Think, just blink and I made…a million rhymes.
Just imagine if you blinked…a million times.
Damn, I’d be paid…I got it made.
Special Ed, “I Got It Made,” Youngest In Charge, 1989
We was sneakin’ in and it was general admission,
Now we ownin’ the arena and decidin’ who allowed in it.
Curren$y, “Rooftops,” from Wiz Khalifa’s Rolling Papers, 2011
Let’s pretend we’re both guns, and make this shit erratic:
I’ll be the revolver, you can play the automatic.
Automatic flip scripts, revolver show loyalty.
Each gun is die-able, but only one’s reliable.
You shoot fast, but in the end you jam,
Then I click back, and turn your brains into spam.
MF Grimm, “Crumb Snatchers,” Scars & Memories, 2005
Day in and day out we do the same thing,
Tryina find the joy in our repetition.
Always complainin’ about the routine and the mundane.
But let me stop to remind y’all bout one thing:
Come hell or high water you can count on the sun
Always shinin’ in its untamed glory.
Phonte, “Greater Than the Sun,” from Zo!’s SunStorm, 2010
Don’t underestimate me when you date me,
Got my clamp off safety, that’ll make you hate me…
Yo-Yo, “The Bonnie and Clyde Theme,” You Better Ask Somebody, 1993
Ya see I’m Irish, but I’m not a leprechaun.
You wanna fight, then step up and we’ll get it on!
Everlast, “Top ‘O The Morning to Ya,” from House of Pain’s self-titled album, 1992
Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out,
Till my legs give out, can’t shut my mouth,
Till the smoke clears out – am I high? Perhaps.
Imma rip this shit, till my bones collapse.
Nate Dogg, “‘Till I Collapse,” from Eminem’s The Eminem Show, 2002, RIP Nate Dogg, in the hip-hop chorus hall of fame, without a doubt. He will be missed.
I use a pick in my hair without force.
You use a lawn mower–you got peat moss.
Large Professor, “He Got So Much Soul (He Don’t Need No Music),” from Main Source’s Breaking Atoms, 1991
Yo, you 14-carat gold slum computer wizard,
Tappin’ inside my rap vein causes blizzards!
Ghostface Killah, “Guillotine (Swordz)”, from Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, 1995
Now who done passed you a diaper and got you thinkin’ you the shit?
Mad Skillz, “The Jam,” From Where???, 1996
I seen her on the ave, spotted her more than once.
Ass so fat that you could see it from the front…
Mos Def, “Ms. Fat Booty,” Black on Both Sides, 1999
I smoked with a lot of college students…
Most of em wasn’t graduatin, and they knew it.
Redman, “Whateva Man,” Muddy Waters, 1996
Run from the police, picture that,
Nigga I’m too fat…
I fuck around and catch a asthma attack.
Notorious B.I.G., “Runnin’ (Dying to Live)”, from Tupac Resurrection soundtrack, 2003, RIP Biggie Smalls
So let me explain the game,
Break it down a couple of levels like Tetris:
These young uns kill they own blood for a necklace,
Leave ya slumped over the wheel of ya Lexus,
Smoke kush, wake up and eat breakfast…
…what the fuck you expect?
Pharoahe Monch, “Black Hand Side,” W.A.R. (We Are Renegades), 2011
I won’t hesitate to detonate, I’m short fused.
GZA, “4th Chamber,” Liquid Swords, 1995
You never question when you get the blessings,
So don’t get vexed when your life is stressed.
Shad, “Rose Garden,” TSOL, 2010
The 808 kick drum makes the girlies get dumb,
We’re rollin’ Rainier, and the jealous wanna get some.
Every time we do the sucka MC’s wanna battle,
I’m the man they love to hate, the J.R. Ewing of Seattle…
Sir Mix-a-Lot, “My Posse’s on Broadway,” SWASS, 1988
You ask me, “Did I like Arsenio?”
About as much as the Bicentennial.
Ice Cube, “The Nigga You Love To Hate,” from AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, 1990
Mindless violence, well let me try to paint it.
Here’s the 5 steps in hopes to explain it:1, It’s me and my Nation against the World
2, Then me and my Clan against the Nation
3, Then me and my Fam against the Clan
4, Then me and my Brother, we no hesitation
Go against the Fam until they cave in
5, Now who’s left in this deadly equation?That’s right, it’s me against my Brother
Then we point a Kalashnikov
And kill one another.
K’naan, “Tribal Wars,” from Nas and Damian Marley’s Distant Relatives, 2010
I’d rather be broke and have a whole lot of respect.
It’s the principle of it.
O.C., “Time’s Up,” Word…Life, 1994
Some is sniffin’, and some is buffin’.
Some is riffin’, some ain’t sayin nothin’,
But my pockets I am stuffin’.
Huffin’ puffin’, blow the house down,
Nice and Smooth is in your town…
Greg Nice, “No Delayin’”, from Nice & Smooth’s Nice and Smooth, 1989
Squeeze the juice out,
Of all the suckers with power.
And pour some back out,
So as to water the flowers.
This world is ours.
Guru, “Robbin Hood Theory,” from Gang Starr’s Moment of Truth, 1998
Tell the truth:
James Brown was old,
Til Eric B. and Rakim came out with ‘I Got Soul.’
Daddy-O, “Talkin’ All That Jazz,” from Stetsasonic’s In Full Gear, 1988
Be grateful for blessings,
Don’t ever change, keep your essence.
