| Disc 1 | ||||||
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| 1. |
| 1:23 | 
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interviewer possibly Harry Allen]
What are you giving them back? [Rakim] Umm I think what I'm givin them back man is umm... what they been waitin for yaknahmean? Umm... SKILLS |
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| 2. |
| 4:11 |
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[Rakim]
Hey yo what's going on? The Mic Lebanon Teflon Don, I'm back baby The year of the 9's And I'ma have to make these motherfuckers a offer they can't refuse Ya know? Ha, what's going on? Yo c'mon, you know it's on I wrote a song, test my flow on the Autobahn Make sure the force is right, I floss all night Get off the mic it'll smoke like an exhaust pipe Keep em in the lie-bury, studying my theory Ra theory get translated in Swahili From the lands as far as Zanzibar They understand the are, the man Allah It's obvious why the copiers, they copy this Soon as my data processes Y2K they floppy disk Now who the hottest is? How can it not be this? Baby who the cockiest? Papi is? Gracias Hey , this be so, magnifico Even my, typical, style difficult Make a crowd go wild when I rip a show Better stand back, this'll blow, you didn't know? [Chorus] They show me love when I'm come through Yo any club that I come to I hit a microphone check one two And they know what I want to do - flow forever You ever witness rapport like this before? It's cause y'all kiss the floor, say this my Lord It's the chosen one, with the golden tongue Flow for the old and young when I'm holding one In the front row sitty, we show no pity Where kids get jiggy and girls are so pretty The Wanderer, back from Casablanca To stomp all, what next for Ra the Conqueror So let's go, the best show will explode No dress codes, they just pose in they best clothes Girls get exposed when I show my rap expo Will there be a next episode? I guess so Those that halved out, wanted to have clout What they mad about? Must be a cash route MC's switch they style from they last bout And I bet soon as they hear this they spaz out [Chorus: x2] Wherever Rakim go, it's the God temple It's simple, my M.O., no problemo Been all over the map, even know where Hell is at I did the welcome mat, and then welcome back My flow is raw, they treat me like Mr. Know-it-All They want me to show em all my brand new protocol Excuse-a-moi, I make a move for Ra You ain't souping Ra, save the hoop-a-la Let me find out you rhymed out designed out Pulling dimes out then climb out, for time out I'm at the free throw, playing ball, or cee-lo, I keep dough Reloaded like Carlito, incognito I be so, low key, women get nosy I do a show they want to go see to get to know me In the front row seat they cosy Thinking I'm giving them the bo-bo-bee until they O.D. [Chorus: x4] |
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| 3. |
| 3:43 |
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[DJ Premier scratches hook] (Hardcore...real ill niggas) (I'm internationally known) (When I be on the mic) (Hardcore...real ill niggas) (I'm internationally known, yo) (Hardcore...real ill niggas) (I'm internationally known) (When I be on the mic) (Hardcore...real ill niggas) (So all hail the honorable) It's to my real ill niggas, heavyweight hitters Dough getters, fifty ways to make figures My niggas, that come on the spot to feel sisters Like they hear real spitters and kids on the zigga-ziggas When it's ugly, then the club is lovely Thugs be sipping Henessey and bubbly To my comrades that keep it flaming hot On dangerous blocks, claiming spots Where the goal is to be one of the top-ranked soldiers Forty-five holders, one of the high rollers Get respect in the hood, credit is good Knock it down lumberjack style, baby, extra wood Rock it all night long, the bang-a-thon baby Keep hanging on, we like it with the lights on Don't have to blow twenty thou' to get to know honey's style Show her the town, steal her heart, no money down (Hook) How about some hardcore, yeah we like it raw for sure Broads on the floor, wall to wall There's more at the door, players ball to score 'Cause this right here is for all of y'all Rakim and Primo, yo I got what you need bro You go see a show, smoke an L, mean yo And deejays play hits with hard bass kicks And then they display tricks like The Matrix Make the record fly undetected by the naked eye So just feel the vibe 'cause your ears never lie Nowadays deejays bags of tricks, graphic On some behind the back shit, catch it and scratch it Classic, this kid got his craft mastered Hands is mad quick like he mix with magic Spin it back and forth and grab it, and know just where it is... There it is (Hook) To my elite peeps with the murderous mystiques I hit the streets with beats and they critique for weeks They be like "How that kid Ra reach the peak?" Pull out the heat and use my technique to speak It's dangerous, sit calm and explain to kids What part of the game this is and foreign languages They hold Ra's events in different continents Put my lyrical contents in monuments In ghetto garments, I rock a towel like a pharaoh Mind travel, design style like apparel My fashions last long as a lifetime Cause I can see the future when the god write rhymes They're mad cause I managed to reign so long Like their chance to make money done came and gone This is strictly for my listeners on the corners at night And the sisters that be keeping this right, when I be on the mic (Hook) |
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| 4. |
| 4:25 |
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Where the ladies at?
