and complicate 'em,
you can't save 'em...there's no ultamatum,
mic's lay around full of ashes, with the victim's name in slashes,
got a long list and I'm a get every one of ya...
Beware of The Punisher!

Then I'm a kill 'em again!

Wake 'em up...kill 'em again

Intro/Chorus:
If you can see if you can solve the mystery
The answer revolves around your history
So carefully, I drop this degree
Scientifically, and realistically (Who is God?)

Repeat Chorus

In eternal blackness, in the midst of the darkest night
Proteins and minerals, exist within specks of light
Solids liquids and gases, and sparks of light within
infinite lengths and widths and depths and heights
No beginning or ending, the seven dimensions
Enough space for more than a million words and inventions
To travel through time within enough room to be the womb
of the most high's great mind which he will soon make shine
With intelligent elements in sight that he will gather
In the realms of relativity electricity struck matter
Energies explode he below to keep releasin
Atoms by the millions, til the numbers increasin
Til it was burnin he kept returnin itself to the source
The hotter his thoughts it gave the center more force
He gave birth to the sun which would follow his laws
All caused by his mental intercourse, who is God?

Chorus

He began to explain his craft, the master in the attic
He dealt with measurements his language, was mathematics
His theoretical wisdom of the numerical system
The complete number nine which means born or existed
He gave birth to all planets, inorganic, and organic
So you wouldn't take it for granted
They rotated they own distance around the sun
And fully submit to the existance of one
And each one was promised everlasting perfection
If each one keeps spinnin in the same direction
To the East, and each speak the motion of peace
and harmony, and each show devotion to teach
The universe is to come, the whole world must go according
Know your galaxies and mirages stars start fallin
So stay in your orbit maintain safe and sound
Like the planets each cipher remains perfectly round

Chorus

From unconciousness, to conciousness
By knowledging his wisdom his response is this
A understanding, which is the best part
He picked the third planet where new forms of life would start
He pursued show and prove every move in order
Back to the source he let off his resources in the water
Climb his climax, where the climate is at, high degrees
See he start to breathe deep in the darkest seas
And the plan is, to lay in the clays to form land
And expand, usin the same clays to born man
In his own image our origin begins in the East
Culture rise to breed, with the powers of peace
Deal in equality nature's policy is to be God
Build or destroy positively born life like Allah
And each one was given everlasting perfection
If each one keep living in the same direction
And life was life, and love was love
We went according by the laws of the world above
They showed us physically, we could reach infinity
But mentally, through the century we lost our identity
Life start and ending, we got trife and started sinning
Lost touch with the beginning now ciphers stop spinnin
And what was once easy became confused and hard
Which brings us back, to the mystic question, who is God?
Sixty-six trillion years since his face was shown
When the seventh angel appears, the mystery will be known
Check Revelations and Genesis, St. Luke and John
It even tells us we are Gods in the Holy Qu'ran
Wisdom Strength and Beauty, one of the meanings of God
G.O.D. you and me ?Gomars O Dubar?
Knowledge Wisdom Understanding Sun Moon and Star
Man Woman and Child, and so is Allah

Chorus

Bear witness to Allah, gave birth to all
For Allah was all, and therefore, life itself
And the universe gave birth to man
The universe was man, and man was the universe
And the universe was always existed
And existance was life
And life is Allah
And Allah had no beginning because he is, what always was
Rakim Allah, peace
Now who is God?

Intro/Chorus:
If you can see if you can solve the mystery
The answer revolves around your history
So carefully, I drop this degree
Scientifically, and realistically (Who is God?)

Repeat Chorus

In eternal blackness, in the midst of the darkest night
Proteins and minerals, exist within specks of light
Solids liquids and gases, and sparks of light within
infinite lengths and widths and depths and heights
No beginning or ending, the seven dimensions
Enough space for more than a million words and inventions
To travel through time within enough room to be the womb
of the most high's great mind which he will soon make shine
With intelligent elements in sight that he will gather
In the realms of relativity electricity struck matter
Energies explode he below to keep releasin
Atoms by the millions, til the numbers increasin
Til it was burnin he kept returnin itself to the source
The hotter his thoughts it gave the center more force
He gave birth to the sun which would follow his laws
All caused by his mental intercourse, who is God?

Chorus

He began to explain his craft, the master in the attic
He dealt with measurements his language, was mathematics
His theoretical wisdom of the numerical system
The complete number nine which means born or existed
He gave birth to all planets, inorganic, and organic
So you wouldn't take it for granted
They rotated they own distance around the sun
And fully submit to the existance of one
And each one was promised everlasting perfection
If each one keeps spinnin in the same direction
To the East, and each speak the motion of peace
and harmony, and each show devotion to teach
The universe is to come, the whole world must go according
Know your galaxies and mirages stars start fallin
So stay in your orbit maintain safe and sound
Like the planets each cipher remains perfectly round

Chorus

From unconciousness, to conciousness
By knowledging his wisdom his response is this
A understanding, which is the best part
He picked the third planet where new forms of life would start
He pursued show and prove every move in order
Back to the source he let off his resources in the water
Climb his climax, where the climate is at, high degrees
See he start to breathe deep in the darkest seas
And the plan is, to lay in the clays to form land
And expand, usin the same clays to born man
In his own image our origin begins in the East
Culture rise to breed, with the powers of peace
Deal in equality nature's policy is to be God
Build or destroy positively born life like Allah
And each one was given everlasting perfection
If each one keep living in the same direction
And life was life, and love was love
We went according by the laws of the world above
They showed us physically, we could reach infinity
But mentally, through the century we lost our identity
Life start and ending, we got trife and started sinning
Lost touch with the beginning now ciphers stop spinnin
And what was once easy became confused and hard
Which brings us back, to the mystic question, who is God?
Sixty-six trillion years since his face was shown
When the seventh angel appears, the mystery will be known
Check Revelations and Genesis, St. Luke and John
It even tells us we are Gods in the Holy Qu'ran
Wisdom Strength and Beauty, one of the meanings of God
G.O.D. you and me ?Gomars O Dubar?
Knowledge Wisdom Understanding Sun Moon and Star
Man Woman and Child, and so is Allah

Chorus

Bear witness to Allah, gave birth to all
For Allah was all, and therefore, life itself
And the universe gave birth to man
The universe was man, and man was the universe
And the universe was always existed
And existance was life
And life is Allah
And Allah had no beginning because he is, what always was
Rakim Allah, peace
Now who is God?

*If you can see if you can solve the mystery
The answer revolves around your history
So carefully, I drop this degree
Scientifically, and realistically (Who is God?)

* Repeat

In eternal blackness, in the midst of the darkest night
Proteins and minerals, exist within specks of light
Solids liquids and gases, and sparks of light within
infinite lengths and widths and depths and heights
No beginning or ending, the seven dimensions
Enough space for more than a million words and inventions
To travel through time within enough room to be the womb
of the most high's great mind which he will soon make shine
With intelligent elements in sight that he will gather
In the realms of relativity electricity struck matter
Energies explode he below to keep releasin
Atoms by the millions, til the numbers increasin
Til it was burnin he kept returnin itself to the source
The hotter his thoughts it gave the center more force
He gave birth to the sun which would follow his laws
All caused by his mental intercourse, who is God?

* Repeat

He began to explain his craft, the master in the attic
He dealt with measurements his language, was mathematics
His theoretical wisdom of the numerical system
The complete number nine which means born or existed
He gave birth to all planets, inorganic, and organic
So you wouldn't take it for granted
They rotated they own distance around the sun
And fully submit to the existance of one
And each one was promised everlasting perfection
If each one keeps spinnin in the same direction
To the East, and each speak the motion of peace
and harmony, and each show devotion to teach
The universe is to come, the whole world must go according
Know your galaxies and mirages stars start fallin
So stay in your orbit maintain safe and sound
Like the planets each cipher remains perfectly round

* Repeat

From unconciousness, to conciousness
By knowledging his wisdom his response is this
A understanding, which is the best part
He picked the third planet where new forms of life would start
He pursued show and prove every move in order
Back to the source he let off his resources in the water
Climb his climax, where the climate is at, high degrees
See he start to breathe deep in the darkest seas
And the plan is, to lay in the clays to form land
And expand, usin the same clays to born man
In his own image our origin begins in the East
Culture rise to breed, with the powers of peace
Deal in equality nature's policy is to be God
Build or destroy positively born life like Allah
And each one was given everlasting perfection
If each one keep living in the same direction
And life was life, and love was love
We went according by the laws of the world above
They showed us physically, we could reach infinity
But mentally, through the century we lost our identity
Life start and ending, we got trife and started sinning
Lost touch with the beginning now ciphers stop spinnin
And what was once easy became confused and hard
Which brings us back, to the mystic question, who is God?
Sixty-six trillion years since his face was shown
When the seventh angel appears, the mystery will be known
Check Revelations and Genesis, St. Luke and John
It even tells us we are Gods in the Holy Qu'ran
Wisdom Strength and Beauty, one of the meanings of God
G.O.D. you and me ?Gomars O Dubar?
Knowledge Wisdom Understanding Sun Moon and Star
Man Woman and Child, and so is Allah

* Repeat

Bear witness to Allah, gave birth to all
For Allah was all, and therefore, life itself
And the universe gave birth to man
The universe was man, and man was the universe
And the universe was always existed
And existance was life
And life is Allah
And Allah had no beginning because he is, what always was
Rakim Allah, peace
Now who is God?

What uhh yo

Just when things seemed the same and the whole scene is lame

I come and reign with the unexplained for the brains till things change

They strain to slang sling I'm trained to bring game

History that I arranged been regained by King James

Go to practice with tactics when the track hits theatrics

Women that look like actress the status of Cleopatra's

Stacks of mathematics took the ?ego-a-geatics?

As I find out, what the facts is, for geographic

No time to sip Mo's with hostess, never mind what the total gross is

I rip shows, stay focused, and split cheese, with soldiers

While you hit trees and coast I spit flows that be ferocious

And with these explosives, I split seas for Moses

Shine permanently only my mind's concernin me

Fire burns in me eternally time's eternity

Followers turn on me they'll be in a mental infirmary

Determinely advance technology better than Germany

Since the first days you know of, till the last days is over

I was always the flow-er, I made waves for Noah

From a compound, to the anatomy, to the breakdown of a atom

Some of my rap patterns, still surround Saturn

From the ancient Hieroglyphics, to graffiti painted pictures

I study I know the scriptures but nowaday ain't it vicious

Date back I go beyond check the holy Qu'ran

To speeches at the altar on, now we get our party on

So being benificent, I bless em with dialogue

They expectin, the next testament by the God

I blow em through battlezones with chrome for chaperone

Blast beats with saxophones one of the baddest rapper's known

Every country city and borough, sidestreet and ghetto

isle and alley and meadow theories ferile enough to echo

When it was one mass of land, with one nash' of man

And the whole mass w

What uhh yo

Just when things seemed the same and the whole scene is lame

I come and reign with the unexplained for the brains till things change

They strain to slang sling I'm trained to bring game

History that I arranged been regained by King James

Go to practice with tactics when the track hits theatrics

Women that look like actress the status of Cleopatra's

Stacks of mathematics took the ?ego-a-geatics?

As I find out, what the facts is, for geographic

No time to sip Mo's with hostess, never mind what the total gross is

I rip shows, stay focused, and split cheese, with soldiers

While you hit trees and coast I spit flows that be ferocious

And with these explosives, I split seas for Moses

Shine permanently only my mind's concernin me

Fire burns in me eternally time's eternity

Followers turn on me they'll be in a mental infirmary

Determinely advance technology better than Germany

Since the first days you know of, till the last days is over

I was always the flow-er, I made waves for Noah

From a compound, to the anatomy, to the breakdown of a atom

Some of my rap patterns, still surround Saturn

From the ancient Hieroglyphics, to graffiti painted pictures

I study I know the scriptures but nowaday ain't it vicious

Date back I go beyond check the holy Qu'ran

To speeches at the altar on, now we get our party on

So being benificent, I bless em with dialogue

They expectin, the next testament by the God

I blow em through battlezones with chrome for chaperone

Blast beats with saxophones one of the baddest rapper's known

Every country city and borough, sidestreet and ghetto

isle and alley and meadow theories ferile enough to echo

When it was one mass of land, with one nash' of man

And the whole mass w

What, uhh, yo
Just when things seemed the same, and the whole scene is lame
I come and reign with the unexplained for the brains 'til things
change
They strain to sling slang, I'm trained to bring game
History that I arranged been regained by King James
Go to practice, with tactics, when the track hits, theatrics
Women that look like actress the status of Cleopatra's
Stacks of mathematics took the ?ego-a-geatics?
As I find out, what the facts is, for geographic
No time to sip Mo's with hostess, never mind what the total gross is
I rip shows, stay focused, and split cheese, with soldiers
While you hit trees and coast I spit flows that be ferocious
And with these explosives, I split seas for Moses
Shine permanently only my mind's concernin me
Fire burns in me eternally time's eternity
Followers turn on me they'll be in a mental infirmary
Determinely advance technology better than Germany
Since the first days you know of, till the last days is over
I was always the flow-er, I made waves for Noah
From a compound, to the anatomy, to the breakdown of a atom
Some of my rap patterns, still surround Saturn
From the ancient hieroglyphics, to graffiti painted pictures
I study I know the scriptures but nowaday ain't it vicious
Date back I go beyond, check the holy Qu'ran
To speeches at the autobahn, now we get our party on
So being benificent, I bless em with dialogue
They expectin the next testament, by the God
I roam through battlezones with chrome for chaperone
Blast beat with saxophones one of the baddest rappers known
Every country city and borough, sidestreet and ghetto
Isle and alley and meadow, theories thorough enough to echo
When it was one mass of land, with one nash' of man
And the whole mass was ran under one master plan
Since the world's metamorphis, and the plan is kept in orbit
Turntables we spin awkward but needles never skip off it
Rhythms we expressin similar to our ancestors
It'll answer your questions if you understand the message
From the days of the slave choppers, to the new age of prophets
As heavy as hip-hop is I'm always ready to drop it
From the mind which is one of Allah's best designs
And mines'll stand the test of time, when I rhyme

