It seem like everybody dress tight now,
And I just want my credit.
Kanye West, “Gifted,” from N.A.S.A.’s The Spirit of Apollo, 2009
My Mind on My Money…
Wear this tee while you are rolling down the street, smokin indo, and/or sippin on gin & juice. Or just to work, school, wherever.
Shop NowWhat you base your happiness around?
Material, women, and large paper?
That means you inferior, not major.
Nas, “No Idea’s Original,” The Lost Tapes, 2002
You can’t take the heat, get ya ass out the kitchen
Matter fact, take ya ass back in there and wash the dishes.
Royce Da 5’9", “Deadly Melody,” from Black Milk’s Album of the Year, 2010
Food for thought, so get a buffet plate.
The lyrics are so fat you might gain weight.
Doodlebug, “Where I’m From,” from Digable Planets’ Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space, 1993
I wish I didn’t get searched when I come through customs.
I wish Christians stop beefin’ with Muslims,
Wish the poor didn’t have to take welfare,
Wish America had universal health care…
Cause ain’t no help here.
Edo G., “Wishing,” My Own Worst Enemy, 2004
Though the meek shall inherit the earth, but don’t forget:
The poor are the ones who inherit the debt.
Posdnuos, “The Grind Date,” from De La Soul’s The Grind Date, 2004
Trapped on a planet of pain and perpetrators
That you call ‘Earth,’ but I call ‘Hell’s Equator.’
MF Grimm, “Emotions,” Scars & Memories, 2005
The mind is a terrible thing to waste.
I show love cause it’s a terrible thing to hate.
Guru, “Peace of Mine,” from Gang Starr’s The Ownerz, 2003
The first lady in my life, but now you’re gone,
I learned through the years to keep carrying on.
Your picture brings me tears and memories,
The way things could be…and they should be, but they’re not.
Afrika Baby Bam, “All I Think About Is You,” from Jungle Brothers’ J. Beez Wit The Remedy, 1993
Guns and the sneakers made Jada.
The bitches and the reefer came later
With the money and the haters.
Jadakiss, “Jada’s Got a Gun,” Kiss the Game Goodbye, 2001
Don’t sell yourself to fall in love,
With those things you do…
J Dilla, “Fall in Love,” from Slum Village’s Fantastic Vol 2., 2000
I circumnavigate the globe with a one-liner like latitude.
Ras Kass, “Riiiot!” from Chino XL’s Here to Save You All, 1996
I live by the beat like you live check to check.
If you don’t move your feet then I don’t eat,
So we like neck to neck.
André Benjamin, “Elevators (Me & You),” from Outkast’s ATLiens, 1996
To all the seeds that follow me,
Protect your essence.
Born with less, but you still precious,
Just smile for me now.
2Pac, “Smile,” from Scarface’s The Untouchable, 1997
I’m surrounded by psychopathic little fellas,
Ghetto dwellas, with ammunition in their cellas,
And no remorse in their hearts
When the shit starts it don’t end…
Until somebody’s gone with the wind.
Masta Ace, “Maintain,” Sittin on Chrome EP, 1995
Life can change your directions, even when you ain’t planned it.
All you can do is handle it, worst thing you can do is panic.
T.I., “No Matter What,” The Paper Trail, 2008
I wanna just take this time out to be perfectly honest;
Cause there’s a lotta shit I keep bottled that hurts deep inside of my soul,
And just know that I grow colder the older I grow.
This boulder on my shoulder gets heavy and harder to hold,
And this load is like the weight of the world and I think my neck is breaking,
Should I just give up or try to live up to these expectations?
Eminem, “Hailie’s Song,” The Eminem Show, 2002
I don’t mind you talkin shit, just keep it in the first person.
El-P, “89.9 Detrimental,” from Company Flow’s Funcrusher Plus, 1997
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!
Jay Z, “The Watcher 2,” The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse, 2002. Jay Z dropped the hyphen today.
I got mouths to feed,
Unnecessary beef is more cows to breed.
GZA, “4th Chamber,” Liquid Swords, 1995
Rappers act so wild, and love to profile,
Frontin’ hard, but ain’t got no style.
Big Daddy Kane, “Smooth Operator,” It’s a Big Daddy Thing, 1989
Consider me the entity within the industry without a history of spitting the epitome of stupidity.
Talib Kweli, “Definition,” from Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, 1998
In time, you’ll see a thin line between friend and rival.
Between you and me: stupidity and men’s bravado.
Ka, “Iron Age,” Grief Pedigree, 2012
No matter what the name, we’re all the same pieces in one big chess game.
Chuck D., “Rebel Without a Pause,” from Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, 1988
Burn, Hollywood, burn, I smell a riot goin’ on,
First they’re guilty, now they’re gone!
Chuck D., “Burn, Hollywood, Burn,” from Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet, 1990
Nowadays, the game is all bugged out,
Phony, like back when Hammer tried to come thugged out.
MF Doom, “Foolish,“ from MF Grimm’s Downfall of Ibliys: A Ghetto Opera, 2002
If you love someone, you should say it often,
You never know when they’ll be layin’ in a coffin.
Wake up, it’s important that you know that
No one on Earth is promised tomorrow.
MC Lyte, “Poor Georgie,” Act Like You Know, 1991
Her dreams hold Versace,
She fall for Armani…
Only deal with rich niggas,
Fuck you and Mitt Romney.