The power is in the people and politics we address.
2Pac, “Me Against the World,” Me Against the World, 1995
My rhymes make niggas rebuild like water damage…
Meyhem Lauren, “Typhoon Rap,” Self-Induced Illness, 2011
My music, you either fight, fuck, or dream to it…
Common, “The 6th Sense,” Like Water for Chocolate, 2000
Inspectah Deck • “Elevation” • Uncontrolled Substance • 1999
Where I come from, young ones pump chumps for lump sums,
Bustin guns, trust none, become son.
Truth spells broke loose shells that propel,
Where I’m dwellin, niggas bail…tellin what you sellin.”
Inspectah Deck, “Elevation,” Uncontrolled Substance, 1999
La-Di-Da-Di, we likes to party
We don’t cause trouble, we don’t bother nobody.
We’re just some men that’s on the mic,
And when we rock up on the mic
We rock the mic, right!
MC Ricky D. a.k.a. Slick Rick, “La Di Da Di,” from The Show 12", 1985
Move over just a bit to the right of me,
For I cannot see
Where the booty is.
Dres, “Fanatic of the B Word,” from De La Soul Is Dead, 1991
Satisfaction, I have the right tactics…
And if you need em I got crazy prophylactics.
Q-Tip, “Bonita Applebum,” from A Tribe Called Quest’s People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, 1990
You can hear the seven sins
Blowin’ through the ghetto wind…
Rakim, “In the Ghetto (Wake Up!)” from J. Period’s Wake Up Radio, 2011
I get physical, mystical, very artistical…
Giving party people something funky to listen to.
Big Daddy Kane, “Just Rhymin’ with Biz,” Long Live The Kane, 1988
They tell me ‘find God’ like I don’t know where He at.
And if He lost, then why we followin’ Him?
Just acknowledge the fact that a Father exists,
And a Devil’s alive…I’m just caught in the mix.
Fashawn, “Nothin’ for the Radio,” from Higher Learning Vol. 2, 2011
Said she loved my necklace, started relaxin’.
Now that’s what the fuck I call a chain reaction!
Jay-Z, “Money Ain’t a Thang,” from Jermaine Dupri’s Life in 1472, 1998
I would trade my existence to give you breath,
Guess the only guarantees in this life is death.
As I look around seein’ I’m the last one left,
And the things I can’t change I just gotta accept.
Tragedy, “Permanently Scarred,” Against All Odds, 1997
Dial the seven digits, call up Bridgette,
Her man’s a midget.
Plus she got friends, yo, I can dig it.
Opio, “‘93 Til Infinity,” from Souls of Mischief’s ’93 Til Infinity, 1993
Gun pop off like the mouth of Ann Coulter…
Crooked I, “Lick Shots”, from Immortal Technique and DJ Green Lantern’s The 3rd World, 2008
I got you open like supermarkets!
Busta Rhymes, “Everything Remains Raw,” The Coming, 1996
One step at a time, a man walked on the moon.
One record got played, Kool Herc said, ‘Boom!’
Q-Tip, “Life is Better,” The Renaissance, 2008. Thoughts and prayers are with DJ Kool Herc, the Father of Hip-Hop battling a heart condition in the hospital right now. More info >
We in the 25th hour,
It’s now or never.
We gotta get it ‘fore it’s gone forever.
In the end, time waits for no man…
What’s your plan?
REKS, “25th Hour,” Rhythmatic Eternal King Supreme, 2011
I never let the worst things in life get the best of me.
So take these testes and, ummm…open sesame.
King Sun, “Humm Deez Nuts,” Strictly Ghetto EP, 1994
Street’s disciple, my raps are trifle.
I shoot slugs from my brain just like a rifle.
Nas, “Live at the Barbeque,” from Main Source’s Breaking Atoms, 1991
Now if I worry too much about all my have nots,
I might not recognize just what I’ve got…
Mike G., “Jungle Brother,” from Jungle Brothers’ Raw Deluxe, 1997
See, my Mom chose dope, my Pop chose the pipe.
So I rhyme like a triple beam balance in life.
Tragedy Khadafi a.k.a. The Intelligent Hoodlum, “Permanently Scarred,” Against All Odds, 1997
Now my helmet’s on, you can’t tell me I’m not in space.
Dr. Octagon, “Earth People,” Dr. Octagonecologyst, 1997
I believe in heaven more than hell, lessons more than jail.
In the ghetto, let love prevail with a story to tell.
My eyes see the glory, and well,
The world waiting for me to yell, “I Have A Dream!”
Common, “A Dream,” from Freedom Writers Soundtrack, 2007
Every day is like a blank canvas,
Carving my initials in the planet like I brand it.
Hand-picked to live this life we take for granted,
Like a child with an upright bass, we can’t stand it.
Blu, “The Day,” from The Roots’ How I Got Over, 2010
I didn’t get turned on, I just got turned.
I wasn’t as aroused as I was concerned.
Slug, “The Woman with the Tattooed Hands,” from Atmosphere’s Lucy Ford, 2002
You’re out of luck like two dogs stuck.
Ghostface Killah, “4th Chamber,” from GZA’s Liquid Swords, 1995
I’m on some satanic shit, strictly.
Little kids be wakin up cryin, yellin,
‘Mommy, Big L is comin to get me!’
Big L, “Danger Zone,” Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous, 1995