*The 18th Letter, the prophecy professor
I stay clever, long as the planet stay together
Bring up praise from Mecca, make a phrase for the better
In new days to remember, always and forever

*repeat (x2)

The R baby

[Rakim]
One two

Yeah, yeah,
"Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"
Yeah it's the God baby,
Long Island's own,
Barbarian of the microphone,
"Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"
It's for y'all niggas

And the streets just a couple of miles East of Mecca
Where peeps touch nothing but style heat and cheddar
Compete with ya livelihood to eat better
And ain't nothing sweet but the ladies who speak wetta
With a torn smile, trying to get my song on file
It's on now, the whole town done gone wild
Kick rhymes off my heartbeat as a unborn child
Then developed a strong style on Long Isle
Won't be long now, I started rhyming young
I designed for fun, knowing my time would come
I started, paying dues DJ'in with crews
Learning the inner city rules, conveying the news
Soon as the jam start the man's art'll jam parks
Slam so hard it remains a landmark
The rhyme that I'm styling, smooth as a violin
But "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"

("Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"(

Like any G.O.D., loose on a spree for new degrees
Things to do and see until nothing is new to me
A true MC usually be into a breeze
And I can still see New York City through the trees
My advance slams put you outside looking in
Or the other way around, that depends, look again
Took a pen so you could zero in on my book of gems
It extends from the Hamptons to Brook-lyn
Through every hoodie in town, to learn the Boogie Down
Til every DJ around, wanted to put me down
Rhymes got rougher til I was ready to blast off
And harass all from Suffolk County to Nassau
Where we keep the money piling, keep the honies smiling
Keep the heater just in case kids start whyling
The rhyme that I'm styling, smooth as a violin
"Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"

("Rough enough to break New York from Long Island)

Grew up in Wyndanch, formerly known as Crime-Danch
Me and my mans we travel lands to find jams
Where violence usually ends in sirens
By all means, we all fiend for finance
We make cash on the street called straight path
We take class, build with the Gods with great math
Everyday true to the street, and never fronted
Along the way, learned from the best that ever done it
Being exposed to life's highs and lows
Got my flows ready for shows, I'm ready for the pros
I put it on a tape and then the city I tested
Then on the radio the are's requested
Now the whole world's whyling, all the girls smiling
You know, it's on, soon as they let the crowd in
The rhyme that I'm styling, smooth as a violin
"Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"

Word up.. I want to give a big up to Long Island, stomping grounds, for real
("Rough enough to break New York from Long Island")
Crime-Danch, one love baby, word up
("Rough enough to break New York from Long Island")
I want to give a crazy shout out to all the DJ's back in the day
Who used to let me smoke they microphones, ya know what I mean?
Big up to DJ Maniac, DJ Teddy Tuff, and DJ Cool Breeze
("Rough enough to break New York from Long Island")
Word up

("Rough enough to break New York from Long Island")

hey yo every time hear some real hip hop man I start thinking... yo I"m still in love man ...listen
I'm in booth like prison
lid like lift
if music's like woman
i'm whipped like a nymph
i love to keep it pushing
like the basement speakers
love hearing real hip hop and making heaters
born entertainer
armed with the flamer
if they bust shoots with it
come on it's the blamer
got the place to loose it
booth shaking to it
true gangster music
screwface included
macho lingo
the beat'll remind you
of the quatro cinco
or cinco de mayo
put it in your car
turn the sound sky high
Ra down the block sound like a drive by
keep chicks moving
heat keep them open
put em in the mood and they leave something broken
D.J set the scene to it in the club
sound track to the hood theme music for the thug
I told you I'm still in love baby
beats drop heavy every rhyme one ton
streets not ready hurry nine one one
spot gets frantic
too late to panic
the meteor they can't stop from hitting the planet
Sodom and Gamorah
Sadam and Osama
the horror without the bomb and no llama
spitting at a show performing
vocals are swarming
flow overflowing like it's global warming
I flood the market out
I'm over your head now
roll the carpet out


the droughts over and dead now
when I kill a track
the true story the cause of euphoria
the thrillers back
next flow level
hip hop lover
dress code ghetto
lit vibe cutter
just an artist trying to rep the hardest
and make history so not even death can part us
it's love
I'm still in love baby I'm still in love
It's the god Rakim
they know I get it (in)
they pull me back (in)
I'm going back (in)
spitting fire
ghetto music
getting higher like a drug therapeutic
hooked like an addict
strung like sex
look I got to have it
It alleviates stress
quick as marijuana settle in the brain
needle hit the record like heroin to vein
blood start flowing
adrenaline rush
love start jonesing
school yard crush
Ra still feining still emceeing
more deals and geeing
broads still screaming
it's that dude here's that sick
spit that jewel
talk that (shhh)
and wait till the lights go off the show start
that's when it's time for Ra to go hard
I told you I'm still in love
always was

Rakim... Clark Kent bring it on

What you wanna say to make me stay awhile
What you wanna say to make me wanna stay
(repeat 2X)

Just me and my peeps we gettin buzzed, lookin for clubs
Misses with kisses and hugs, lookin for love
She gotta be nice with hers, even with cookin some grub
Once I'm in I meet her friends, then I'm hookin my thugs
We'll be blowin hundreds, always knowin where the fun is
Roadrunners findin more spots than Columbus
Pocket full of phone numbers from some of the world wonders
I take my time, and find where the right one is
Smooth as jazz but more than a half, ready for math
And on a steady path, like Betty Shabazz
And when I see the wiz I'ma step to my biz
And there she is, let's see if she pass the quiz
It's appropriate we go get soakin wet
Toast, we met, become close associates
The place is ours by now I can embrace your style
So much flavor I can taste your smile, stay awhile

*Why don't you, stay a little while
Stayyayyayyy, stay a little while, child
Baby, why don't you, stay a little while
Stayyayyyayy, ayyyayyy, stay a little while, child
Baby, why don't you

We on the low matin, infiltratin, negotiatin
We both be makin moves and dough, M.O.'s relatin
She ain't takin I want it but yo I know she waitin
I throw the bait in, and before you know we datin
I want the format, to the doormat
Contacts fast, callbacks and all that
Your deepest ecstasy see you wear accesory
Your secret recipes to your bear necessities
She real exotic body feel like Lucile Roberts
Name brand closets, culturized products
Claws like a scorpion caught me in deeper
But juice sweeter, enough to buy a two seater
Every mile I plan to have your mind beguiled
Til it informs me more than you would normally allow
Raised more than an eyebrow with a flagrant style
By now I can taste your smile, stay awhile

* Repeat

Sometimes it's hard to fight it and not let her see me get excited
But she know I like it, she know the deal like a psychic
Mind is haunted, because I always find her on it
She know what I want, where I want, when I want it
Blowin up my Motorola, daddy you comin over?
She on the sofa, holdin a remote controller
Candles burnin lower, favorite dish gettin colder
She hot as solar, cause I told her I wanna hold her
But her mission she sittin in one position like Yoda
A TV show is on to top it off she dead sober
Then I open the door up, and kiss her on the shoulder
She say I'm rollin, like Mr. Lover Lover
We had a hard day, ready to parlay
My thirsts they obey everything that God say
Okay let's play awhile and I'll embrace your style
So much flavor I can taste your smile, stay awhile

* Repeat

Rakim... Clark Kent bring it on

What you wanna say to make me stay awhile
What you wanna say to make me wanna stay
(repeat 2X)

Just me and my peeps we gettin buzzed, lookin for clubs
Misses with kisses and hugs, lookin for love
She gotta be nice with hers, even with cookin some grub
Once I'm in I meet her friends, then I'm hookin my thugs
We'll be blowin hundreds, always knowin where the fun is
Roadrunners findin more spots than Columbus
Pocket full of phone numbers from some of the world wonders
I take my time, and find where the right one is
Smooth as jazz but more than a half, ready for math
And on a steady path, like Betty Shabazz
And when I see the wiz I'ma step to my biz
And there she is, let's see if she pass the quiz
It's appropriate we go get soakin wet
Toast, we met, become close associates
The place is ours by now I can embrace your style
So much flavor I can taste your smile, stay awhile

Why don't you, stay a little while
Stayyayyayyy, stay a little while, child
Baby, why don't you, stay a little while
Stayyayyyayy, ayyyayyy, stay a little while, child
Baby, why don't you

We on the low matin, infiltratin, negotiatin
We both be makin moves and dough, M.O.'s relatin
She ain't takin I want it but yo I know she waitin
I throw the bait in, and before you know we datin
I want the format, to the doormat
Contacts fast, callbacks and all that
Your deepest ecstasy see you wear accesory
Your secret recipes to your bear necessities
She real exotic body feel like Lucile Roberts
Name brand closets, culturized products
Claws like a scorpion caught me in deeper
But juice sweeter, enough to buy a two seater
Every mile I plan to have your mind beguiled
Til it informs me more than you would normally allow
Raised more than an eyebrow with a flagrant style
By now I can taste your smile, stay awhile

Chorus

Sometimes it's hard to fight it and not let her see me get excited
But she know I like it, she know the deal like a psychic
Mind is haunted, because I always find her on it
She know what I want, where I want, when I want it
Blowin up my Motorola, daddy you comin over?
She on the sofa, holdin a remote controller
Candles burnin lower, favorite dish gettin colder
She hot as solar, cause I told her I wanna hold her
But her mission she sittin in one position like Yoda
A TV show is on to top it off she dead sober
Then I open the door up, and kiss her on the shoulder
She say I'm rollin, like Mr. Lover Lover
We had a hard day, ready to parlay
My thirsts they obey everything that God say
Okay let's play awhile and I'll embrace your style
So much flavor I can taste your smile, stay awhile

Chorus w/ variations to end

It feel good, ya knahmean?
To uhh, come back and and get embraced
That's that's like the best part y'know?
Bein bein gone for a while y'know
Walk through the streets
'Yo Ra yo when you comin out, you gotta come out'
this and that
Y'know, so y'know I always want to come back
Had little setbacks, but umm
To comeback and get embraced man, that's the best part

Kind of glad I ain't come out in this y'know the last few years, y'know
But umm right now I think everybody want a change
Back to hip-hop and, knowhatI'msayin rhymes skills and
things of that nature, so timing man, timing is perfect
Plus this is ninety-seven, which is Born God, knahmean?
And I'm back, straight up

Kind of glad I ain't come out in this y'know the last few years, y'know
But umm right now I think everybody want a change
Back to hip-hop and, knowhatI'msayin rhymes skills and
things of that nature, so timing man, timing is perfect
Plus this is ninety-seven, which is Born God, knahmean?
And I'm back, straight up

Kind of glad I ain't come out in this y'know the last few years, y'know
But umm right now I think everybody want a change
Back to hip-hop and, knowhatI'msayin rhymes skills and
things of that nature, so timing man, timing is perfect
Plus this is ninety-seven, which is Born God, knahmean?
And I'm back, straight up

So just knowin that people umm, compare me with with every hot kid that
come out and, y'know, the the expressions people give me when I see em
in the streets sometime y'know people be lookin at me like I'm a martian
like "Yo, it's the God" y'knowhatI'msayin? But that alone man keep keep
me lovin this man, lovin this

It feel good, ya knahmean?
To uhh, come back and and get embraced
That's that's like the best part y'know?
Bein bein gone for a while y'know
Walk through the streets
'Yo Ra yo when you comin out, you gotta come out'
this and that
Y'know, so y'know I always want to come back
Had little setbacks, but umm
To comeback and get embraced man, that's the best part

Yeah... check it out... show me love

Promise you won't do me wrong (for sure)
If I turn you on (yeah)
Promise you'll stay all night long (on on)
Makin love til dawn

Yo, it's time to bring the day in, fresh out the crib sauteein
Around the way-in, swerve on, surveyin
That's when I saw her, the kind you wanna see more of
The sexy aura, it made it hard to ignore her
Expression her posession of property skyrocket
I'm investin in her presence and in time it profits
I take a acre for you, fertilize the soil
and make it boil, til it produce black oil
The Shorty sweet as, the flavor of forty divas
Photos and features, worth more than Mona Lisa's
It's lady lucious, tender touches my blood rushes
Smiles and blushes, on billboards and buses
And me, I'm just a bronze skinned calm gentleman
Slim fit and open arms mellow wit a Don's grin
Ghetto disciplined, could be your confidant beyond friend
It's one of Allah's men, Rakim, show me love

Promise you won't do me wrong (uh)
If I turn you on (go ahead, uh)
Promise you'll stay all night long (uh, yeah)
Makin love til dawn (turn me on love)
Promise you won't do me wrong (mmm)
If I turn you on (mmm, mmm, yeah)
Promise you'll stay all night long
So we can get it on (check it out)

I'm in effect mode, I keep the ep sewed
When you express your finesse to your dress code
Every step's a pose, you've been blessed and it shows
My interest grows, the effervesce explodes
Because this chick's, characteristics, mystic
Hips are thick, just a little bit of lipstick
Can't resist it, description Egyptian smile
Queen of the Nile, that means she dipped in style
She re-mind of Nefretiti, yes indeed-y
But it's hard to get it like hieroglyphic graffiti
Studied her exhibits and checked her colorful curves
Intellect with swerves I coulda wrecked my nerves
That's my word, diggin her enigma that exist
in a sister, carefully wrapped in her figure
We connect like a collision and hug, just to knowledge
her wisdom, speed up my metabolism, show me love

Promise you won't do me wrong
If I turn you on (uh, yeah)
Promise you'll stay all night long (YEAH)
Makin love til dawn (check it out)
Promise you won't do me wrong (go ahead, go ahead)
If I turn you on (yeah, yeah)
Promise you'll stay all night long
So we can get it on

Your M.O. is hard not to notice, so my motives
is to stay focused, body moves like aerobics
Attractions, vibes I caught came from your ways
and actions but mindframe hard to explain
No actin or mindgames, but thinkin of what can happen
is migraines, the x-rated though remains
We relaxin, and you naggin me for the agony
to your anatomy, by the fractions
Your measurements, the pleasure's in every inch of your temple
I travel twenty-three million miles of your mental
Chemistry, between you and me, in harmony
Causin angles to meet, like trigonometry
or pyramids, that's where your deepest, treasures are hid
Then it gets, odiferous, cause I know where it is
I mastered that, cause it's easy when you react
The all-natural aphrodisiac, show me love

Promise you won't do me wrong
If I turn you on (yeah)
Promise you'll stay all night long (go ahead, go ahead)
Making love til dawn (uh)
Promise you won't do me wrong (straight up)
If I turn you on (go ahead, uh)
Promise you'll stay all night long (yeah)
So we can get it on (show me love)
Promise you won't do me wrong
If I turn you on
Promise you'll stay all night long
Making love til dawn
Promise you won't do me wrong (uh, yeah)
If I turn you on (check it out, uh)
Promise you'll stay all night long (and you don't stop)
So we can get it on (uh)
Promise you won't do me wrong
If I turn you on
Promise you'll stay all night long
Making love til dawn...