Clark world baby Uh, uh It's the R baby, it's the God baby It's the R baby, it's the God baby It's the R baby, it's the God baby It's the R baby, it's the God baby I got rhymes, I love to bust looking for a club to rush It's like thugs will rush the illustrious We all love to touch the voluptuous It's a must that we lust, plus we love to crush Women pose, from timberland's to feminine clothes Check there portfolios and put 'em in centerfolds Pen explode, draw crowds respond reel I stay calm as hell surrounded by bombshells Careful as I get near 'em, stand near and compare 'em Or all girl heir 'em, I'm the man with the serum Assets, probably dressed but still bear 'em It seem like they wear 'em, just for me to tear 'em In quakes I see more things shake then spring break It's like a dream state, perfect shape same date You got a lot to give and look how hot it is, you so provocative And it's your prerogative, baby bounce Ladies, nothing but the finest ones The lavishest ones, the ain't hard to finest ones From the boldest to the shyest ones Which city got the livest ones New York, L.A., Atlanta, V.A., Miami, D.C., tell me Bon jour, baby here go my brochure Give me a phone call, I'll show you the whole store It's so raw, I'll have your world in all You wanna know how much the whole package go for? My spectacles, like a festival, it's majestic, special guest for you Ready to party hard the party's in yards to the mardy graud Rap say on's, please give you a body massage Rock jams, have you hot in your pants and nasty Forbidden dance with me, or tickle your there see Let ra take you on a ron day vue Couple of days will do if it's okay with you Deserted isle style middle of winter with no bed I'll comfort you like you were Jennifer Lopez You get what you deserve if I said we swerve I'll hit more than nerve and that's my every word Baby bounce Ladies, nothing but the finest ones The lavishest ones, the ain't hard to finest ones From the boldest to the shyest ones Which city got the livest ones, Houston, Philly Ladies, nothing but the finest ones The lavishest ones, the ain't hard to finest ones From the boldest to the shyest ones Which city got the livest ones Baby you wake up the next day laundry negligee Give you a sex ex ray before we catch the rays Let's blaze a lot more games left to play While you still amazed from yesterday's escapades Steadily show my pedigree so thoroughly To the B O N E like chemotherapy Sex and triple X you ready to wed next Relax baby you need plenty of bed rest You've been a passenger of a high speed crash With a wild style fashioner Dark skinned ambassador, chiropractor with a passion For smashin' your ass like a cardiovascular massacre You've be through shock heading at your cu wop Body's o hot, you need a shot from your new doc With better cures where's it sore I'll wetter more And let it pour from her to head to her particulars, baby bounce Ladies, nothing but the finest ones The lavishest ones, the ain't hard to finest ones From the boldest to the shyest ones Which city got the livest ones, Detroit, San Fran Ladies, nothing but the finest ones The lavishest ones, the ain't hard to finest ones From the boldest to the shyest ones Which city got the livest ones, Chi-town, Boston Ladies, nothing but the finest ones The lavishest ones, the ain't hard to finest ones From the boldest to the shyest ones Which city got the livest ones, Cleveland, B-more Ladies, nothing but the finest ones The lavishest ones, the ain't hard to finest ones From the boldest to the shyest ones Which city got the livest ones, Orlando, N.O. What, Brooklyn, Uptown, Queens, Bronx, L.I. Staten Island, N.J., what, Connecticut, can't forget y'all Girls everywhere, ha ha, girls, girls, girls, girls, uh,uh uh Dedicated to the ladies from Rakim the God And lark the world, you heard, what |
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| 5. |
| 4:23 |
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I'm back! The god remains, still at the end
They sabotage the game, still I'm a win Rakim Allah's the name, and with a pen No one can dodge the rain, kill 'em again In a club or the streets I swerve, cool in the cut Looking to see what occurs, crusin' the truck Shorty got deadly curves, soothin' her up If I must explain with words, I smooth as a fuck! The world's most greatest, hip-hop's elite You obsolete, you cannot compete, drop the beat Keep ya ear to the ground when I rock the street Cock the heat, we deep, papi got to eat So cut on the mic and spit, I much rougher Plenty of ice and a whip, plus a crusher Because I don't like to stick, or bust a brother Long as they never forget I'm a ill mother fucker So if you love to get your party on And you feel that your game is strong And you get mad when the broads is gone You like it all-night-long And when they love it when the place is warm And they go out for their favorite song They hate when the player game is wrong They like it all-night-long My caliber's out rated Yeah, player, so why