I ain’t Mary, so ain’t a damn thing Poppin’.
Xzibit, “Eyes May Shine,” At the Speed of Life, 1996
My hustle’s the play,
That means the hood is a stage.
Been rehearsing for days…
STS, “The Play,” from Glorification of Gangster soundtrack, 2011
Don’t ask for a cig’ – I’m so self-centered, I won’t even share this cancer.
Joe Budden, “40 Licks,” Mood Muzik 2: Can It Get Any Worse?, 2006
Now that Bin Laden dead, can we get our civil liberties back?
That George Bush stole with the Patriot Act?
Ras Kass, “Hello Iraq (Bin Laden Post Mortem)”, Endangered Lyricist, Vol 3, 2011
You only get honest expression when I spit in your ear;
That means even when I’m dissing you I’m being sincere.
One Be Lo, “Enecs Eht No Kcab,” S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M., 2005
If wonder if I blasted a little Elvis Presley.
Would they pull me over and attempt to arrest me?
I doubt, doubt it, they’ll probably start dancin,
Jumpin on my dick and pissin in they pants and
Wiggle and then jiggle and grab on they pelvis
But you know my name, so you never hear no Elvis.
Masta Ace, “Jeep Ass Niguh,” Slaughtahouse, 1993
The world is kinda cold and the rhythm is my blanket.
Q-Tip, “Verses from the Abstract,” from A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory, 1991
I’m like Demerol…
No disrespect to the Jacksons, but I kill mics.
Cyhi Da Prynce, “Top of the World,” Royal Flush mixtape, 2011
You need a bad operation.
Gimme the scissors, hammer, flame.
Dr. Octagon, “Elective Surgery,” Dr. Octagonecologyst, 1996
Pass me the scalpel, I’ll make an incision,
I’ll cut off the part of your brain that does the bitching…
MCA, “Make Some Noise,” from Beastie Boys’ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, 2011
Classical slap-stick rappers need Chapstick.
MF Doom, “Rhymes Like Dimes,” Operation: Doomsday!, 1999
I got a voodoo doll every time I pen a verse:
Not only do they say they feel it, but they say it hurts.
Pusha T, “My God,” Fear of God 2: Let Us Pray EP, 2011
But some find happiness while others find sorrow,
And what’s here today, may be gone tomorrow.
Guru, “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow,” from Gang Starr’s Step In the Arena, 1991. RIP Keith Elam aka Guru, who passed 1 year ago today.
Peep what I wrote;
You bit so hard, I thought your shit was a quote.
Casual, “That’s How It Is,” Fear Itself, 1994
There’s a whole lot of questions that really need answers
Like: Who the fuck told you that your rhyme style was hot?
You know when Biggie died? Who bust that shot?
Why is Sammy Bull still living, and where the fuck is Pac?
Bumpy Knuckles, “P.A.I.N.E.,” The Konexion, 2003
I’m not a ‘Businessman,’ I’m a Business… man! Let me handle my business, damn!
Jay-Z, “Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix),” from Kanye West’s Late Registration, 2005
‘Yo I’m from Africa’
Boy you’re just a faker.
Name one city: ‘Uhh, Jamaica!’
Wrong! And I think that’s a shame,
An African look with an American name…
King Sun, “Be Black,” Righteous but Ruthless, 1990
Too bad your inner sheep never forgets to follow…
Aesop Rock, “Fast Cars,” Fast Cars, Danger, Fire & Knives, 2005
Bullets ain’t racial, kid…they only hate you.
Kool G. Rap, “The Realest,” from Mobb Deep’s Murda Muzik, 1999
If you are not performing fellatio for radio rotation,
What’s the ratio for radio play at your station?
If you’re not paying to play, the record is dead.
Puts a whole new spin on ‘Radio-head’
Pharaohe Monch, “Hitman,” W.A.R. (We Are Renegades), 2011
I don’t wanna dance, baby girl, it’s like my legs is on strike.
Killa Sin, “La Rhumba,” from RZA’s Digital Bullet, 2001
I’d rather be dead than watch wack shit.
Color me gone, fill in the dirt, tell ‘em i kicked
10 buckets…
Jean Grae, “R.I.P.,” Cake or Death, 2011
You can plan a pretty picnic but you can’t predict the weather, Ms. Jackson.
Andre 3000, “Ms. Jackson,” from Outkast’s Stankonia, 2000
Rhyme to kill, rhyme to murder, rhyme to stomp,
Rhyme to ill, rhyme to romp,
Rhyme to smack, rhyme to shock, rhyme to roll,
Rhyme to destroy anything, toy boy.
On the microphone:
I’m Poppa Large, big shot on the East Coast.
Kool Keith, “Poppa Large,” from Ultramagnetic MC’s Funk Your Head Up, 1992
Imagine peace on this earth when there’s no grief,
Imagine grief on this earth when there’s no peace.
Scarface, “I Seen a Man Die,” The Diary, 1994
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