Yeah... check it out... show me love

Promise you won't do me wrong (for sure)
If I turn you on (yeah)
Promise you'll stay all night long (on on)
Makin love til dawn

Yo, it's time to bring the day in, fresh out the crib sauteein
Around the way-in, swerve on, surveyin
That's when I saw her, the kind you wanna see more of
The sexy aura, it made it hard to ignore her
Expression her posession of property skyrocket
I'm investin in her presence and in time it profits
I take a acre for you, fertilize the soil
and make it boil, til it produce black oil
The Shorty sweet as, the flavor of forty divas
Photos and features, worth more than Mona Lisa's
It's lady lucious, tender touches my blood rushes
Smiles and blushes, on billboards and buses
And me, I'm just a bronze skinned calm gentleman
Slim fit and open arms mellow wit a Don's grin
Ghetto disciplined, could be your confidant beyond friend
It's one of Allah's men, Rakim, show me love

Promise you won't do me wrong (uh)
If I turn you on (go ahead, uh)
Promise you'll stay all night long (uh, yeah)
Makin love til dawn (turn me on love)
Promise you won't do me wrong (mmm)
If I turn you on (mmm, mmm, yeah)
Promise you'll stay all night long
So we can get it on (check it out)

I'm in effect mode, I keep the ep sewed
When you express your finesse to your dress code
Every step's a pose, you've been blessed and it shows
My interest grows, the effervesce explodes
Because this chick's, characteristics, mystic
Hips are thick, just a little bit of lipstick
Can't resist it, description Egyptian smile
Queen of the Nile, that means she dipped in style
She re-mind of Nefretiti, yes indeed-y
But it's hard to get it like hieroglyphic graffiti
Studied her exhibits and checked her colorful curves
Intellect with swerves I coulda wrecked my nerves
That's my word, diggin her enigma that exist
in a sister, carefully wrapped in her figure
We connect like a collision and hug, just to knowledge
her wisdom, speed up my metabolism, show me love

Promise you won't do me wrong
If I turn you on (uh, yeah)
Promise you'll stay all night long (YEAH)
Makin love til dawn (check it out)
Promise you won't do me wrong (go ahead, go ahead)
If I turn you on (yeah, yeah)
Promise you'll stay all night long
So we can get it on

Your M.O. is hard not to notice, so my motives
is to stay focused, body moves like aerobics
Attractions, vibes I caught came from your ways
and actions but mindframe hard to explain
No actin or mindgames, but thinkin of what can happen
is migraines, the x-rated though remains
We relaxin, and you naggin me for the agony
to your anatomy, by the fractions
Your measurements, the pleasure's in every inch of your temple
I travel twenty-three million miles of your mental
Chemistry, between you and me, in harmony
Causin angles to meet, like trigonometry
or pyramids, that's where your deepest, treasures are hid
Then it gets, odiferous, cause I know where it is
I mastered that, cause it's easy when you react
The all-natural aphrodisiac, show me love

Promise you won't do me wrong
If I turn you on (yeah)
Promise you'll stay all night long (go ahead, go ahead)
Making love til dawn (uh)
Promise you won't do me wrong (straight up)
If I turn you on (go ahead, uh)
Promise you'll stay all night long (yeah)
So we can get it on (show me love)
Promise you won't do me wrong
If I turn you on
Promise you'll stay all night long
Making love til dawn
Promise you won't do me wrong (uh, yeah)
If I turn you on (check it out, uh)
Promise you'll stay all night long (and you don't stop)
So we can get it on (uh)
Promise you won't do me wrong
If I turn you on
Promise you'll stay all night long
Making love til dawn...

Uh창?짝..I got it good (Neyo)

I put product in the street that sell quicker than weed, I spit it raw like I'm flippin a key
I got what y'all need (Satisfaction Guaranteed)
I got what y'all need (Satisfaction Guaranteed)

I got pure for the fiends give u more than a breeze, thru ya blood stream quicker than D,
I got what y'all need (Satisfaction Guaranteed)
I got what y'all need (Satisfaction Guaranteed)

Uh, its what they been waitin for창?짝창?짝


I put the whole world in a dope fiend and still leaning, a many years away from the game they still fiendin
My hustle and flow, sound like C-notes, smoke like a pound hit the town like key-notes
I bag it up and get it crackin in clubs, go on tours like I'm trafficking drugs

(I got what y'all need)

Who want musical narcotics, they all got it, bomb product will sure profit when y'all cop it
Any hood or any city I'm pumpin in, any slum I'm in, my custom is come again
Spit flow by the boatload like a Columbian, my shipments go out then bring the money in
Like supplies the product than do the pra bricks, go out my way, so biters can't dupe what I spit
Like Freddy told Priest in that superfly flick, playa u always got some superfly shhhhhh

Chorus

Uh, It ain't a city I ain't moving weed in, the world wonder my product got em hallucinating


Droppin heaviest rhymes known, to every minds flown, keep it poppin until its clockin in every time zone
Uh, time is money, my grind is hungry, it's for my dudes and my dime honeys

(I got what y'all need)

Things run up in it mass where I been, nothing get em high as a bag of Rakim
I'm red like Canadian, cuss wit a Opium touch a fat piece of hash, seen soap with some dust
I got it so good, I got the whole hood smoking it, coke cookers kill for the flow to cook coke in it
The new form of crack, turn fans to fanatics hip hop hands to attacks fiends hit off that
DJ's cut it, let the streets step on that, still a hundred percent pure King Heron's back

Chorus

I got a bout a million Mami's that call me they ex love cuz I kept em ex thug and F'd up like sex drugs
They never come down futuristic high; I leave em, spaced out so they can kiss the sky
Its like Budda, Mami's say, man is he blessed Pac to push a man in a vest
They won't relapse no indeed he's back, my rap flow natural aphrodisiac
I'm a key to a user, piano to a dealer, liquor to a alcoholic to smokers a piff of chocolate
The gospel, for the ghetto so spit the gossip, is he Moses to drugs, either way it's a profit
Call me your drug lord, spit commandments you hooked, it's the King pin every day I get a book
Playing my surveillance tapes, I'm hot on the streets, even cops on the beat they call copping the heat

Chorus 2X
(Neyo)

Here I go again, ready to flow again.
Better HOPE my mic don't blow again.
Warned by alarms when the mic gets warm.
Crowd'll get critical, can't keep calm.
Jet for the exit, why hang around?
Words that I found make the mic melt down.
If you stay, better cooperate, cuz I amputate,
and whoever don't break, I'm-a suffocate.
Leave 'em with asthma, you better pass the
mic to the massacre master who has the
power to build and destoy at the same time,
so track the wack at the right, and exact could
shine. (?)
Meant to beat overheat, but I won't stop,
so evacuate the spot when the mic's hot.
Switch it from one hand to another,
and that's a hint, my brother, run for cover.
Cuz I'm armed, my brain contains a bomb,
as if I escaped from Vietnam.
Some people label me lethal, lyrics I made then put
beats to.
Format, collapse your lungs twist your tongues,
you can't bump your gums off of none of the drums.
Words that I made'll create an iller scene,
Eric B. is the fly human being on the guillotine.
Hook 'em up to a respirator, cuz it's the Mista
Suffocator.
What I write is like shovin' a mic down your
windpipe.
Don't let him bitE rhymes Rakim write.
No mic-to-mouth resuscitation is neccessary;
no obituary, and NOTHING LEFT TO BURY.
As it strikes on the same mic twice and then,
cut it on, and I'm-a strike again.
I meditate off the breaks, till the place shakes,
then I make rain, hail, snow and earthquakes.
Speak the truth, tear the roof off the mother.
The stage is stompin' grounds -- run for cover.

(scratching)

Evacuate the building, danger, cuz I came to
explain the
strategy that'll be tragic automatically,
havin' me to cause another catastrophe.
All you gotta do is give Rakim the
microphone and the crowd'll yell "Timber."
Buildings collapsin', rappers gettin' trapped in,
areas closed off, no one gets back in.
So set up roadblocks, barrIcade the doors,
fade, put a detour sign on the stage.
Hold my microphone as evidence, the weapon I use
and been usin' ever since
the days in the park when, rap was an art then.
Plus I was dominant, determined and dark-skinned.
Makin' it hard to walk the streets at night
for those who talk the weak beats on the mic.
Whoever's livin' large better wear camouflage.
Prepare to be bumrushed when I yell charge.
Surround by sound of the beat-down another brother,
this is stompin' grounds, run for cover.
Wheels or foot, better not stay put.
Whole place shook till the mic's unhooked.
Then you've got seven minutes to vacate the
premises.
Lyrics'll echo soon as the break finishes.
Don't act wild, single file to the door.
No need for an encore, just clear the floor.
Cuz my mic's about to self destruct,
the stage'll blow up when my rhymes erupt.
So make sure the place is cleared out and abandoned,
cuz minutes from now it won't be standin'.
Then send out and A.P.B.: All Poets Beware of a
brother like me.
Now how many rhymes could your man manufacture?
How many bitin' MCs can I capture?
Trap rappers who try to run off at the mouth;
take over their route, play 'em out like a Cub
Scout.
So leave troopin' for MCs at war,
and if it's a battle let the crowd keep score.
Cuz me and the drummer make drama, and that's word
to mother...run for cover.

Double oh seven is back..
Double oh seven is back..

Double oh seven is back..

[Rakim]
I don't stress my day cause it's best to parlay
I guess you could say I've been away
I wake up slow when I'm hot but I destruct the plant
and fourteen hands comb New York for fans
They make waves as they wiggle in my waterbed
Pull back the leather covers and silk bedspread
A mornin massage turnin into a real rough rubdown
so I figured I'll lay around
They keep me wet with a juice called Tahiti
It make the room steamy, so soon they couldn't see me
They know more than calisthetics as they worked up a sweat
It wasn't even ten o'clock yet
Scrub down, then I get moist, they never treat me mean
They sweetly keep me squeaky clean
I chill as they filled the jacuzzi
I said, "I'm tight from a real long flight, could you soothe me
Support my thoughts, cause I got a lot of writing to do"
They said, "Cool," and just enjoyed the view
It ain't hard cause it's miles from the sidewalk
I'm overlookin every borough in New York
The entire, Empire, State to concentrate
for every rhyme I make
So at exactly noon they played my favorite tune
And just before they all cleared the room
they said, "We're glad you're home from tour, now we feel secure
We wish you didn't have to leave no more"
But they wanna go to war, they even tried to shoot up the door
Double oh seven is back..
Rest assured

Double oh seven is back..
Feel secure
Double oh seven is back..

I'm fillin up the page when I'm steppin on stage
Got the people in a rage with they hands in the air
Fellas sayin HOE, everybody yellin GO
Fly ladies in the house all screamin "awww yeah"
That's how they react when I attack the mic
In fact it's like a stack of dynamite, powerful and bright
Girls love to squeeze me real tight
Double oh seven is back..
Ra has returned, to romance em, better than Johnny Handsome
When I was young, women said, "Damn son"
Ain't nuthin change but the year and I'm still here
C'mere dear and let me whisper in your ear
Hug my words so I can taste your lips
I set up hips like domino chips
but I don't let em hit the floor
And if you got sore, then feel secure
Where's the pain, is it the spot you set us in
Almost magic, better than medicine
Take one of these and put your mind at ease
I get more work than a lot of M.D.'s
If I'm hawkin New York, or out on tour
I express the raw dialect and explore
But don't get fooled by metaphor
Double oh seven is back
Rest assured

Feel secure
Rest assured
Rest assured
Yo, feel secure

Remember that?