hate it? My rhyme through, out of control when I say it Spit back with a rap or gat, can I spray it How can I say it? I leave it dehydrated I take aim, and he keep the place flamin' Till the place cave in, hey yo, this ain't a safe haven The best is yet to come, so they stay in They keep the music loud, the lights is low The kid with a different style, I like to flow It's time to move the crowd, tonight's the show See what it's all about, they like to go Get Henny and Mo and Cris, the clothes, the platinum, gold, the wrist Plenty of dough, and chicks who pose for flicks Women who love roll their hips when I'm holding this My mic's equipped with a microchip, with a million megs Bite this I might flip, spread a billion plagues Put medicine in it before I kill ya dead You can get away if you can fill your legs Could you walk? No, at least you thought though Auto fours blow a hole in your torso Damage his brain with more flow until he talk slow Try to say something now? I thought so! I leave emcee's bleeding while I'm fleeing across sea, and Start breeding, double my Swiss cheese in Sweden Free on the weekend, come back see if he breathing They breathing, somebody left his brains beat in A deadly attack is rare, style will be raw Be ready to rap, you'll hear, as wild as before If I bust a gat in the air, watch the galaxy fall And the world will be splat on the floor, that'll be all |
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| 6. |
| 0:39 | 
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| 7. |
| 3:09 |
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Levantore!
Yeah, it's just ghetto, kid test the devil to hit the next level Wish they was a rebel with cerebral metal Inflex the bezzle with the peddle to the metal In a thug's paradise where love have a price So we love for life like thugs love the night They sell drugs for ice for the Benz with bug lights Some hug mics to the world, hung like parasites The likes lethal, the mics lead you A sneak preview, watch what we do and what the hood teach you I still see through the eye of a needle So I can watch people cause slug backwards is evil Levantore! Yo, what's this? Yo bust this. Yo it's time to up lift They think all we do is bust clips and puff splifs And plush whips and clutch chips and touch chicks Flont rocks like Fort Knox and hog blocks Taunt cops with more props and we want not Panhandling with your mans and them Scrambling, gambling, plans to win While the cops clock em, thieves flock em Women watch em, traders wanna top em Ay yo what's the problem Before the narcs knock em opposite players plot to rob em The ghetto got em, my man said it's rough at the bottom Levantore! Ghetto alert, let's do whatever work to get rid of the curse We went from 1st to America's worst On this competitive turf, now let's inherit the earth There's more prize for one another, and call shots 12:00 til the next ball drop All year around plus they shuffle non stop You think it's rough at the bottom, it's even rougher on top My peeps gonna have to reach and turn for me And everybody's side of the street'll be celly Ain't nothing funny, burn plenty and burn money And earn money and watch the century turn 20 Levantore! We all should, from the woods to the big city and the small hood Everybody should be welcome to the ball if we all could, But we fall cause we brawl, yo it ain't all good We need to play right, stay tight with ya air alight Keep your game tight, no need to play trife Get cheese from the daylight to the late night And it's shouldn't take death to appreciate life Before a lot parish, we got to cherish if Allah let us Let's give prop and merits till the block flourish In this metropolis, stay on top of this You know what the prophet is, be prosperous Levantore! Now we networking Respect the next person, it'll be less hurting Or left lurking, while we kept our dreads working Connect set for certain, total networking Last chance to advance and stash grands If you have plans to have fam and mad land Own shine, condone crime or hold 9s I know what the problem is, killing our own kind To my flame throwers, train sober, remain soldiers Stay sane so these pretty dames can hold us Terror terrain rollers and Range Rovers so the train goers Claim your fame, maintain, till your game's over Levantore! Ghetto alert, let's do whatever work to get rid of the curse We went from 1st to America's worst On this competitive turf, now let's inherit the earth There's more prize for one another, and call shots 12:00 til the next ball drop All year around plus they shuffle non stop You think it's rough at the bottom, it's even rougher on top My peeps gonna have to reach and turn for me And everybody's side of the street'll be celly Ain't nothing funny, burn plenty and burn money And earn money and watch the century turn 20 Levantore! |
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| 8. |
| 4:07 |
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Aye yo, who's the most explosive one yet?
