I got mouths to feed,
Unnecessary beef is more cows to breed.
GZA, “4th Chamber,” Liquid Swords, 1995
Posts Tagged With: lyrics
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
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
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
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
I drink twenty forties, smoke forty blunts,
Say a hundred rhymes, and not sound like you once.
Dres, “Roll Wit Tha Flava,” from Flavor Unit’s Roll Wit Tha Flava, 1993
Woke up quick, at about noon.
Just thought that I had to be in Compton soon.
I gotta get drunk before the day begins,
Before my mother starts bitchin bout my friends.
Eazy-E, “Boyz-N-The-Hood (remix),” Eazy Duz It, 1988
You dudes is noodles, I got more ziti to bake.
You dudes is cake, I keep two biscuits on the waist.
Razor blades under the tongue, I will eat your face,
Appetite for destruction, I am starvin’ today.
Got a money hungry lawyer that’ll eat the case,
And that’s just food for thought, don’t let it go to waste.
Jay-Z, “U Don’t Know (Remix),” The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse, 2002
In this life ain’t no happy endings;
Only pure beginnings followed by years of sinning and fake repentance.
J. Cole, “Runaway,” Born Sinner, 2013
‘What you doing in the club on a Thursday?’
She say she only here for her girl birthday…
They ordered champagne but still look thirsty,
Rock Forever 21 but just turned 30.
Kanye West, “Bound 2,” Yeezus, 2013
You and your friends…always together,
No time for the B-I-G, so I’m O-U-T.
The sex was great, but the headaches I can’t take.
I think I made a very big mistake.
Notorious B.I.G., “Buddy X (Remix),” from Neneh Cherry’s Homebrew, 1992
It’s been a long time…I shouldn’t have left you
Without a strong rhyme to step to.
Rakim, “I Know You Got Soul,” from Eric B. and Rakim’s Paid In Full, 1987
Be a father, if not, why bother, son?
A boy can make ‘em, but a man can raise one.
If you did it, admit it and stick with it.
Ed O.G., “Be a Father to Your Child,” from Ed O.G. & Da Bulldogs’s Life of a Kid in the Ghetto, 1991
It’s a beautiful day, and everybody’s feelin’ wonderful,
The ladies is out, lookin’ fly, dressed comfortable.
I love to wake up, and feel the breeze through my window,
Slip on fatigues, grab a dutch, and roll some indo.
Dead Prez, “Happiness,” Let’s Get Free, 2000
Bitch, you ain’t got nothin on the rich,
Every other day my whole dress code switch.
Cappadonna, “Winter Warz,” from Ghostface Killah’s Ironman, 1996
It was magic, I felt the bond between us.
She was a jelly to my peanuts, Mars to Venus,
The Earth to my sun, moon and stars,
We added up mathematically…
It’s like I had a bad habit, B!
Ghostface Killah, “The Center of Attraction,” Twelve Reasons to Die, 2013
The last batter to hit, blast shattered your hip,
Smash any splitter or fastball—that’ll be it.
Pharoahe Monch, “The Next Shit,” Internal Affairs, 1999
The rap era’s outta control,
Brothers’ sellin their soul to go gold…
Going, going, gone, another rapper sold!
Parrish Smith, “Crossover,” EPMD’s Business Never Personal, 1993
I’m goin’ out first class, ain’t goin’ out coach.
MCA, “The Sounds of Science,” from Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique, 1989. Remembering Adam Yauch, who passed away a year ago today. Rest in Peace, MCA.
You little cream puff Mac Daddy wannabe,
Keep dreaming cause a Mac you will never be.
So all y’all with the Dr. Seuss riddles,
You can get the finger…the middle
Mac Daddy, “Warm it Up,” from Kris Kross’ Totally Krossed Out, 1992. Chris Kelly, one half of the ‘90s rap duo Kris Kross, has died of a possible drug overdose. He was 34.
Might go fuck a rapper’s life up like Mo’nique did to Precious.
Killer Mike, “Get It,” from Killer Mike and El-P’s Run the Jewels, 2013
Q-Tip • “The Remedy” • 1996
There’s divinity within because we come from the divine,
A force that’s not seen, but you feel it every time:
When the wind blows, and the world turns,
And the rain drops, and the baby cries,
And the bird flies, and the ground quake,
And the stars gleam.
Q-Tip, “The Remedy,” from Get on the Bus Soundtrack, 1996
Dr. Dre (N.W.A.) • “Express Yourself” • 1988
I’m expressin’ with my full capabilities,
And now I’m livin in correctional facilities.
Cause some don’t agree with how I do this,
I get straight and meditate like a Buddhist.
Dr. Dre, “Express Yourself,” from N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton, 1988
I came in the door, I said it before
I never let the mic magnetize me no more.
But it’s biting me, fighting me, inviting me to rhyme,
I can’t hold it back…I’m looking for the line.
Taking off my coat, clearing my throat,
My rhyme will be kicking until I hit my last note.
Rakim, “Eric B. Is President,” from Eric B. and Rakim’s Paid In Full, 1987. More Rakim quotes…