Turn the beat up, I get lost in the mind come across
the rhyme kick my feet up, then I find myself in time
I was on a train, destination Marley Marl's domain
I entertained things'll never be the same
DJ's are conveyed if the label OK it
Teddy Ted and Special K was the first ones to play it
On the radio, with the crazy flow
I pay dues until it pays me dough to do a show
When I'm at the helm I cover the whole realm
In control and leave your soul overwhelmed
Another influence of beats and instruments
Lyrics make it intricate and elements are tense
When you was playin Pac Man it was the jams I packed
Peeps would swarm when I was perform in, black I'm all that
Back before they turned hip-hop to rap
It always a place to party at, remember that?

I remember the spots that used to be hot
Just like the roof top, a place that only few can rock
on a wild ass block, yeah you find me there a lot
Until you hear gunshots, that's when the fun stops
Here come the cops, time to go home, get in order
Cause I'll be back in Manhattan if somethings happenin at the Latin Quarter
House of havoc when it came to fourteen carat
And if you had it yeah kids'd try to grab it
It's cool at the Red Parrot we was doin it there
I was the first one to rip it at the Union Square
Me and DJ Red Alert did work
A crazy concert, a lot of kids got hurt
I did encores at the Encore, they wanted more
I kicked a freestyle til I heard the crowd roar
Like the Funhouse, Bronx Center never endin black
Place to be was the Brooklyn Armory, remember that?

Remember that? (3X)

Open the door, let the crowds in, over twenty thousand
Wildin music's loud and microphone's growlin
Tickets are sold out, parties is packed and on tour
rippin basketball arenas back then
Even afterparties, posses of players and hotties
Everybody was Gotti, spreadin bucks like shotties
Spendin cash, to make a good time last
Thoughts that I had give me a blast of the past
Memories of unforgettable times on my mind
Dollar signs and melodies and incredible rhymes
The people I met, and the sets that got wrecked
All the mics I checked, most of all life's effects
And peace to all the people I grew up around
in the streets back when beats had a rougher sound
I used to be wild me and my crew sit back and we smile
Keep piles of pictures filed in case I go senile
Cause some things are just too good to be forgot
Like your neighborhood block or your favorite spot
Certain records always seem to make me reminisce
And when it hits, and then it clicks, remember this
My life flashed before me I'm there from the sounds
I hear pinpoint the year, it's perfectly clear
I like the way it went down and alla that, in fact
It mean a lot, cause you can't bring it back, remember that

Remember that? (3X)

Remember that?

Turn the beat up, I get lost in the mind come across
the rhyme kick my feet up, then I find myself in time
I was on a train, destination Marley Marl's domain
I entertained things'll never be the same
DJ's are conveyed if the label OK it
Teddy Ted and Special K was the first ones to play it
On the radio, with the crazy flow
I pay dues until it pays me dough to do a show
When I'm at the helm I cover the whole realm
In control and leave your soul overwhelmed
Another influence of beats and instruments
Lyrics make it intricate and elements are tense
When you was playin Pac Man it was the jams I packed
Peeps would swarm when I was perform in, black I'm all that
Back before they turned hip-hop to rap
It always a place to party at, remember that?

I remember the spots that used to be hot
Just like the roof top, a place that only few can rock
on a wild ass block, yeah you find me there a lot
Until you hear gunshots, that's when the fun stops
Here come the cops, time to go home, get in order
Cause I'll be back in Manhattan if somethings happenin at the Latin Quarter
House of havoc when it came to fourteen carat
And if you had it yeah kids'd try to grab it
It's cool at the Red Parrot we was doin it there
I was the first one to rip it at the Union Square
Me and DJ Red Alert did work
A crazy concert, a lot of kids got hurt
I did encores at the Encore, they wanted more
I kicked a freestyle til I heard the crowd roar
Like the Funhouse, Bronx Center never endin black
Place to be was the Brooklyn Armory, remember that?

Remember that? (3X)

Open the door, let the crowds in, over twenty thousand
Wildin music's loud and microphone's growlin
Tickets are sold out, parties is packed and on tour
rippin basketball arenas back then
Even afterparties, posses of players and hotties
Everybody was Gotti, spreadin bucks like shotties
Spendin cash, to make a good time last
Thoughts that I had give me a blast of the past
Memories of unforgettable times on my mind
Dollar signs and melodies and incredible rhymes
The people I met, and the sets that got wrecked
All the mics I checked, most of all life's effects
And peace to all the people I grew up around
in the streets back when beats had a rougher sound
I used to be wild me and my crew sit back and we smile
Keep piles of pictures filed in case I go senile
Cause some things are just too good to be forgot
Like your neighborhood block or your favorite spot
Certain records always seem to make me reminisce
And when it hits, and then it clicks, remember this
My life flashed before me I'm there from the sounds
I hear pinpoint the year, it's perfectly clear
I like the way it went down and alla that, in fact
It mean a lot, cause you can't bring it back, remember that

Remember that? (3X)

Yeah
It's the paragraph ambassador
The wild style fashioner
It's the god Rakim, the master
Feel this

This is that lost ass track off-the-rack kind of a track
You forced to rap, remember that? It's that
You know where I'm at, there go the gat
Pass me a bat, the kill-or-be-killed kind of attack
Steamin', speedin', navigatin' the map
Negotiating with a chick, she got her head on your lap, ya hand on your gat
Premeditated plan of attack, with two of your most deadliest men's in the back
Comb the block, stop in the zone that's hot
Get out like you own the spot, home or not
It's that no mood to play, move out the my way
Yo, I been whistlin' this tune from throughout the day
Hey, yo, this is that ol' y'all niggas don't want to battle
Turn it up loud make the whole block rattle
Boom boom, this one is gettin' blazin' hot
Boom boom, make you bust another shot from the glock

[Chorus]
From the streets below to everything above
To the heart that pumps Ra-kim Allah's blood
I swear I kick a hole in your speaker and pull the plug
You emcee's is playing tug-a-war with your tongues
From the streets beneath my feet to the sun
I'm number one and competition is still none
And I'm gonna keep kicking holes in your speakers and pullin' plugs
You emcee's is playing tug-a-war with your tongues

Here we come now
Turntable spin like a merry-go-round
Never slow down, depending on how good your stereo sounds
Set it, up in the hood where we go surround
Tearin' through towns, turn 'em into burial grounds
This is the track that made Theodore want to scratch
The track that caused the first kid to spin on his back
And then we saw, kids spray-painting the wall
While some of y'all was waitin' for war breakin' the law
It's no antidote it's what you can't provoke
So just relax with your girls or your mans and smoke
And take a real hit, soon as it bang you feel quick
It's real thick, this is that ol' real shit
This is the description of designs for you to listen to
Reminiscin' the times and nothin' in particular
Keep you goin' just like a whole pot of coffee
Have you and your shorty doin' 80 in a 40

[Chorus]

You know what this is
Yeah kid, give up your riches
Vicious, visions is not for motion pictures
Unstoppable, rollin' witcha sickest clique of niggas
Or witcha missus, gettin tropical kisses
Makin' faces, anticipatin' places her tongue hits
Suck her neck or just peck, better to funk it
The EP is in effect from dusk to sunset
She want a rim shot all over her drum set
Jump the bed rubbin' your head- it's rough sex
50 ways to keep a love wet
Down and up the steps with crazy positions left till she upset
"Damn, baby, you ain't come yet?"
Hell, no doomstick big as a elbow
Gel soft, well blow, give him a minute, he'll grow
And all you gotta do is play the track again
I'm ready and revived, baby, back again

[Chorus]

[Canibus]
Yo!
Check it, Yo!

I'm faster than leopards running across the vast desert
In twenty-two yards per second to catch me to daily delicatessen
It takes me thirty minutes to eat 'em, forty minutes to digest 'em
And fifty minutes for it to pass through my intestines
So ask yourself a question (What question)
Can the Canibus rhyme
Is a fuckin porcupine half swine
No time to make up your mind, you want to run or die
Clip you while you're running by, trip you up from behind
My rhymes, confuse niggas
Like somebody try to gang-bang
Wearin' a blue shirt and red pants, throwin' up signs with their left hand
Standin' out on the corner of wetlands with a confederate flag for a headband
God dam eggplants, niggas getting' me vexed man
Cause I'm surrounded by garbage like Fred Sav
And I can't seem to get away from it
I dreamed that I stabbed leviathan through the stomach, and ate from it
In my past life I slayed hundreds, and in the life before that
I played trumpets, to warn you that I was comin'
There's one billion ways to die, and I already tried
Nine-hundred million nine hundred and ninety nine
When I aim and fire my rhymes, like a hundred cannon balls flying
Striking you one at a time, in a parallel line
While the art of emceeing is steady dying
Canibus and Rakim Allah is still in their prime

[Chorus]

*R - Rugged and rough thats how I do it
A - ALLAH who I praise the fullest,
K - keep it moving
I - stand alone
M - its my crown, my world, my throne

R - Rugged and rough thats how I do it
A - ALLAH who I praise the fullest,
K - keep it moving
I - stand alone
M - its my crown, my world, my throne

hey yo we rockin a log shack,
its a rack, ya all relax, the almanac,
just show me where the parties at,
simmin all of that, call, coma's and cardiac's
bra's and cats screamin on my god he's back,
just imagine, I hit the lab and get it crackin,
a thousand styles in one verse, riddled to switch patterns,
chicks get stabbed in the back, till they get spasm,
known to spit a magnum or split an atom,
who would have known that jesus would come back to the ghetto,
on that level and that ferral, like a black hero,
with pack medals, so black rebels, who backpedal,
ta ferral with five levels and take over the rap world,
gettin bizarre, hardcore, this is for yall,
get over the park, playing when you get in the car,
chill at the bar, sip something but split a cigar,
get with ya dawgs, i'm gettin on, schemin the bar, its the...

* Repeat

yeah, yo, I used to make things blow when makin stroll's, (??)
and learn ta make this dough where gangsta's roll,
think like the late, great ca pone, when the bank is closed,
its cash-in (??), claim they bold but they aint this cold,
i'm from the dog city, even pritty chicks act up,
cause they get claped up and stack up, they stick that up,
put the strap up, you think my name was kid, back up,
big nigga's (Huck), pick that up or lick that up,
raised by gangsta's and scandlers, hustlers,
con artists and convicts, killers and dawgs,
drug dealers, players and pimps, smoothe talkers,
stick up kid, thugs, real nigga's and god's,
haunted by any, swallen, lay dead in the turf,
cursed by every spirit that never made it to birth,
since the moon seperated from earth, thats why they saying,
i'm the greatest that ever orchistrated a verse, its the...

* Repeat

hey yo, toast to that, its the cat, it burns back to a soul clap,
a smoker track, how dope is that, po-per rap, rope backs, demo
stacked,
and know that before they turn coke to crack,
to my dawgs, settin sirens on and firearms, out come die'in wars,
and behind iron bar, to pull above entire braws with iron ball, (??)
tryin rob, my dialog, I engolf,
chicks know this and get next to my thrown and sniff my calone,
and get right along, sex pots at home and testosterone,
corress, ice, dress drops, and my bed rocks the room,
hit the floor, its time for two thousand three, its galore,
who rock the style as wild as me, rest ashore,
when I rock dance crowds, they scream, dis malore,
I rock my album Rakim, its the...

* Repeat (x2)

Yo Rakim what's up?
Yo I'm doing the knowledge E. I'm trying to get paid in full
Well check this out since Nobry Walters is our agency right?
True
Kara Lewis is our agent
Word up
Zakia/4th & Broadway is our record company
Indeed
Okay so who we rollin with?
We rollin with Rush
Of Rushtown Management. Check this out since we talking over
this def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
def rhymes, know what I'm sayin? And together, we can get
paid in full...


Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

Yo Rakim what's up?
Yo I'm doing the knowledge E. I'm trying to get paid in full
Well check this out since Nobry Walters is our agency right?
True
Kara Lewis is our agent
Word up
Zakia/4th & Broadway is our record company
Indeed
Okay so who we rollin with?
We rollin with Rush
Of Rushtown Management. Check this out since we talking over
this def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
def rhymes, know what I'm sayin? And together, we can get
paid in full...


Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

Yo Rakim what's up?
Yo I'm doing the knowledge E. I'm trying to get paid in full
Well check this out since Nobry Walters is our agency right?
True
Kara Lewis is our agent
Word up
Zakia/4th & Broadway is our record company
Indeed
Okay so who we rollin with?
We rollin with Rush
Of Rushtown Management. Check this out since we talking over
this def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
def rhymes, know what I'm sayin? And together, we can get
paid in full...


Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

Yo Rakim what's up?
Yo I'm doing the knowledge E. I'm trying to get paid in full
Well check this out since Nobry Walters is our agency right?
True
Kara Lewis is our agent
Word up
Zakia/4th & Broadway is our record company
Indeed
Okay so who we rollin with?
We rollin with Rush
Of Rushtown Management. Check this out since we talking over
this def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
def rhymes, know what I'm sayin? And together, we can get
paid in full...


Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

Yo Rakim what's up?
Yo I'm doing the knowledge E. I'm trying to get paid in full
Well check this out since Nobry Walters is our agency right?
True
Kara Lewis is our agent
Word up
Zakia/4th & Broadway is our record company
Indeed
Okay so who we rollin with?
We rollin with Rush
Of Rushtown Management. Check this out since we talking over
this def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
def rhymes, know what I'm sayin? And together, we can get
paid in full...


Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

Yo Rakim what's up?
Yo I'm doing the knowledge E. I'm trying to get paid in full
Well check this out since Nobry Walters is our agency right?
True
Kara Lewis is our agent
Word up
Zakia/4th & Broadway is our record company
Indeed
Okay so who we rollin with?
We rollin with Rush
Of Rushtown Management. Check this out since we talking over
this def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
def rhymes, know what I'm sayin? And together, we can get
paid in full...


Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

Yo Rakim what's up?
Yo I'm doing the knowledge E. I'm trying to get paid in full
Well check this out since Nobry Walters is our agency right?
True
Kara Lewis is our agent
Word up
Zakia/4th & Broadway is our record company
Indeed
Okay so who we rollin with?
We rollin with Rush
Of Rushtown Management. Check this out since we talking over
this def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
def rhymes, know what I'm sayin? And together, we can get
paid in full...


Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

Yo Rakim what's up?
Yo I'm doing the knowledge E. I'm trying to get paid in full
Well check this out since Nobry Walters is our agency right?
True
Kara Lewis is our agent
Word up
Zakia/4th & Broadway is our record company
Indeed
Okay so who we rollin with?
We rollin with Rush
Of Rushtown Management. Check this out since we talking over
this def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
def rhymes, know what I'm sayin? And together, we can get
paid in full...


Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

[Eric B]: Yo Rakim, what's up?
[Rakim]: Yo, I'm doing the knowledge, E., I'm trying to get paid in full
[E]: Well, check this out, since Nobry Walters is our agency, right?
[R]: True
[E]: Kara Lewis is our agent
[R]: Word up
[E]: Zakia4th

[Eric B]: Yo Rakim what's up?
[Rakim]: Yo I'm doing the knowledge E. I'm trying to get paid in full
[E]: Well check this out since Nobry Walters is our agency right?
[R]: True
[E]: Kara Lewis is our agent
[R]: Word up
[E]: Zakia/4th & Broadway is our record company
[R]: Indeed
[E]: Okay so who we rollin with?
[R]: We rollin with Rush
[E]: Of Rushtown Management. Check this out since we talking over
this def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
def rhymes, know what I'm sayin? And together, we can get
paid in full...

[Rakim]
Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

[Eric B]: Yo Rakim what's up?
[Rakim]: Yo I'm doing the knowledge E. I'm trying to get paid in full
[E]: Well check this out since Nobry Walters is our agency right?
[R]: True
[E]: Kara Lewis is our agent
[R]: Word up
[E]: Zakia/4th & Broadway is our record company
[R]: Indeed
[E]: Okay so who we rollin with?
[R]: We rollin with Rush
[E]: Of Rushtown Management. Check this out since we talking over
this def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
def rhymes, know what I'm sayin? And together, we can get
paid in full...

[Rakim]
Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

[Eric B]: Yo Rakim what's up?
[Rakim]: Yo I'm doing the knowledge E. I'm trying to get paid in full
[E]: Well check this out since Nobry Walters is our agency right?
[R]: True
[E]: Kara Lewis is our agent
[R]: Word up
[E]: Zakia/4th & Broadway is our record company
[R]: Indeed
[E]: Okay so who we rollin with?
[R]: We rollin with Rush
[E]: Of Rushtown Management. Check this out since we talking over
this def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
def rhymes, know what I'm sayin? And together, we can get
paid in full...

[Rakim]
Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

Yo Rakim what's up?
Yo I'm doing the knowledge E. I'm trying to get paid in full
Well check this out since Nobry Walters is our agency right?
True
Kara Lewis is our agent
Word up
Zakia/4th & Broadway is our record company
Indeed
Okay so who we rollin with?
We rollin with Rush
Of Rushtown Management. Check this out since we talking over
this def beat that I put together, I wanna hear some of them
def rhymes, know what I'm sayin? And together, we can get
paid in full...


Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

[interviewer possibly Harry Allen]
What is the one main thing that you have
that you would want people to remember you by?
Or not one but the those things that are dear to you
that you would want to be remembered as

[Rakim]
I guess I guess it's my words man yaknahmean?
Just my words and if people remember my words they'll remember me forever
Y'know? God by nature mind raised in Asia y'know?
But umm... it's like y'know to live forever you you you gotta
set y'know, not not set trends but you gotta
apply yourself a certain way and you gotta do certain things y'know?
Maybe, maybe when I'm gone twenty years from now
Somebody might be tellin, tellin they little son
"Oh yo you think Shorty bad? Yo I 'member this cat way back
in like nineteen-ninety. Kid named Rakim, bananas."
YouknowhatI'msayin? If that can happen man, I'm aight man, y'know?
I got I got I got kids y'know? They gonna umm, finish this for
me anyway yknahmsayin so regardless, y'know the legacy lives
But umm as far as the masses just remember my words
Straight up

What is, the one, main thing that you have
that you would want people to remember you by?
Or not one but the, those things that are dear to you
that you would, want to be remembered as

I guess I guess it's my words man, yaknahmean?
Just my words, and, if people remember my words they'll remember me
forever
Y'know? God by nature mind raised in Asia, y'know?
But umm... it's like y'know to live forever you you you gotta
set y'know, not not set trends but you gotta
apply yourself a certain way and you gotta do certain things y'know?
Maybe, maybe when I'm gone twenty years from now
Somebody might be tellin, tellin they little son
"Oh yo you think Shorty bad? Yo I 'member this cat way back
in like nineteen-ninety. Kid named Rakim, bananas."
YouknowhatI'msayin? If that can happen man, I'm aight man, y'know?
I got I got I got kids y'know? They gonna umm, finish this for
me anyway yknahmsayin so regardless, y'know the legacy lives
But umm as far as the masses just remember my words
Straight up

I'm the Alpha, with no Omega
Beginning without the, end so play the
eye inside, no extended version
Next episode be smooth as a Persian
Rhyme everlastin, there'll be no part two
Knowledge is infinite, once I start to draw
a better picture for your third eye, if you're blind
You know with a mic, I'm a black Michaelangelo
I'm the brother who ID ideas are colorful
Givin em insight, but givin em trouble to
comprehend cause they thoughts won't blend in
They're pretendin, while I'm extendin
You bite like a parasite, said that it you attacks
But you won't strike, cause you ain't no match
You need more light cause yours got dim
Then you get sparked by the Lord Rakim
What's the matter G, check your battery
Go get charged up, then come battle me
You try hard and Die Hard, you ain't Eveready
When they check the pulse, you'll be Dead as Freddie
SHOP AT SEARS for new ideas
Check your engine and ask your engineers
to equalize, try to disguise it
If that don't work yo, then MIDASIZE it
You need more power, better bring Battlecat
But this ain't Grayskull, and you ain't rippin jack
Don't drop the mic and jet for your tooley
("Bring it to me!")
We can go rhyme for rhyme til the mic stop the
workin
Then I'ma leave you behind the Iron Curtain
and you'll remain backstage
Your book is over, I ripped your last page
Changed the endin, at least you went out rappin
Now I'ma tell em what happened
I filled the mic with explosives, and lit it up
It was too heavy to hold, he couldn't pick it up
Pass the mic, let him try to get paid
He hit the stage, it went off like a hand grenade
Now scrape him off the floor and off my list
I ain't a soloist, I'm an arsonist
Sprayed up, he said he was gonna do what?
Played up, MC Grand but Pooh-Butt
Stole his lady, and drove her crazy
You asked me why - cause her man tried to play me
I sent her back a nervous wreck
and tried to put her back in check
My speciality is masterin the female species
I specialize in her, until she sees
where I come from, and why I came
I tame the train til she manifest my name
Fill her with life until she burst with energy
Then leave her restless, cause a lot of women be
tryin to drain us, and leave us stripped dry
Put holes in our pocket, but you ain't that fly
I clipped your wings and bring you down to Earth
and tell you what life is worth
It ain't rings and things that's materialistic
You wanna pip on, imperialist with
food for thought, cause I'm the shelter
I'll be your clothes, keep you warm and help ya
not to be hot to trot by a haunt
And why do y'all got to flaunt?
("You gotta use what you got
to get what you want")
Cool, I heat you up like a black mink coat
Hug your neck like a fat gold rope
Words I speak and my DJ's cuts will warm ya ears
like mink earmuffs
So Eric show em how fast your hand'sll go
so the people in the stands'll know
that you don't scratch your cuts in the grave
Moves in waves to my rhyme displays
Float, evoke, my tempo jets
Expressions express when you kick steps
Keep em, energetic, so let it
pound in your head til what I said is embedded
Don't forget it's copastetic, set it
Anywhere you want your poetry's pathetic
You gets.. no.. credit.. til you get it straight
Let's motivate
No intermissions cause it ain't commercial
If you wanna break then I'll reimburse you
I won't let go so my mic won't drop, cause
("I can't.. stop!")
Vocabs is endless, vocals exist
Rhyme goes on, so no one can stop this
Especially when I start to say the
rhymes with no omega

No omega
No omega

("I can't.. stop!")
("I can't.. stop!")
("I can't.. stop!") *scratched*

("I can't.. stop!")
("I can't.. stop!")
("I can't.. stop!")
("I can't.. stop!") *scratched*

("I can't.. stop!")
("I can't.. stop!")

("I can't.. stop!")

("I can't.. stop!")
("I can't.. stop!") *fades*

[from the movie _Wildstyle_
If you was born in New york City let me hear say "You know that"!
YOU KNOW THAT

Aiyyo, once upon a rhyme where the scenery sets, you see stress
Streets a matter of life and death, no regrets
Life's a test, strife, wit special effects
Neighbourhood's full of reps, cities are projects
Where the young cadets get stripes from the vets
And comrades quest to be the next, to finess
Collect debts and select bets with death threats
Object - Chedder, better your total net
Where trends are set from ways to express the outfits
Friends get wet tryin' to make ends connect
Avenues to check, boulevards to sweat
The smell of gunsmoke more common than cigarettes
WE GOT clicks for wreck
WE LIKE Pits for pets
WE GOT Giants and Jets, the Knicks, Yanks and Mets
WE LIKE much respect and sex extra wet
And High-Tech dialect you ain't catch yet

(The Bronx
Ya out there?
No doubt
Brooklyn
ya out there)

[Rakim]
Aiyyo, we got blocks and glocks with
big shots with big knots and big props
yo this is where the bullshit stops
where herbs get got
if you snitch you get shot
we get down and leave the town in a state of shock
WE GOT dangerous hang out spots and slick cops
place called Riker's Island where kids get locked
a lotta gear to rock with blocks of clothes shops
styles are top notch, this is the place to buy
so bust the box the radio station is hot
ease your mind staring at skylines from rooftops
flip scripts for chips
and new Whips of the lot
quick to call a shot, pollitic with thick plots
and eh, Carnegie niggers a see what we got
to make sure the core of the big apple don't rot
where seeings believing we be achieving a lot
since disc jocks created hip hop, check it out!

(Queens
ya out there?
no doubt
Manhatten
no doubt
New York city
Staten Island
New york new york
long Island
New york
ya out there)

[Rakim]
Aiyo, we got five bouroughs of ghettos
with amny places to meet, you get lost in city streets
the city that never sleeps
Mecca ? Medina the population increase
the desert and the oasis, New York, the far east
with gods and Sheiks
pretty amazons for weeks
player dons that fleece the family's black sheep
icons that teach that we all act unique
we got stats to reach so we all have to eat
a mass of peeps, with they own masterpiece
the crafts elite, we going past the beat
the latest technique no other place get as deep
who parks release some of the worlds greatest athletes
DJs and MCs and graffiti artistes
who use walls and subway trains for marquees
we go back to b-boys, breakdancing, breakbeats
and it'll never cease and on that note
we say peace

[from the movie _Wildstyle_
If you was born in New york City let me hear say "You know that"!
YOU KNOW THAT

Aiyyo, once upon a rhyme where the scenery sets, you see stress
Streets a matter of life and death, no regrets
Life's a test, strife, wit special effects
Neighbourhood's full of reps, cities are projects
Where the young cadets get stripes from the vets
And comrades quest to be the next, to finess
Collect debts and select bets with death threats
Object - Chedder, better your total net
Where trends are set from ways to express the outfits
Friends get wet tryin' to make ends connect
Avenues to check, boulevards to sweat
The smell of gunsmoke more common than cigarettes
WE GOT clicks for wreck
WE LIKE Pits for pets
WE GOT Giants and Jets, the Knicks, Yanks and Mets
WE LIKE much respect and sex extra wet
And High-Tech dialect you ain't catch yet

(The Bronx
Ya out there?
No doubt
Brooklyn
ya out there)

[Rakim]
Aiyyo, we got blocks and glocks with
big shots with big knots and big props
yo this is where the bullshit stops
where herbs get got
if you snitch you get shot
we get down and leave the town in a state of shock
WE GOT dangerous hang out spots and slick cops
place called Riker's Island where kids get locked
a lotta gear to rock with blocks of clothes shops
styles are top notch, this is the place to buy
so bust the box the radio station is hot
ease your mind staring at skylines from rooftops
flip scripts for chips
and new Whips of the lot
quick to call a shot, pollitic with thick plots
and eh, Carnegie niggers a see what we got
to make sure the core of the big apple don't rot
where seeings believing we be achieving a lot
since disc jocks created hip hop, check it out!