The a roundest one left Who flows express to them rhythm drum set ain't done yet? Flow like a trumpet to your eardrum are deaf Who pose a threat? Yo, who's more ferocious, none yet To the night damn set mic trends and life ends In sight, I see the whole world through a tight lens Rhymes I write wins and kept a white Benz Spend G's like hundreds and hundreds like tens I get paid, Black, but laid back with mild manners When I flip it's the opposite of dark Bruce Banner Out the lab with soul and melodies in your ear And just when it all seem clear I disappear All you gotta do is holler Reappear like vol,la the street scholar I'm 40 deep like Ali Baba Give the mamas something to talk about in the beauty parlor Keep it hot like lava, yeah It's Rakim Allah [Chorus] I know you find it hard to believe that I am the genie of the mic an I can do anything you wish but Right now I'm commanding you to dance Ready to dance y'all, my magic carpet's the dance floor Last chance y'all even if you can't ball What part don't you understand? Your wish is my command And I'm a rock a jam by popular demand You gone love this, it's marvelous, baby It gotta thug's twist,it start to get crazy It's off the meat rack, can't keep my peeps back Speak raps and I freak tracks for these cats I got a fetish for puttin' together words and letters It ain't all about the cheddars and y'all know where my head is Ghetto scriptures for my little brothers and sisters And still get vicious for the thugs and the Misses What I don't do is talk about the same old thing When I come through, I drop it, and they gone swing I bring the ladies joy until they make crazy noise 'cause the beat's bangin', I'm born to blaze, baby boy [Chorus] The editor,forever more the predator, I said it all I spread a war, like never before Spit lead at yours like a ghetto braud raw at a? She'll never pause With raw metaphors, I set it off But I just begun the best is yet to come Blessed with a majestic tongue since I was young But I was stressed for funds and obsessed with guns Test the one, let Allah protect your son Cause something musical magician, the ageiathic author The microphone magician when I have a magic marker, a mentor You can explore, every sentence is a tour The inventor is more than adventure You'll be blown away, and a zone? It's so ill, I still grab the microphone and say One of my own displays like I'm known to blaze And I bet rhyme pays until I'm old and gray [Chorus: x4] |
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| 9. |
| 4:16 |
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Hey yo, it's Mr. Low,key, you need to go see
The host by far a mostly O.T., with a brand new show, but You know how the flow be 'Cause when I swerve, you observe it closely If you smoke trees, smoke more than an O.Z. Mix any kind of dope with me, you O.D. You get the seed, LP, C.O.D. Poetry 'cause you to fully load the V Drop place to place, be crazy over me Even different nationalities, over seas However, do a don't emcee, you know me G,O,D. She know she D.O.E., so show me Even with no jewelry she call me Goldie Like a Jacuzzi, she overheat an O.G. Like sushi swimmin' in a open sea, I'm comin' She said it's the same since I came and reigned: it's still hard You can stimulate the brain, feel the god It's hard to go against the grain, it's real large Drive 'em insane, leave dames in silk bras Plus real cups spill, spill that bars What's the deal? Kids with Hennessey grills , they feel charged And you know what time it is? It's still Ra's When I do a show real far, they steal cars Stages of battle field reveal your scars Train hard 'cause this is a game with ill squads Play with pain and gain a couple of yards And if you know the deal, you can deal the cards And appeal to broads with jobs and ov,e,ods Body parts like buns of steel and spa's Then we can kick tha blahzay blah, smoke a cigar While I get ma massage I'm comin' From the inner city to the suburbs, the street poet The most jiggiest kid with words, and peeps know it They've read about it and heard, plus T.V. show it So how do I reserve my swerve? I low pro it Now they're eager to know just how deep the flow get I don't know yet, sometime the flow be so wet Spit a tech that will effect quicker than most Or high as anything you smoke, yet go ahead, roll it Any microphone I hold, my heat blow it My E,M,O is make more dough till I can't fold it Anything I see or touch, I want to own it Drop a jewel in baby girl ear, now she my co,ed I reload and she keep the candy coated And when she know she can't control it She tell me she about to blow at any moment Well, go ahead, baby, I can't hold it I'm comin' |