Kendrick Lamar, “Memories Back Then,” Grand Hustle Presents: Hustle Gang, 2013
Lyrically, I’m supposed to represent;
I’m not only the client, I’m the player president.
The Notorious B.I.G., “One More Chance (Remix),” 12", 1995
I’m only trying to show you how black niggas live,
But you don’t want your little ones acting like this.
Lil Amy told Becky, Becky told Jenny,
And now they all know the skinny.
Lil Joey got his durag on,
Driving down the street blasting Tupac’s song.
Jay-Z, “Hell Yeah (Pimp the System) (Remix)”, from Revolutionary But Gangsta, 2004
Feds still lurking,
They see I’m still putting work in.
Cause somewhere in America…
Miley Cyrus is still twerkin’.
Jay-Z, “Somewhere In America,” Magna Carta Holy Grail, 2013
I been in the game for 10 years making rap tunes…
Ever since honeys was wearing Sassoons.
Dr. Dre, “California Love,” from 2Pac’s All Eyez on Me, 1996
It’s the principle of it, I get a rush when I bust
Some dope lines oral, that maybe somebody’ll quote.
That’s what I consider real in this field of music,
Instead of puttin’ brain cells to work, they abuse it.
Non-conceptual, non-exceptional,
Everybody’s either crime-related or sexual.
For those who pose lyrical, but really ain’t true, I feel:
Their time’s limited, hard rocks too.
O.C., “Time’s Up,” Word…Life, 1994
I drop styles on ears…the public bite ‘em.
Not many went to school, so the dummies wouldn’t write ’em.
They say, “Yo Keith! You’re Kool, you usin’ big words!”
I went to college, I’m even more stupid, herb.
Kool Keith, “Raise It Up,” from Ultramagnetic M.C.’s The Four Horsemen, 1993
Ooh! Jesus Christ had dreads, so shake ‘em.
I ain’t got none, but I’m planning on growing some.
Imagine all the Hebrews going dumb…
Dancing on top of chariots and turning tight ones.
E-40, “Tell Me When to Go,” My Ghetto Report Card, 2006
We made plans, but we’ll never be able to fulfill ‘em.
This is shit we put together since we was little…
Every time we had dreams, you found a way you could kill ’em.
Kurupt, “Keep it Moving,” from Hi-Tek’s Hi-Teknology 2: The Chip, 2006
Payback’s a bitch, that’s why I never borrow;
And if push comes to shove, I’d do a stickup tomorrow.
Daddy-O, “Inner City Boundaries,” from Freestyle Fellowship’s Innercity Griots, 1993
They claim we’re products from the bottom of Hell,
But the black is back, and it’s bound to sell.
Picture us coolin’ out on the Fourth of July…
And if you heard we were celebratin’, that’s a worldwide lie.
Flavor Flav, “Louder than a Bomb,” from Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, 1988
My heart is ‘We Are the World,’ my penis is P.E.
But my balls are Avatar, you could see ’em in 3D.
Pharoahe Monch, “Let U Live,” from Consequence’s Movies on Demand, 2010
I’m down for you, so ride with me.
My enemies your enemies,
Cause you ain’t ever had a friend like me.
2Pac, “Never Had a Friend Like Me,” from Gridlock’d Soundtrack, 1997
Everything will eventually come to an end,
So try to savor the moment, cause time flies, don’t it?
The beauty of life, you gotta make it last for the better,
Cause nothin’ lasts forever.
Nas, “Nothing Lasts Forever,” The Lost Tapes, 2002
I ain’t goin out like a spineless jellyfish.
Some say life is a bitch…
Ask that punk who dug his own ditch.
B-Real, “Hand on the Pump,” Cypress Hill’s Cypress Hill, 1991
Who’s that peeking in my window?
Pow.
Nobody now.
Goodie Mob, “Cell Therapy,” Soul Food, 1995
I know you think my life is good ‘cause my diamond piece,
But my life been good since I started finding peace.
Nas, “Loco-Motive,” Life Is Good, 2012
Raise your right palm: We do solemnly swear
To stack more dough more calmly this year.
MF Doom, “Get ‘Er Done,” from Jake One’s White Van Music, 2008
It’s drones over Brooklyn, you blink, you could get tooken,
And now you’re understanding the definition of ‘Crooklyn.’
Pigs on parade, but bacon fryin’ and cookin’,
Cause kids’ tired of dyin’ and walkin’ round like they shooken.
Killer Mike, “DDFH,” from El-P + Killer Mike’s Run The Jewels, 2013
…About those other Jennys I reckoned with
Lost them all like a homework excuse.
This time the Magic Number is Two,
‘Cause it takes two, not three, to seduce.
Dove, “Eye Know,” from De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising, 1989
Comin’ from the school of hard knocks,
Some perpetrate…they drink Clorox.
Attack the black, cause I know they lack exact
The cold facts, and still they try to Xerox.
Chuck D., “Don’t Believe the Hype,” from Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Million’s To Hold Us Back, 1988
I’ll have you weak in the knees that you could hardly speak,
Or we could do like Uncle L and swing an ep in my Jeep.
Q-Tip, “Electric Relaxation,” from A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders, 1993
We fight every night, now that’s not kosher.
I reminisce with bliss of when we was closer,
And wake up to be greeted by an argument again,
…You act like you’re ten.
So immature, I try to concentrate on a cure,
And keep lookin’ at the front door.
Large Professor, “Looking at the Front Door,” from Main Source’s Breaking Atoms, 1991