(Queens
ya out there?
no doubt
Manhatten
no doubt
New York city
Staten Island
New york new york
long Island
New york
ya out there)

[Rakim]
Aiyo, we got five bouroughs of ghettos
with amny places to meet, you get lost in city streets
the city that never sleeps
Mecca ? Medina the population increase
the desert and the oasis, New York, the far east
with gods and Sheiks
pretty amazons for weeks
player dons that fleece the family's black sheep
icons that teach that we all act unique
we got stats to reach so we all have to eat
a mass of peeps, with they own masterpiece
the crafts elite, we going past the beat
the latest technique no other place get as deep
who parks release some of the worlds greatest athletes
DJs and MCs and graffiti artistes
who use walls and subway trains for marquees
we go back to b-boys, breakdancing, breakbeats
and it'll never cease and on that note
we say peace

{*from the movie "Wildstyle"*}
If you was born in New york City let me hear say "You know that"!
YOU KNOW THAT

[Rakim]
Aiyyo, once upon a rhyme where the scenery sets, you see stress
Streets a matter of life and death, no regrets
Life's a test, strife, wit special effects
Neighbourhood's full of reps, cities are projects
Where the young cadets get stripes from the vets
And comrades quest to be the next, to finess
Collect debts and select bets with death threats
Object - Chedder, better your total net
Where trends are set from ways to express the outfits
Friends get wet tryin' to make ends connect
Avenues to check, boulevards to sweat
The smell of gunsmoke more common than cigarettes
WE GOT clicks for wreck
WE LIKE Pits for pets
WE GOT Giants and Jets, the Knicks, Yanks and Mets
WE LIKE much respect and sex extra wet
And High-Tech dialect you ain't catch yet

(The Bronx
Ya out there?
No doubt
Brooklyn
ya out there)

[Rakim]
Aiyyo, we got blocks and glocks with
Big shots with big knots and big props
Yo this is where the bullshit stops
Where herbs get got, if you snitch you get shot
We get down and leave the town in a state of shock
WE GOT dangerous hang out spots and slick cops
Place called Riker's Island where kids get locked
A lotta gear to rock with blocks of clothes shops
Styles are top notch, this is the place to watch
So bust the box the radio station is hot
Ease your mind staring at skylines from rooftops
Flip scripts for chips, and new whips off the lot
Quick to call a shot, pollitic with thick plots
And the Garden of Eden against the sea that we got
to make sure the core of the Big Apple don't rot
Where seeings believing we be achieving a lot
Since disc jocks created hip hop, check it out!

(Queens - ya out there? no doubt
Manhattan - no doubt
New York city, Staten Island
New York, New York, Long Island
New York - ya out there?)

[Rakim]
Aiyyo, we got five bouroughs of ghettos
with many places to meet, you get lost in city streets
the city that never sleeps
Mecca ? Medina the population increase
The desert and the oasis, New York, the far east
With Gods and sheiks, pretty Amazons for weeks
Player dons that fleece the family's black sheep
Icons that teach that we all act unique
We got stats to reach so we all have to eat
A mass of peeps, with they own masterpiece
The crafts elite, we going past the beat
The latest technique no other place get as deep
Who parks release some of the worlds greatest athletes
DJ's and MC's and graffiti artistes
Who use walls and subway trains for marquees
We go back to b-boys, breakdancing, breakbeats
And it'll never cease and on that note, we say peace

Turn up the bass, check out my melody, hand out a cigar
I'm lettin knowledge be born, and my name's the R
A-k-i-m, not like the rest of them, I'm not on a list
That's what I'm sayin, I drop science like a scientist
My melody's in a code, the very next episode
Has the mic often distortin', ready to explode
I keep the mic at Fahrenheit, freeze MC's to make 'em colder
The listener's system is kickin' like solar
As I memorize, advertise, like a poet
Keep you goin' when I'm flowin', smooth enough, you know with the rough
That's why the moral of my story I tell'll be
Nobody beats the R, check out my melody

So what, I'm a microphone fiend addicted soon as I seen
One of these four MC's so they don't have to scream
I couldn't wait to take the mic, flow into it to test it,
Let 'My Melody' play, then a record suggest it
I'm droppin bombs, but I stay peace and calm
Any MC that disagree with me wave your arm
And I'll break, when I'm through breakin' I'll leave you broke
Drop the mic when I'm finished and watch it smoke
So stand back, you wanna rap? All of that can wait
I won't push, I won't beat around the bush
I wanna break upon those who are not supposed to
You might try but you can't get close to
Because I'm number one, competition is none
I'm measured with the heat that's made by sun
'Cause I'm playin ball or bobbin' in the hall
Or just writin my name in graffiti on the wall
You shouldn't have told me you said you controlled me
So now a contest is what you owe me
Pull out your money, pull out your cut
Pull up a chair, and I'm a tear shit up
My name is Rakim Allah, and R and A stands for Ra
Switch it around, it still comes out R
So easily will I e-m-c-e-e
My repetition of words is check out my melody
Some bass and treble is moist, scratch in and cut in a voice
And when it's mine that's when the rhyme is always choice
I wouldn't a came and said my name and run same weak shit
Puttin' blurbs and slurs and words that don't fit
In a rhyme, why waste time on the microphone
I take this more serious than just a poem
Rockin party to party, backyard to yard
I tear it up, y'all, and bless the mic for the gods

The rhyme is rugged, at the same time sharp
I can swing off anything even a string of a harp
Just turn it on and start rockin, mine, no introduction
'Til I finish droppin science, no interruption
When I approach I exercise like a coach
Usin' a melody and add new verse(?) and notes
So when the mic and the R-a-k-i-m
It's attached, like a match I will strike again
Rhymes are poetically kept and alphabetically stepped
Put in a order to pursue with the momentum except
I say one rhyme out of order, a longer rhyme shorter,
A pause, but don't stop the tape recorder

I'm not a regular competitor, first rhyme editor
Melody arranger, poet, etcetera
Extra event, the grand finale-like bonus
I am the man they call the microphonist
With wisdom, which means wise words bein' spoken
Too many at one time watch the mic start smokin'
I came to express the rap I manifest
Stand in my way and I'll veto on the word's protest
MC's that wanna be vissed(?), they're gonna
Be dissed if they don't get from in fronta
All they can go get is me a glass of Moet
A hard time, sip your juice and watch a smooth poet
I take 7 MC's put 'em in a line
And add 7 more brothas who think they can rhyme
Well, it'll take 7 more before I go for mine
Now that's 21 MC's ate up at the same time
Easy does it, do it easy, that's what I'm doin'
No fessin', no messin' around, no chewin'
No robbin', no buyin', bitin', why bother
This slob'll stop tryin', fightin' to follow
My unusual style will confuse you a while
And if I was water, I'd flow in the Nile
So many rhymes you won't have time to go for yours
Just because of applause I have to pause
Right after tonight is when I prepare
To catch another sucka duck MC out there
'Cause my strategy has to be tragedy, catastrophe
And after this you'll call me your majesty
My melody

Yes, my melody
Eric B.

Marley Marl synthesized it, I memorize it
Eric B. made a cut and advertised it
My melody's created for MC's in the place
They try to listen cuz I'm dissin them so pick up your face
Shook off your neck cuz you try to detect my pace
Now you're buggin', almost doggin' off my rhyme-like bass
The melody that I'm stylin', smooth as a violin
Rough enough to break New York from Long Island
My wisdom is swift, no matter if
My momentum is slow, MC's still stand stiff
I'm genuine like leather - reclined to be clever
MC, you'll beat the R, I'll say "Oh never"
So Eric B., cut it easily and
check out my melody...

Turn up the bass, check out my melody, hand out a cigar
I'm lettin knowledge be born, and my name's the R
A-k-i-m, not like the rest of them, I'm not on a list
That's what I'm sayin, I drop science like a scientist
My melody's in a code, the very next episode
Has the mic often distortin', ready to explode
I keep the mic at Fahrenheit, freeze MC's to make 'em colder
The listener's system is kickin' like solar
As I memorize, advertise, like a poet
Keep you goin' when I'm flowin', smooth enough, you know with the rough
That's why the moral of my story I tell'll be
Nobody beats the R, check out my melody

So what, I'm a microphone fiend addicted soon as I seen
One of these four MC's so they don't have to scream
I couldn't wait to take the mic, flow into it to test it,
Let 'My Melody' play, then a record suggest it
I'm droppin bombs, but I stay peace and calm
Any MC that disagree with me wave your arm
And I'll break, when I'm through breakin' I'll leave you broke
Drop the mic when I'm finished and watch it smoke
So stand back, you wanna rap? All of that can wait
I won't push, I won't beat around the bush
I wanna break upon those who are not supposed to
You might try but you can't get close to
Because I'm number one, competition is none
I'm measured with the heat that's made by sun
'Cause I'm playin ball or bobbin' in the hall
Or just writin my name in graffiti on the wall
You shouldn't have told me you said you controlled me
So now a contest is what you owe me
Pull out your money, pull out your cut
Pull up a chair, and I'm a tear shit up
My name is Rakim Allah, and R and A stands for Ra
Switch it around, it still comes out R
So easily will I e-m-c-e-e
My repetition of words is check out my melody
Some bass and treble is moist, scratch in and cut in a voice
And when it's mine that's when the rhyme is always choice
I wouldn't a came and said my name and run same weak shit
Puttin' blurbs and slurs and words that don't fit
In a rhyme, why waste time on the microphone
I take this more serious than just a poem
Rockin party to party, backyard to yard
I tear it up, y'all, and bless the mic for the gods

The rhyme is rugged, at the same time sharp
I can swing off anything even a string of a harp
Just turn it on and start rockin, mine, no introduction
'Til I finish droppin science, no interruption
When I approach I exercise like a coach
Usin' a melody and add new verse(?) and notes
So when the mic and the R-a-k-i-m
It's attached, like a match I will strike again
Rhymes are poetically kept and alphabetically stepped
Put in a order to pursue with the momentum except
I say one rhyme out of order, a longer rhyme shorter,
A pause, but don't stop the tape recorder

I'm not a regular competitor, first rhyme editor
Melody arranger, poet, etcetera
Extra event, the grand finale-like bonus
I am the man they call the microphonist
With wisdom, which means wise words bein' spoken
Too many at one time watch the mic start smokin'
I came to express the rap I manifest
Stand in my way and I'll veto on the word's protest
MC's that wanna be vissed(?), they're gonna
Be dissed if they don't get from in fronta
All they can go get is me a glass of Moet
A hard time, sip your juice and watch a smooth poet
I take 7 MC's put 'em in a line
And add 7 more brothas who think they can rhyme
Well, it'll take 7 more before I go for mine
Now that's 21 MC's ate up at the same time
Easy does it, do it easy, that's what I'm doin'
No fessin', no messin' around, no chewin'
No robbin', no buyin', bitin', why bother
This slob'll stop tryin', fightin' to follow
My unusual style will confuse you a while
And if I was water, I'd flow in the Nile
So many rhymes you won't have time to go for yours
Just because of applause I have to pause
Right after tonight is when I prepare
To catch another sucka duck MC out there
'Cause my strategy has to be tragedy, catastrophe
And after this you'll call me your majesty
My melody

Yes, my melody
Eric B.

Marley Marl synthesized it, I memorize it
Eric B. made a cut and advertised it
My melody's created for MC's in the place
They try to listen cuz I'm dissin them so pick up your face
Shook off your neck cuz you try to detect my pace
Now you're buggin', almost doggin' off my rhyme-like bass
The melody that I'm stylin', smooth as a violin
Rough enough to break New York from Long Island
My wisdom is swift, no matter if
My momentum is slow, MC's still stand stiff
I'm genuine like leather - reclined to be clever
MC, you'll beat the R, I'll say "Oh never"
So Eric B., cut it easily and
check out my melody...

Turn up the bass, check out my melody, hand out a cigar
I'm lettin knowledge be born, and my name's the R
A-k-i-m, not like the rest of them, I'm not on a list
That's what I'm sayin, I drop science like a scientist
My melody's in a code, the very next episode
Has the mic often distortin', ready to explode
I keep the mic at Fahrenheit, freeze MC's to make 'em colder
The listener's system is kickin' like solar
As I memorize, advertise, like a poet
Keep you goin' when I'm flowin', smooth enough, you know with the rough
That's why the moral of my story I tell'll be
Nobody beats the R, check out my melody

So what, I'm a microphone fiend addicted soon as I seen
One of these four MC's so they don't have to scream
I couldn't wait to take the mic, flow into it to test it,
Let 'My Melody' play, then a record suggest it
I'm droppin bombs, but I stay peace and calm
Any MC that disagree with me wave your arm
And I'll break, when I'm through breakin' I'll leave you broke
Drop the mic when I'm finished and watch it smoke
So stand back, you wanna rap? All of that can wait
I won't push, I won't beat around the bush
I wanna break upon those who are not supposed to
You might try but you can't get close to
Because I'm number one, competition is none
I'm measured with the heat that's made by sun
'Cause I'm playin ball or bobbin' in the hall
Or just writin my name in graffiti on the wall
You shouldn't have told me you said you controlled me
So now a contest is what you owe me
Pull out your money, pull out your cut
Pull up a chair, and I'm a tear shit up
My name is Rakim Allah, and R and A stands for Ra
Switch it around, it still comes out R
So easily will I e-m-c-e-e
My repetition of words is check out my melody
Some bass and treble is moist, scratch in and cut in a voice
And when it's mine that's when the rhyme is always choice
I wouldn't a came and said my name and run same weak shit
Puttin' blurbs and slurs and words that don't fit
In a rhyme, why waste time on the microphone
I take this more serious than just a poem
Rockin party to party, backyard to yard
I tear it up, y'all, and bless the mic for the gods

The rhyme is rugged, at the same time sharp
I can swing off anything even a string of a harp
Just turn it on and start rockin, mine, no introduction
'Til I finish droppin science, no interruption
When I approach I exercise like a coach
Usin' a melody and add new verse(?) and notes
So when the mic and the R-a-k-i-m
It's attached, like a match I will strike again
Rhymes are poetically kept and alphabetically stepped
Put in a order to pursue with the momentum except
I say one rhyme out of order, a longer rhyme shorter,
A pause, but don't stop the tape recorder

I'm not a regular competitor, first rhyme editor
Melody arranger, poet, etcetera
Extra event, the grand finale-like bonus
I am the man they call the microphonist
With wisdom, which means wise words bein' spoken
Too many at one time watch the mic start smokin'
I came to express the rap I manifest
Stand in my way and I'll veto on the word's protest
MC's that wanna be vissed(?), they're gonna
Be dissed if they don't get from in fronta
All they can go get is me a glass of Moet
A hard time, sip your juice and watch a smooth poet
I take 7 MC's put 'em in a line
And add 7 more brothas who think they can rhyme
Well, it'll take 7 more before I go for mine
Now that's 21 MC's ate up at the same time
Easy does it, do it easy, that's what I'm doin'
No fessin', no messin' around, no chewin'
No robbin', no buyin', bitin', why bother
This slob'll stop tryin', fightin' to follow
My unusual style will confuse you a while
And if I was water, I'd flow in the Nile
So many rhymes you won't have time to go for yours
Just because of applause I have to pause
Right after tonight is when I prepare
To catch another sucka duck MC out there
'Cause my strategy has to be tragedy, catastrophe
And after this you'll call me your majesty
My melody

Yes, my melody
Eric B.

