30 rack on a neck of a artist (Say what?)
About another 20K on his arm (Say what?)
This nigga flashin’ 50 grand,
Walk around here, lookin like food for the wolves.
Listen! Illuminati rap: we don’t ride to that,
Everybody poppin’ molly…look at how they act.
(Y’all sweatin’) The whole place emotional,
Wake up to find out some dude’s Frank Ocean’ed you.

Lil’ Fame, “187,” from M.O.P.’s Street Certified, 2014.

Most people don’t make love no more,
They just fuck and they fight.
What happened to the stay-togethers?
I’m with you, and that means forever.

Big K.R.I.T., “Soul Food,” Cadillactica, 2014

Through every ghetto I carry the heavy metal,
Just in case a shovel is needed when arguments are settled.

Killer Mike, “Underground Kings,” from DJ Premier and Royce da 5’9"’s PRhyme, 2014. More from Killer Mike…

How you looking like beef jerky, beefing in every verse,
But never beefing in person? Randy Savage.
You wouldn’t snap a Slim Jim,
You wouldn’t rip a wrapping on Christmas in Santa’s attic
With the hands of Eddie Scissors…ain’t you average?

Royce Da 5’9", “Courtesy,” from Royce and DJ Premier’s PRhyme, 2014.

Word to Trayvon and Mike Brown,
Them pigs’ll gun you down and call it ‘standin’ they ground.’
The situation wack, we need a moment of silence,
Or violence…I’m only being honest.
Don’t condone it but fuck it, we ridin’,
Ain’t goin’ down without a fight.
Middle finger up if they ever try and read me my rights,
Hangin’ out the window screaming “F the police!”

Stalley, “BLK & WHT (Remix),” from  Rick Ross’ Mastermind, 2014

Think you figured it out, but you don’t have a clue.
Think you on top of the world, but the world on top of you.

Jeezy, “Holy Ghost,” Seen It All: The Autobiography, 2014

I love Dr. King, but violence might be necessary;
Cause when you live on MLK and it gets very scary,
You might have to pull your AK, send one to the cemetery.

Killer Mike, “Lie, Cheat, Steal,” from Run the Jewels’ RTJ2, 2014. More Killer Mike quotes…

Different day, same shit, same script, different plate
This the way of the world, and I’m just tryin’ ta fit in place.

Oddisee, “First Step,” from Diamond District’s March on Washington, 2014

They’d rather see me fail than succeed,
That’s why I’m alone on my own with no team.
Don’t need no green, though I got some to spend;
In the end…all I really need is a friend.

Bishop Nehru, “So Alone,” from Bishop Nehru + MF DOOM’s NehurvianDOOM, 2014

My mic is a Magnum.
See me and this chick, we go back like Cro-Magnon.
Man…we did it in the back of your Magnum;
I said, ‘Put them Lifestyles back, give me the Magnums.’

Pharoahe Monch, “Rap Life,” from Diamond D’s The Diam Piece, 2014. More lyrics from Pharoahe Monch…

Everybody looking at you crazy,
What you gon’ do?
Lift up your head and keep moving,
Or let the paranoia haunt you?

Kendrick Lamar, “I,” 2014. More from K.Dot…

Hit the barber for the taper, ‘fore I call Tracy,
Now my ex wanna trace my steps like Dick Tracy.
Chill on the pills love, you think I’m dicking Tracy?

Blu, “Well Fare,” Good to be Home, 2014. More gems from Blu >

Word to Trayvon and Mike Brown,
Them pigs’ll gun you down and call it ‘standin’ they ground.’
The situation wack, we need a moment of silence,
Or violence…I’m only being honest.
Don’t condone it but fuck it, we ridin’,
Ain’t goin’ down without a fight.
Middle finger up if they ever try and read me my rights,
Hangin’ out the window screaming “F the police!”

Stalley, “BLK & WHT (Remix),” from  Rick Ross’ Mastermind, 2014

Ever since Mike Brown went down,
My whole city like ‘Fuck a cop,
Run the red light…fuck the stop.’

Young Buck, “Ahhh Shit,” with G-Unit, 2014

Picked up the yoga, put down the soda.
My healthy mind…that’s what’s gon’ help me over.
Life of a stoner (if you still concerned),
I never lose, I only win or learn;
It’s all about your state of mind.

Dizzy Wright, “State of Mind,” State of Mind EP, 2014

Most rappers these days is actors,
And I can’t keep watching the same movie.

Mick Jenkins, “Jazz,” The Water[s], 2014

Fuck the Febreze, I’m stinkin’ like that Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
That’s that Wu and Mobb shit; don’t turn it up…blast it.

Ghostface Killah, “Dirt (Remix),” from Mobb Deep’s The Infamous Mobb Deep, 2014. More from Ghost >

This is business: they don’t care about your lyrics;
The better you sell, the better future for their children.
Controversy sells, so they support conflict,
Makes more progress, means more profit.
An artist gets killed, they say they’re ‘so sorry,’
Meanwhile, they tell you the date of his next project.
What a life…death made them more profit:
Record companies get paid for your drama.