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| 10. |
| 5:10 |
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I will always be there
I'll always be there for you I will always be there I'll be there I will always be there I'll be there I'm 'bout to meet my comrade on the busy ave where we clash Trying to see how much gritty cash this city has Meantime harass every bitty that pass And then here you come with your pretty ass All petite like you make ends meet on Wall Street Your for keeps couldn't find a woman more complete You got your head on tight and when you talk I like For me and you two different walks of life I'm in the streets too much I pack the heat too much Put too much trees in the Dutch and don't keep in touch You try to get in contact I don't respond back Where the God at come back smellin' like Cognac Baby beware I'm tryin' my best to be fair Aye yo, the key here is repair this love we share 'Cause if we care we would prepare to see clear Eye to eye we here as long as you be there I will always be there I'll always be there for you I will always be there I'll be there Yo, I'm startin' to understand it you like your evenings enchanted Love is bond, organic, restaurants romantic Want me to take your hand and take you around the planet But I take advantage and take you for granted Call collect explainin' why I ain't came yet I ain't winnin' the game yet can I get a rain check Blow me a kiss in the wind, I'm missin' again Don't let your sisters and your friends tell you this is the end Talk a hole in your head puttin' bugs in your ear Make you role in your bed when your thug ain't there Somewhere around ladies know I get lonely and proud Open my file baby you should know me by now Tryin' to get paid and stay away from old sites Find my place in life plus I like to hold mics It might be seven whole days and seven whole nights But yo it's gonna be alright just hold tight I will always be there I'll always be there for you I will always be there I'll always be there baby Who said something good won't last forever I know too much of any thing is bad whatever Long as we have good and bad times together Bad times make the good times that much better Peaches and cream, diamonds and ice You like pieces of dreams you shinin' in the night Features of a Queen and your mind frame is tight Timin' is right get ready for the time of your life You speak about stackin' gees and havin' seeds Apparently we know it's no guarantee But losin' you boo who smooth as you You unusual this is for the cool in you And for the chill I will forever come real Your appeal makes it hard to keep my love concealed All it took was one look, one kiss, one meal Now come feel, let's make this a done deal I will always be there I'll always be there for you I will always be there I'll be there I will always be there I'll always be there for you I will always be there I'll be there I will always be there I'll always be there for you I will always be there I'll be there I will always be there I'll always be there for you I will always be there I'll be there |
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| 11. |
| 4:24 |
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(1st verse)
If I lay low and let the day go it'll slow my payroll Aye-yo I'm a terrorize charge and slay shows Ra slay flows go as far as the Barbados On the turntable sound like tornadoes My style is performed like tropical storms Your not to get on the whole spot will get torn I keep the metropolitan hollering and bring the dollars in Keep the models following wise as King Solomon Come slow through the jungle like an animal Invade any land I go like General Hannibal From Long Island to Queens light up the New York scenes All the way to New Orleans and everything in between Left to go bless a show in Mexico Next Thing I know it's extra cold I see Eskimo's Time to rock get it hot soon as I get in there Spit in they ear so flow they froze and I disappear (Chorus)(2x) It's a must that I bust any mic that you hand to me It's inherited it runs in the family (2nd verse) They said I was a head of my time or either here before To see the idea clear it takes a year or more Now times that by the years I reign straight-seven No hear for four years still multiplied by eleven The silence's a set back make em regret that One way to get back is violence and wet cats But hold your head black or I'll never rap again