Marley Marl synthesized it, I memorize it
Eric B. made a cut and advertised it
My melody's created for MC's in the place
They try to listen cuz I'm dissin them so pick up your face
Shook off your neck cuz you try to detect my pace
Now you're buggin', almost doggin' off my rhyme-like bass
The melody that I'm stylin', smooth as a violin
Rough enough to break New York from Long Island
My wisdom is swift, no matter if
My momentum is slow, MC's still stand stiff
I'm genuine like leather - reclined to be clever
MC, you'll beat the R, I'll say "Oh never"
So Eric B., cut it easily and
check out my melody...

Turn up the bass, check out my melody, hand out a cigar
I'm lettin knowledge be born, and my name's the R
A-k-i-m, not like the rest of them, I'm not on a list
That's what I'm sayin, I drop science like a scientist
My melody's in a code, the very next episode
Has the mic often distortin', ready to explode
I keep the mic at Fahrenheit, freeze MC's to make 'em colder
The listener's system is kickin' like solar
As I memorize, advertise, like a poet
Keep you goin' when I'm flowin', smooth enough, you know with the rough
That's why the moral of my story I tell'll be
Nobody beats the R, check out my melody

So what, I'm a microphone fiend addicted soon as I seen
One of these four MC's so they don't have to scream
I couldn't wait to take the mic, flow into it to test it,
Let 'My Melody' play, then a record suggest it
I'm droppin bombs, but I stay peace and calm
Any MC that disagree with me wave your arm
And I'll break, when I'm through breakin' I'll leave you broke
Drop the mic when I'm finished and watch it smoke
So stand back, you wanna rap? All of that can wait
I won't push, I won't beat around the bush
I wanna break upon those who are not supposed to
You might try but you can't get close to
Because I'm number one, competition is none
I'm measured with the heat that's made by sun
'Cause I'm playin ball or bobbin' in the hall
Or just writin my name in graffiti on the wall
You shouldn't have told me you said you controlled me
So now a contest is what you owe me
Pull out your money, pull out your cut
Pull up a chair, and I'm a tear shit up
My name is Rakim Allah, and R and A stands for Ra
Switch it around, it still comes out R
So easily will I e-m-c-e-e
My repetition of words is check out my melody
Some bass and treble is moist, scratch in and cut in a voice
And when it's mine that's when the rhyme is always choice
I wouldn't a came and said my name and run same weak shit
Puttin' blurbs and slurs and words that don't fit
In a rhyme, why waste time on the microphone
I take this more serious than just a poem
Rockin party to party, backyard to yard
I tear it up, y'all, and bless the mic for the gods

The rhyme is rugged, at the same time sharp
I can swing off anything even a string of a harp
Just turn it on and start rockin, mine, no introduction
'Til I finish droppin science, no interruption
When I approach I exercise like a coach
Usin' a melody and add new verse(?) and notes
So when the mic and the R-a-k-i-m
It's attached, like a match I will strike again
Rhymes are poetically kept and alphabetically stepped
Put in a order to pursue with the momentum except
I say one rhyme out of order, a longer rhyme shorter,
A pause, but don't stop the tape recorder

I'm not a regular competitor, first rhyme editor
Melody arranger, poet, etcetera
Extra event, the grand finale-like bonus
I am the man they call the microphonist
With wisdom, which means wise words bein' spoken
Too many at one time watch the mic start smokin'
I came to express the rap I manifest
Stand in my way and I'll veto on the word's protest
MC's that wanna be vissed(?), they're gonna
Be dissed if they don't get from in fronta
All they can go get is me a glass of Moet
A hard time, sip your juice and watch a smooth poet
I take 7 MC's put 'em in a line
And add 7 more brothas who think they can rhyme
Well, it'll take 7 more before I go for mine
Now that's 21 MC's ate up at the same time
Easy does it, do it easy, that's what I'm doin'
No fessin', no messin' around, no chewin'
No robbin', no buyin', bitin', why bother
This slob'll stop tryin', fightin' to follow
My unusual style will confuse you a while
And if I was water, I'd flow in the Nile
So many rhymes you won't have time to go for yours
Just because of applause I have to pause
Right after tonight is when I prepare
To catch another sucka duck MC out there
'Cause my strategy has to be tragedy, catastrophe
And after this you'll call me your majesty
My melody

Yes, my melody
Eric B.

Marley Marl synthesized it, I memorize it
Eric B. made a cut and advertised it
My melody's created for MC's in the place
They try to listen cuz I'm dissin them so pick up your face
Shook off your neck cuz you try to detect my pace
Now you're buggin', almost doggin' off my rhyme-like bass
The melody that I'm stylin', smooth as a violin
Rough enough to break New York from Long Island
My wisdom is swift, no matter if
My momentum is slow, MC's still stand stiff
I'm genuine like leather - reclined to be clever
MC, you'll beat the R, I'll say "Oh never"
So Eric B., cut it easily and
check out my melody...

Turn up the bass, check out my melody, hand out a cigar
I'm lettin knowledge be born, and my name's the R
A-k-i-m, not like the rest of them, I'm not on a list
That's what I'm sayin, I drop science like a scientist
My melody's in a code, the very next episode
Has the mic often distortin', ready to explode
I keep the mic at Fahrenheit, freeze MC's to make 'em colder
The listener's system is kickin' like solar
As I memorize, advertise, like a poet
Keep you goin' when I'm flowin', smooth enough, you know with the rough
That's why the moral of my story I tell'll be
Nobody beats the R, check out my melody

So what, I'm a microphone fiend addicted soon as I seen
One of these four MC's so they don't have to scream
I couldn't wait to take the mic, flow into it to test it,
Let 'My Melody' play, then a record suggest it
I'm droppin bombs, but I stay peace and calm
Any MC that disagree with me wave your arm
And I'll break, when I'm through breakin' I'll leave you broke
Drop the mic when I'm finished and watch it smoke
So stand back, you wanna rap? All of that can wait
I won't push, I won't beat around the bush
I wanna break upon those who are not supposed to
You might try but you can't get close to
Because I'm number one, competition is none
I'm measured with the heat that's made by sun
'Cause I'm playin ball or bobbin' in the hall
Or just writin my name in graffiti on the wall
You shouldn't have told me you said you controlled me
So now a contest is what you owe me
Pull out your money, pull out your cut
Pull up a chair, and I'm a tear shit up
My name is Rakim Allah, and R and A stands for Ra
Switch it around, it still comes out R
So easily will I e-m-c-e-e
My repetition of words is check out my melody
Some bass and treble is moist, scratch in and cut in a voice
And when it's mine that's when the rhyme is always choice
I wouldn't a came and said my name and run same weak shit
Puttin' blurbs and slurs and words that don't fit
In a rhyme, why waste time on the microphone
I take this more serious than just a poem
Rockin party to party, backyard to yard
I tear it up, y'all, and bless the mic for the gods

The rhyme is rugged, at the same time sharp
I can swing off anything even a string of a harp
Just turn it on and start rockin, mine, no introduction
'Til I finish droppin science, no interruption
When I approach I exercise like a coach
Usin' a melody and add new verse(?) and notes
So when the mic and the R-a-k-i-m
It's attached, like a match I will strike again
Rhymes are poetically kept and alphabetically stepped
Put in a order to pursue with the momentum except
I say one rhyme out of order, a longer rhyme shorter,
A pause, but don't stop the tape recorder

I'm not a regular competitor, first rhyme editor
Melody arranger, poet, etcetera
Extra event, the grand finale-like bonus
I am the man they call the microphonist
With wisdom, which means wise words bein' spoken
Too many at one time watch the mic start smokin'
I came to express the rap I manifest
Stand in my way and I'll veto on the word's protest
MC's that wanna be vissed(?), they're gonna
Be dissed if they don't get from in fronta
All they can go get is me a glass of Moet
A hard time, sip your juice and watch a smooth poet
I take 7 MC's put 'em in a line
And add 7 more brothas who think they can rhyme
Well, it'll take 7 more before I go for mine
Now that's 21 MC's ate up at the same time
Easy does it, do it easy, that's what I'm doin'
No fessin', no messin' around, no chewin'
No robbin', no buyin', bitin', why bother
This slob'll stop tryin', fightin' to follow
My unusual style will confuse you a while
And if I was water, I'd flow in the Nile
So many rhymes you won't have time to go for yours
Just because of applause I have to pause
Right after tonight is when I prepare
To catch another sucka duck MC out there
'Cause my strategy has to be tragedy, catastrophe
And after this you'll call me your majesty
My melody

Yes, my melody
Eric B.

Marley Marl synthesized it, I memorize it
Eric B. made a cut and advertised it
My melody's created for MC's in the place
They try to listen cuz I'm dissin them so pick up your face
Shook off your neck cuz you try to detect my pace
Now you're buggin', almost doggin' off my rhyme-like bass
The melody that I'm stylin', smooth as a violin
Rough enough to break New York from Long Island
My wisdom is swift, no matter if
My momentum is slow, MC's still stand stiff
I'm genuine like leather - reclined to be clever
MC, you'll beat the R, I'll say "Oh never"
So Eric B., cut it easily and
check out my melody...

Turn up the bass, check out my melody, hand out a cigar
I'm lettin knowledge be born, and my name's the R
A-k-i-m, not like the rest of them, I'm not on a list
That's what I'm sayin, I drop science like a scientist
My melody's in a code, the very next episode
Has the mic often distortin', ready to explode
I keep the mic at Fahrenheit, freeze MC's to make 'em colder
The listener's system is kickin' like solar
As I memorize, advertise, like a poet
Keep you goin' when I'm flowin', smooth enough, you know with the rough
That's why the moral of my story I tell'll be
Nobody beats the R, check out my melody

So what, I'm a microphone fiend addicted soon as I seen
One of these four MC's so they don't have to scream
I couldn't wait to take the mic, flow into it to test it,
Let 'My Melody' play, then a record suggest it
I'm droppin bombs, but I stay peace and calm
Any MC that disagree with me wave your arm
And I'll break, when I'm through breakin' I'll leave you broke
Drop the mic when I'm finished and watch it smoke
So stand back, you wanna rap? All of that can wait
I won't push, I won't beat around the bush
I wanna break upon those who are not supposed to
You might try but you can't get close to
Because I'm number one, competition is none
I'm measured with the heat that's made by sun
'Cause I'm playin ball or bobbin' in the hall
Or just writin my name in graffiti on the wall
You shouldn't have told me you said you controlled me
So now a contest is what you owe me
Pull out your money, pull out your cut
Pull up a chair, and I'm a tear shit up
My name is Rakim Allah, and R and A stands for Ra
Switch it around, it still comes out R
So easily will I e-m-c-e-e
My repetition of words is check out my melody
Some bass and treble is moist, scratch in and cut in a voice
And when it's mine that's when the rhyme is always choice
I wouldn't a came and said my name and run same weak shit
Puttin' blurbs and slurs and words that don't fit
In a rhyme, why waste time on the microphone
I take this more serious than just a poem
Rockin party to party, backyard to yard
I tear it up, y'all, and bless the mic for the gods

The rhyme is rugged, at the same time sharp
I can swing off anything even a string of a harp
Just turn it on and start rockin, mine, no introduction
'Til I finish droppin science, no interruption
When I approach I exercise like a coach
Usin' a melody and add new verse(?) and notes
So when the mic and the R-a-k-i-m
It's attached, like a match I will strike again
Rhymes are poetically kept and alphabetically stepped
Put in a order to pursue with the momentum except
I say one rhyme out of order, a longer rhyme shorter,
A pause, but don't stop the tape recorder

I'm not a regular competitor, first rhyme editor
Melody arranger, poet, etcetera
Extra event, the grand finale-like bonus
I am the man they call the microphonist
With wisdom, which means wise words bein' spoken
Too many at one time watch the mic start smokin'
I came to express the rap I manifest
Stand in my way and I'll veto on the word's protest
MC's that wanna be vissed(?), they're gonna
Be dissed if they don't get from in fronta
All they can go get is me a glass of Moet
A hard time, sip your juice and watch a smooth poet
I take 7 MC's put 'em in a line
And add 7 more brothas who think they can rhyme
Well, it'll take 7 more before I go for mine
Now that's 21 MC's ate up at the same time
Easy does it, do it easy, that's what I'm doin'
No fessin', no messin' around, no chewin'
No robbin', no buyin', bitin', why bother
This slob'll stop tryin', fightin' to follow
My unusual style will confuse you a while
And if I was water, I'd flow in the Nile
So many rhymes you won't have time to go for yours
Just because of applause I have to pause
Right after tonight is when I prepare
To catch another sucka duck MC out there
'Cause my strategy has to be tragedy, catastrophe
And after this you'll call me your majesty
My melody

Yes, my melody
Eric B.