Cormega, “Industry,” Mega Philosophy, 2014. More wisdom from ‘Mega…

Rappers hate each other, not the labels that got rich,
Don’t care about culture, they only want profit.
If your album sell slow, bet you’ll get dropped quick;
Q-Tip warned us: the industry’s toxic.
For reference, check out BDP’s Sex and Violence.

Cormega, “Industry,” Mega Philosophy, 2014

I’ve been out there 3 days and I got shot at 3 times,
Felt like every bullet hit me when they flew out each 9.
I’ll be happy when I wake up and I have a free mind.

Lil Herb, “The Neighborhood,” from Common’s Nobody’s Smiling, 2014

I say ‘cuz’ around Bloods, and I say ‘blood’ around Crips…I’m twisted.
Got Mary, got Lucy, got Molly: that’s wifey, girlfriend and mistress.

Ab-Soul, “Gods Reign,” These Days…, 2014

Squeeze 7cc’s so I could see the seven seas,
And CC all my friends so they could see what I was seeing…
But what they saw was a despicable human being;
So, I guess they just wasn’t seeing what I was seeing.

Pharoahe Monch, “Broken Again,” PTSD, 2014. More quotes from Pharoahe Monch…

The Nets’ a stone throw from where I used to throw bricks
…So it’s only right I’m still tossing ‘round Knicks.

Jay Z, “Seen It All,” from Jeezy’s Seen It All, 2014

You named them: hustlers, killers, fiends, ex-cons.
I called them: cousins, aunts, pops, moms.
To you? Hoodlums, crackheads, gunmens.
To me? Just neighbors, classmates, young friends.

Ka, “To Hull and Back,” 1200 B.C. EP, 2014. More bars from Ka…

We still wading in the water…
Cocaine, blunts, marinating in the water.
Lean and took a puff, and then she gave it to my father,
Used to take the bullets out so I could play with the revolver.
Satan serenading ever since I was a toddler,
Tell ‘em talk is cheap…niggas living for the dollar.

Vince Staples, “Kingdom,” from Common’s Nobody’s Smiling, 2014

Either she love me or she hate me…either way, she crazy.

Blu, “Well Fare,” It’s Good To Be Home, 2014

People ask for God, ‘till the day He comes,
See God’s face…turn around and run.
God sees the face of a man,
Shaking his head, says “He’ll never understand.”

Dice Raw, “Understand,” from The Roots’ …and then you shoot your cousin, 2014. More lyrics by The Legendary Roots Crew…

I’d rather make one righteous dollar on my level
Than make a million dollars spittin’ rhymes for the devil.

KRS-One, “True School,” from DJ Jean Maron’s True School, 2014

Haters wanna ball, let me tighten up my draw string.
Wrong sport, boy, you know you’re as soft as a lacrosse team.

Jay-Z, “They Don’t Love You No More,” from DJ Khaled’s I Changed A Lot, 2014. Another Drake jab from Hov, ha.

Once I slapped a rapper with mace,
Then I spit acid in his face, after he rinsed his eyes, no wait…
I actually grew five times my size, grabbed Ma$e by the thigh and slapped a rapper with him.

Pharoahe Monch, “Rapid Eye Movement,” PTSD, 2014. More Pharoahe Monch quotes…

Hip-hop started on the block;
I fell asleep at the wheel, the shit crashed into Pop.

Sticky Fingaz, “Wakedafucup,” from Onyx’s #WAKEDAFUCUP, 2014

It’s like I’m married to the silencer,
Until I file for divorce and release my ex-calibers.
Do art with your arteries, place that for my adversaries,
Put your snap back cap back, cap your capillaries.

Pharoahe Monch, “Rapid Eye Movement,” PTSD, 2014. More Pharoahe Monch quotes…

Sorry, Mrs. Drizzy, for so much art talk;
Silly me rappin’ ‘bout shit that I really bought.
While these rappers rap about guns they ain’t shot,
And a bunch of other silly shit that they ain’t got.

Jay-Z, “We Made It,” 2014

My feet might fail me, my heart might ail me,
The synagogues of Satan might accuse or jail me,
Strip, crown, nail me, brimstone hail me…
They might defeat the flesh but they could never ever kill me.
They might feel the music but could never ever feel me.

Jay Electronica, “Better In Tune With the Infinite,” 2014

How can they say feeling good is an addiction?
But the world is full of shit, so I don’t listen,
In fact, ‘we livin’ to die’ is a contradiction.

ScHoolboy Q, “Oxymoron,” Oxymoron, 2014

I be with broads that got they shit together;
Even if it ain’t meant forever, still smoke the spliff together.
The essence of the herbs, the presence of the words…
Yeah you got a chest, but I’m treasurin’ your curves.

Common, “Made in Black America,” Nobody Smiling, 2014

White Jesus in my crock pot,
I mix the shit with some soda.
Now Black Jesus turn water to wine,
…And all I had to do was turn the stove up.

Jay-Z, “The Devil is a Lie,” from Rick Ross’ Mastermind, 2014. More Jay-Z quotes

Slug • “Arthur’s Song” • 2014

Sippin’ on that brown stuff
Got you feeling like you found love,
Or maybe it was just luck.
But honestly…it’s probably none of the above.

– Slug, “Arthur’s Song” from Atmosphere’s Southsiders, 2014.