It was Saturday night and I was feelin kinda funny,
Gold around my neck, pockets full of money.
Schoolly D, “Saturday Night,” from Saturday Night! – The Album, 1986
Posts Tagged With: money
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
This ain’t no alien conspiracy theory, this shit is real;
Written on the dollar underneath the Masonic seal.
Immortal Technique, “Bin Laden,” 12", 2005. More from Immortal Technique…
I had a church girl, quiet girl…one girl was rich.
The most memorable girl was a Gangsta Bitch.
We went out a lot, sometimes we dressed the same,
Lickin’ shots in the park and had pet names:
I called her ‘Dollars’ cause that’s what she liked to spend;
She called me ‘Diamond’ cause my dick was her best friend.
Apache, “Gangsta Bitch,” Apache Ain’t Shit, 1993
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
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
The IRS’ll never sweat me or even put up a fight…
Cause I’m sure I’ve paid more in taxes than you’ve made in yo’ life!
Ludacris, “Large Amounts,” The Red Light District, 2004. More Ludacris quotes…
I got a problem with spending before I get it…
We all self-conscious, I’m just the first to admit it.
Kanye West, “All Falls Down,” The College Dropout, 2004. More Kanye West quotes…
Just ‘cause you got money don’t mean you made it.
Just ’cause you make it, don’t give you the right to be on that fake shit.
Talib Kweli, “Another World,” 12", 1999. More Talib Kweli quotes…
I clock G’s while you clock Z’s.
And I don’t smoke crack…I smoke MC’s.
PMD, “Rampage,” from EPMD’s Business As Usual, 1990
Play the game for my people, stay in charge of your dreams.
Keep your vision focused, get wise, and largen your C.R.E.A.M.
AZ, “New Life,” Pieces of a Man, 1998. More AZ quotes.
If you don’t got endz, you won’t be gettin’ no skinz,
And if you don’t got money, you won’t scoop a honey.
If you don’t got cash, you won’t be gettin’ no ass,
And if you don’t got loot, you won’t be knockin’ no boots.
Big L, “No Endz, No Skinz,” Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous, 1995. More Big L quotes.
You download it for free, we get charged back for it.
I know you’re saying, “They won’t know, they won’t miss it,
Besides, I ain’t a thief, they won’t pay me a visit.”
So, if I come to your job, take your corn on the cob,
And take a couple kernels off it, that would be alright with you?
Andre 3000, “What a Job,” from Devin the Dude’s Waitin to Inhale, 2007
You lose money chasing women;
Never lose women chasing money.
Nas, “Ghetto Rich (Remix),” Rich Boy’s self-titled album, 2007
MCs get a little bit of love and think they hot,
Talkin bout how much money they got…all y’all records sound the same.
I’m sick of that fake thug, R&B-rap scenario, all day on the radio,
Same scenes in the video, monotonous material.
…Y’all don’t hear me though:
These record labels slang our tapes like dope.
You can be next in line and signed, and still be writing rhymes and broke.
stic.man, “Hip-Hop,” from Dead Prez’s Let’s Get Free, 2000
Girls stick like Crazy Glue, they think they’re gettin’ dough;
But I treat hoes like drugs: I just say ‘No.’
Showbiz, “Diggin’ In The Crates,” from Showbiz & A.G.’s Soul Clap EP, 1991
I got a girl and she treat me fine,
But the homies all think that I’m losin’ my mind.
I’m trippin’ and I know it cause I’m all nerved up,
Cause everytime I go to sleep, I see this big ol’ butt.
See, I ain’t never gave no chick 4 stars,
But she treat me so good that she be drivin my car.
And every day it get better, I can’t lie,
Went to the house and she made me some hot potato pie.
All my friends be sayin, “She ain’t nothin but a scrub!”
But she make me feel high like I’m hooked on drugs.
So I give her what she need, and what’s done is done,
But I’m a special kind of fool but ayo, it don’t bother me none.
I can’t help myself, I know that I’m trippin’,
But she got it goin’ on like Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Pimp C, “Use Me Up,” from UGK’s Too Hard to Swallow, 1992
What 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
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
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
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
I go to Queens for queens to get the crew from Brooklyn,
Make money in Manhattan and never been tooken.
Go Uptown and the Bronx to boogie down,
Get strong on the Island, recoup, and lay around.
Rakim, “Juice (Know the Ledge),” from Eric B. & Rakim’s Don’t Sweat the Technique, 1992
I don’t know what’s better: getting laid or getting paid.
I just know when I’m getting one, the other’s getting away.
Kanye West, “This Way,” from Dilated Peoples’ Neighborhood Watch, 2004
Why give you the cure when the disease makes money?