Just when I thought I was out they pulled me back in Now that was two years ago and if cats start interfering Then I'm a go back to the gat and racketeering My sabotage is camaflouge and espionage You ain't havin Ra so don't test the god I'm takin' all orders I can't afford extorters I hit em in the head with a hundred dollars in quarters So warn a friend tell em it's on again If it's a freestyle bust in a park I want in (Chorus)(2x) It's a must that I bust any mic that you hand to me It's inherited it runs in the family (3rd verse) I managed to get paid for a decade now add three years on to that Perform with a knack yes I was born to rap The mic Lebanon Teflon don is back I strike with better bombs and armed to attack So reload the van go ahead let em in Every tours a war and I'm on the road again Suprise a town the place it's live and loud We vibin' now I go wild and dive in the crowd Never hit the ground they catch me and carry me around Then put me right back on stage to shut it down From New York to Cali, Japan and I-tali I'm known as the microphone Muhammad Ali I'm worldwide my brothers be biggin' me up Keep the girls occupied lovin' diggin' me what Ain't around when I come to town they mad glad Like Saddaam they even say I'm the bomb in Baghdad (Chorus)(4x) It's a must that I bust any mic that you hand to me It's inherited it runs in the family |
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| 12. |
| 4:21 |
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Yeah
It's the paragraph ambassador The wild style fashioner It's the god Rakim, the master Feel this This is that lost ass track off-the-rack kind of a track You forced to rap, remember that? It's that You know where I'm at, there go the gat Pass me a bat, the kill-or-be-killed kind of attack Steamin', speedin', navigatin' the map Negotiating with a chick, she got her head on your lap, ya hand on your gat Premeditated plan of attack, with two of your most deadliest men's in the back Comb the block, stop in the zone that's hot Get out like you own the spot, home or not It's that no mood to play, move out the my way Yo, I been whistlin' this tune from throughout the day Hey, yo, this is that ol' y'all niggas don't want to battle Turn it up loud make the whole block rattle Boom boom, this one is gettin' blazin' hot Boom boom, make you bust another shot from the glock [Chorus] From the streets below to everything above To the heart that pumps Ra-kim Allah's blood I swear I kick a hole in your speaker and pull the plug You emcee's is playing tug-a-war with your tongues From the streets beneath my feet to the sun I'm number one and competition is still none And I'm gonna keep kicking holes in your speakers and pullin' plugs You emcee's is playing tug-a-war with your tongues Here we come now Turntable spin like a merry-go-round Never slow down, depending on how good your stereo sounds Set it, up in the hood where we go surround Tearin' through towns, turn 'em into burial grounds This is the track that made Theodore want to scratch The track that caused the first kid to spin on his back And then we saw, kids spray-painting the wall While some of y'all was waitin' for war breakin' the law It's no antidote it's what you can't provoke So just relax with your girls or your mans and smoke And take a real hit, soon as it bang you feel quick It's real thick, this is that ol' real shit This is the description of designs for you to listen to Reminiscin' the times and nothin' in particular Keep you goin' just like a whole pot of coffee Have you and your shorty doin' 80 in a 40 [Chorus] You know what this is Yeah kid, give up your riches Vicious, visions is not for motion pictures Unstoppable, rollin' witcha sickest clique of niggas Or witcha missus, gettin tropical kisses Makin' faces, anticipatin' places her tongue hits Suck her neck or just peck, better to funk it The EP is in effect from dusk to sunset She want a rim shot all over her drum set Jump the bed rubbin' your head- it's rough sex 50 ways to keep a love wet Down and up the steps with crazy positions left till she upset "Damn, baby, you ain't come yet?" Hell, no doomstick big as a elbow Gel soft, well blow, give him a minute, he'll grow And all you gotta do is play the track again I'm ready and revived, baby, back again [Chorus] [Canibus] Yo! Check it, Yo! I'm faster than leopards running across the vast desert In twenty-two yards per second to catch me to daily delicatessen It takes me thirty minutes to eat 'em, forty minutes to digest 'em And fifty minutes for