Marley Marl synthesized it, I memorize it
Eric B. made a cut and advertised it
My melody's created for MC's in the place
They try to listen cuz I'm dissin them so pick up your face
Shook off your neck cuz you try to detect my pace
Now you're buggin', almost doggin' off my rhyme-like bass
The melody that I'm stylin', smooth as a violin
Rough enough to break New York from Long Island
My wisdom is swift, no matter if
My momentum is slow, MC's still stand stiff
I'm genuine like leather - reclined to be clever
MC, you'll beat the R, I'll say "Oh never"
So Eric B., cut it easily and
check out my melody...

Verse One:

Turn up the bass, check out my melody, hand out a cigar
I'm lettin knowledge be born, and my name's the R
A-k-i-m not like the rest of them, I'm not on a list
That's what I'm sayin, I drop science like a scientist
My melody's in a code, the very next episode
Has the mic often distortin, ready to explode
I keep the mic in Fahrenheit, freeze MC's and make em colder
The listener's system is kickin like solar
As I memorize, advertise, like a poet
Keep you goin when I'm flowin, smooth enough, you know it
But rough that's why the middle of my story I tell E.B.
Nobody beats the "R", check out my melody...

Verse Two:

So what if I'm a microphone fiend addicted soon as I sing
One of these for MC's so they don't have to scream
I couldn't wait to take the mic, flow into it to test
Then let my melody play, and then the record suggest
That I'm droppin bombs, but I stay peace and calm
Any MC that disagree with me just wave your arm
And I'll break, when I'm through breakin I'll leave you broke
Drop the mic when I'm finished and watch it smoke
So stand back, you wanna rap? All of that can wait
I won't push, I won't beat around the bush
I wanna break upon those who are not supposed to
You might try but you can't get close to
Because I'm number one, competition is none
I'm measured with the heat that's made by sun
Whether playin ball or bobbin in the hall
I just writin my name in graffiti on the wall
You shouldn't have told me you said you control me
So now a contest is what you owe me
Pull out your money, pull out your cut
Pull up a chair, and I'ma tear shit up
My name is Rakim Allah, and R & A stands for "Ra"
Switch it around, but still comes out "R"
So easily will I e-m-c-e-e
My repetition of words is "check out my melody"
Some bass and treble is moist, scratchin and cuttin a voice
And when it's mine that's when the rhyme is always choice
I wouldn't have came to ?set? my name ?around the? same weak shit
Puttin blurs and slurs and words that don't fit
In a rhyme, why waste time on the microphone
I take this more serious than just a poem
Rockin party to party, backyard to yard
Now tear it up, y'all, and bless the mic for the gods


Verse Three:

The rhyme is rugged, at the same time sharp
I can swing off anything even a string of a harp
Just turn it on and start rockin, mind no introduction
Til I finish droppin science, no interruption
When I approach I exercise like a coach
Usin a melody and add numerous notes
With the mic and the R-a-k-i-m
It's a task, like a match I will strike again
Rhymes are poetically kept and alphabetically stepped
Put in order to pursue with the momentum except
I say one rhyme and I order a longer rhyme shorter
A pause, but don't stop the tape recorder



I'm not a regular competitor, first rhyme editor
Melody arranger, poet, etcetera
Extra events, the grand finale like bonus
I am the man they call the microphonist
With wisdom which means wise words bein spoken
Too many at one time watch the mic start smokin
I came to express the rap I manifest
Stand in my way and I'll lead a ??? words protest
MC's that wanna be dissed they're gonna
Be dissed if they don't get from in fronta
All they can go get is me a glass of Moet
A hard time, sip your juice and watch a smooth poet
I take 7 MC's put em in a line
And add 7 more brothas who think they can rhyme
Well, it'll take 7 more before I go for mine
And that's 21 MC's ate up at the same time
Easy does it, do it easy, that's what I'm doin
No fessin, no messin around, no chewin
No robbin, no buyin, bitin, why bother
This slob'll stop tryin fightin to follow
My unusual style will confuse you a while
If I was water, I flow in the Nile
So many rhymes you won't have time to go for your's
Just because of a cause I have to pause
Right after tonight is when I prepare
To catch another sucka duck MC out there
Cos my strategy has to be tragedy, catastrophe
And after this you'll call me your majesty
My melody...


Verse Five:

Marley Marl synthesized it, I memorize it
Eric B made a cut and advertised it
My melody's created for MC's in the place
Who try to listen cos I'm dissin ???
?Take off your necklace, you try to detect my pace?
?Now? you're ?buggin? over ??? off my rhyme like bass
The melody that I'm stylin, smooth as a violin
Rough enough to break New York from Long Island
My wisdom is swift, no matter if
My momentum is slow, MC's still stand stiff
I'm genuine like leather, don't try to be clever
MC's you'll beat the "R", I'll say "Oh never"
So Eric B cut it easily
And check out my melody

Verse one:



Standing by the speaker suddenly I had this

Fever was it me or either summer madness

'cause I just can't stand around

So I get closer and the closer I get the better it sound

My mind starts to activate rhymes collaborate

'cause When i heard the beat I just had to make

Something from the top of my head

So I fell into the groove of the wax and I said

How could I move the crowd

First of all, ain't no mistakes allowed

Here's the instruction, put it together

It simple ain't it but quite clever

Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years

But weak ideas irritate my ears

Is this the best that you can make?

'cause if not and you got more, I'll wait

But don't make me wait too long coz I'm a move on

The dancefloor when they put something smooth on

So turn up the bass, it's better when it's loud

'cause I like to move the crowd



Move the crowd...



Verse two:



Imagine me wit the heat that's made by solar,

It gets stronger everytime I hold a

Microphone, check the tone to get started

The line for the microphone is departed

So leave it up to me, my DJ is mixing

Everyone is moving or eager to listen

Your hands in the air, your mouth, shut!

'cause I'm on the mic and Eric be

Verse one:



Standing by the speaker suddenly I had this

Fever was it me or either summer madness

'cause I just can't stand around

So I get closer and the closer I get the better it sound

My mind starts to activate rhymes collaborate

'cause When i heard the beat I just had to make

Something from the top of my head

So I fell into the groove of the wax and I said

How could I move the crowd

First of all, ain't no mistakes allowed

Here's the instruction, put it together

It simple ain't it but quite clever

Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years

But weak ideas irritate my ears

Is this the best that you can make?

'cause if not and you got more, I'll wait

But don't make me wait too long coz I'm a move on

The dancefloor when they put something smooth on

So turn up the bass, it's better when it's loud

'cause I like to move the crowd



Move the crowd...



Verse two:



Imagine me wit the heat that's made by solar,

It gets stronger everytime I hold a

Microphone, check the tone to get started

The line for the microphone is departed

So leave it up to me, my DJ is mixing

Everyone is moving or eager to listen

Your hands in the air, your mouth, shut!

'cause I'm on the mic and Eric be

Verse one:



Standing by the speaker suddenly I had this

Fever was it me or either summer madness

'cause I just can't stand around

So I get closer and the closer I get the better it sound

My mind starts to activate rhymes collaborate

'cause When i heard the beat I just had to make

Something from the top of my head

So I fell into the groove of the wax and I said

How could I move the crowd

First of all, ain't no mistakes allowed

Here's the instruction, put it together

It simple ain't it but quite clever

Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years

But weak ideas irritate my ears

Is this the best that you can make?

'cause if not and you got more, I'll wait

But don't make me wait too long coz I'm a move on

The dancefloor when they put something smooth on

So turn up the bass, it's better when it's loud

'cause I like to move the crowd



Move the crowd...



Verse two:



Imagine me wit the heat that's made by solar,

It gets stronger everytime I hold a

Microphone, check the tone to get started

The line for the microphone is departed

So leave it up to me, my DJ is mixing

Everyone is moving or eager to listen

Your hands in the air, your mouth, shut!

'cause I'm on the mic and Eric be

Verse one:



Standing by the speaker suddenly I had this

Fever was it me or either summer madness

'cause I just can't stand around

So I get closer and the closer I get the better it sound

My mind starts to activate rhymes collaborate

'cause When i heard the beat I just had to make

Something from the top of my head

So I fell into the groove of the wax and I said

How could I move the crowd

First of all, ain't no mistakes allowed

Here's the instruction, put it together

It simple ain't it but quite clever

Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years

But weak ideas irritate my ears

Is this the best that you can make?

'cause if not and you got more, I'll wait

But don't make me wait too long coz I'm a move on

The dancefloor when they put something smooth on

So turn up the bass, it's better when it's loud

'cause I like to move the crowd



Move the crowd...



Verse two:



Imagine me wit the heat that's made by solar,

It gets stronger everytime I hold a

Microphone, check the tone to get started

The line for the microphone is departed

So leave it up to me, my DJ is mixing

Everyone is moving or eager to listen

Your hands in the air, your mouth, shut!

'cause I'm on the mic and Eric be

Verse one:



Standing by the speaker suddenly I had this

Fever was it me or either summer madness

'cause I just can't stand around

So I get closer and the closer I get the better it sound

My mind starts to activate rhymes collaborate

'cause When i heard the beat I just had to make

Something from the top of my head

So I fell into the groove of the wax and I said

How could I move the crowd

First of all, ain't no mistakes allowed

Here's the instruction, put it together

It simple ain't it but quite clever

Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years

But weak ideas irritate my ears

Is this the best that you can make?

'cause if not and you got more, I'll wait

But don't make me wait too long coz I'm a move on

The dancefloor when they put something smooth on

So turn up the bass, it's better when it's loud

'cause I like to move the crowd



Move the crowd...



Verse two:



Imagine me wit the heat that's made by solar,

It gets stronger everytime I hold a

Microphone, check the tone to get started

The line for the microphone is departed

So leave it up to me, my DJ is mixing

Everyone is moving or eager to listen

Your hands in the air, your mouth, shut!

'cause I'm on the mic and Eric be

Verse one:



Standing by the speaker suddenly I had this

Fever was it me or either summer madness

'cause I just can't stand around

So I get closer and the closer I get the better it sound

My mind starts to activate rhymes collaborate

'cause When i heard the beat I just had to make

Something from the top of my head

So I fell into the groove of the wax and I said

How could I move the crowd

First of all, ain't no mistakes allowed

Here's the instruction, put it together

It simple ain't it but quite clever

Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years

But weak ideas irritate my ears

Is this the best that you can make?

'cause if not and you got more, I'll wait

But don't make me wait too long coz I'm a move on

The dancefloor when they put something smooth on

So turn up the bass, it's better when it's loud

'cause I like to move the crowd



Move the crowd...



Verse two:



Imagine me wit the heat that's made by solar,

It gets stronger everytime I hold a

Microphone, check the tone to get started

The line for the microphone is departed

So leave it up to me, my DJ is mixing

Everyone is moving or eager to listen

Your hands in the air, your mouth, shut!

'cause I'm on the mic and Eric be

Verse one:



Standing by the speaker suddenly I had this

Fever was it me or either summer madness

'cause I just can't stand around

So I get closer and the closer I get the better it sound

My mind starts to activate rhymes collaborate

'cause When i heard the beat I just had to make

Something from the top of my head

So I fell into the groove of the wax and I said

How could I move the crowd

First of all, ain't no mistakes allowed

Here's the instruction, put it together

It simple ain't it but quite clever

Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years

But weak ideas irritate my ears

Is this the best that you can make?

'cause if not and you got more, I'll wait

But don't make me wait too long coz I'm a move on

The dancefloor when they put something smooth on

So turn up the bass, it's better when it's loud

'cause I like to move the crowd



Move the crowd...



Verse two:



Imagine me wit the heat that's made by solar,

It gets stronger everytime I hold a

Microphone, check the tone to get started

The line for the microphone is departed

So leave it up to me, my DJ is mixing

Everyone is moving or eager to listen

Your hands in the air, your mouth, shut!

'cause I'm on the mic and Eric be

Standing by the speaker, suddenly I had this
Fever, was it me or either summer madness
Cuz I just can't stand around
So I get closer and the closer I get, the better it sound
My mind starts to activate, rhymes collaborate
Cuz When i heard the beat, I just had to make
Something from the top of my head
So I fell into the groove of the wax and I said
How could I move the crowd
First of all, ain't no mistakes allowed
Here's the instruction, put it together
It simple ain't it but quite clever
Some of you been trying to write rhymes for years
But weak ideas irritate my ears
Is this the best that you can make?
Cuz if not and you got more, I'll wait
But don't make me wait too long coz I'm a move on
The dancefloor when they put something smooth on
So turn up the bass, it's better when it's loud
Cuz I like to move the crowd

Move the crowd...

Verse two:

Imagine me wit the heat that's made by solar,
It gets stronger everytime I hold a
Microphone, check the tone to get started
The line for the microphone is departed
So leave it up to me, my DJ is mixing
Everyone is moving or eager to listen
Your hands in the air, your mouth, shut!
Cuz I'm on the mic and Eric B is on the cut
For those that know me, indeed I like to flow
Especially when the music's going slow
It gives me a chance to let everybody know
It's time to bust out the Rakim show
I'm the intelligent wise on the mic I will rise
Right in front of your eyes cuz I am a surprise
So I'ma let my knowledge be born to a perfection
All praise due to Allah and that's a blessing
Wit knowledge of self, there's nothing I can't solve
At 360 degrees, I revolve
This is actual fact, it's not an act, it's been proven,
Indeed and I proceed to make the crowd keep moving

Move the crowd