Talib Kweli, “The Traveller,” from J.Period’s Rage Is Back mixtape, 2013
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a funny bastard…
But when it come to money, son, I’m not the one to laugh with.
Big Pun, “Firewater,” Endangered Species, 2001
My sense of self and my mental health
Is much more powerful than any hint of wealth.
Guru, “Peace of Mine,” from Gang Starr’s The Ownerz, 2003
I wanna live like Arnold, Willis and Mr. Drummond…
And keep my paper sturdy, big birds and tight herbs.
Pimp C., “Ridin’ Dirty,” from UGK’s Ridin’ Dirty, 1996. Rest in Peace Conraid Bain, better known as Mr. Drummond from the beloved TV sitcom Diff’rent Strokes. He died today at the age of 89.
All we want in this life is peace, prosperity and a little paper.
Q-Tip, “Peace, Prosperity and Paper,” from High School High Soundtrack, 1996
Time is money, every moment is costly,
So I ration emotion, ‘cause existence exhausts me.
Slug, “They’re All Gonna Laugh @ You,” from Atmosphere’s Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs, 2001
I refuse to abuse my savings and loans,
So if you want some ends, baby, you best go get your own.
Now I said it once before, and I’m a say it again:
Best believe you won’t receive no dividends.
E.S.T., “Funky Dividends,” Three Times Dope’s Original Stylin’, 1988
Eminem • “Rock Bottom” • 1999
My life is full of empty promises and broken dreams…
I’m hopin’ things look up; but there ain’t no job openings.
I feel discouraged, hungry and malnourished,
Living in this house with no furnace, unfurnished.
And I’m sick of workin’ dead end jobs with lame pay,
And I’m tired of bein’ hired and fired the same day.
But fuck it, if you know the rules to the game play,
Cause when we die, we know we all going the same way.
Eminem, “Rock Bottom,” Slim Shady LP, 1999
Success is what you make it, take it how it come.
A half a mil in twenties, like a billion where I’m from.
An arrogant drug dealer, the legend I become,
CNN said I’d be dead by 21.
Blackjack…I just pulled an ace,
As you looking at the king in his face.
Pusha T, “So Appalled,” from Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, 2010
Everything has a price…
No matter if it’s fortune, fame or your life.
I understood later that it’s all about paper,
Everything has a fee in the land of the free.
O.C., “Land of the Free,” from Show & A.G.’s Live Hard, 2007
The principles of true hip-hop have been forsaken,
It’s all contractual and about money makin’.
Black Thought, “What They Do,” from The Roots’ Illadelph Halflife, 1996
Rebel, renegade, must stay paid.
KRS-One, “I’m Still #1,” from Boogie Down Productions’ By Any Means Necessary, 1990
This is doomsday for MCs with hollow skills,
Who talk about clothing articles and dollar bills,
And fake ass rides that they don’t even drive.
Hip-hop is war and only strong MCs will survive.
Holocaust, “Doomsday,” from Killarmy’s Dirty Weaponry, 1998
I’m on some tax-free shit by any means,
Whether bound to hit scheme or some counterfeit C.R.E.A.M.
GZA, “4th Chamber,” Liquid Swords, 1995
Some girls barely speak, but always askin’ for a dollar.
Big L, “No Endz, No Skinz,” Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous, 1995
When I need bread, I grab the toaster and stick niggas for they crumbs.
Akinyele, “The Robbery Song,” Put It in Your Mouth EP, 1996
Every time the ball drop on New Year’s Eve,
We toast to more money, we smoke to more cheese…
Prodigy, “New Yitty,” H.N.I.C. Part 2, 2008
‘That buck that bought the bottle coulda struck the lotto.’
To invest in scratch tickets is a fucked up motto.
Reks, “Black Cream (The Negro Epidemic),” Grey Hairs, 2008
Lookin down the barrel of a gun, son of gun, son of a bitch, gettin paid, gettin rich!
Beastie Boys, “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun,” Paul’s Boutique, 1989
Havin’ cash is highly addictive, especially when you’re used to havin’ money to live with.
Prodigy, “Give Up the Goods (Just Step),” from Mobb Deep’s The Infamous, 1995. More quotes from QB’s finest…
Life is a gamble, we scramble for money,
I might crack a smile, but ain’t a damn thing funny.
Prodigy, “Eye for an Eye (Your Beef Is Mines),” from Mobb Deep’s The Infamous, 1995. More gems from P >
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
I never boned a honey that I didn’t like
I never saw a mile that I couldn’t hike
I never had a spliff to make me choke
I never had a pocket that was broke
Dres, “Flavor of the Month,” from Black Sheep’s A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing, 1991
It’s not about a salary, it’s all about reality.
KRS-One, “My Philosophy,” from Boogie Down Productions’ By All Means Necessary, 1988