it to pass through my intestines So ask yourself a question (What question) Can the Canibus rhyme Is a fuckin porcupine half swine No time to make up your mind, you want to run or die Clip you while you're running by, trip you up from behind My rhymes, confuse niggas Like somebody try to gang-bang Wearin' a blue shirt and red pants, throwin' up signs with their left hand Standin' out on the corner of wetlands with a confederate flag for a headband God dam eggplants, niggas getting' me vexed man Cause I'm surrounded by garbage like Fred Sav And I can't seem to get away from it I dreamed that I stabbed leviathan through the stomach, and ate from it In my past life I slayed hundreds, and in the life before that I played trumpets, to warn you that I was comin' There's one billion ways to die, and I already tried Nine-hundred million nine hundred and ninety nine When I aim and fire my rhymes, like a hundred cannon balls flying Striking you one at a time, in a parallel line While the art of emceeing is steady dying Canibus and Rakim Allah is still in their prime [Chorus] |
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| 13. |
| 4:05 |
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[Rakim]
Before the dough came, my whole aim, was blow like propane Control the whole domain, and then show no shame Make rappers go ? and they so lame, playing with no game Put em on the lil plane til they can't claim no fame I got, the range, better, stay in the slow lane I make the flow change from hurricanes to a slow rain Your thoughts are so plane, I rearrange your whole frame Until my whole name grow out your brain like Rogaine Letter by letter, I put words together Once merged, apart never, they be heard forever And then I grab a pen and stab him in his abdomen And smash him in, throw his mic like a javelin Then I explain verses, that remain on the surface At times it get deep, but I never defeat the purpose Never go out, to go the dough route, forever hold out I never sold out, for any amount, no doubt [Chorus: x2] That's how I get down, so tell me how you like that I hit the town, hold it down on a tight track I start a party now, everybody like rap Haters are mad cause they gave the are the mic back [Rakim] I like to hang where everything seem to happen at (ya know?) It's Ra's habitat, I'm like that czar Arafat And yes I have a gat, snap like a Israeli A terrorist I never miss blowing up kids daily I step to writers, and let my virus hurt the closest I'm sick as hepatitis and worse than tuberculosis Pull out a pen, like a grenade, and drop it quick I strike again and I'ma get paid, exotic shit You know the God ra be, hot as the Mojave Swing like King Usabi, my posse be kamikaze On the corners like I'm homeless and I, don't know where home is The bonus, is where the next open microphone is Me and my team, vision like a radar screen Intervene and yo, cut the mic off, cause Ra fiend To show the whole world some of the things I seen Then blow it up, like Edi Amin, ya know what I mean? [Chorus] [Rakim] I do a thing thing, I write the songs they sing Make sure that they swing, from New York to Beijing Put your thoughts in the sling and your brain is gangrene Pull in the ring, repeating and saying the same thing Xerox, zero, no match, you ditto Copy machine, couldn't reprint my ? My new style, that I produce now's beyond two-thou' I knew how, since a juvenile, to make a ka-pow When the night's falling, I can hear the mic calling I like balling, I cut back like Mic Jordan This is for y'all while I'm spitting literature's Lyrics'll ball like Allen Iverson dribble the ball They hopeless, whoever approaches my high explosives My vision sadicious, and freestyle's ferocious I wrote this, words flew over my head like a locust I turned the beat up, sat back, and stayed focused [Chorus] |
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| 14. |
| 0:52 |
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| 15. |
| 4:34 |
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[Rakim]
One two Yeah, yeah, "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island" Yeah it's the God baby, Long Island's own, Barbarian of the microphone, "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island" It's for y'all niggas And the streets just a couple of miles East of Mecca Where peeps touch nothing but style heat and cheddar Compete with ya livelihood to eat better And ain't nothing sweet but the ladies who speak wetta With a torn smile, trying to get my song on file It's on now, the whole town done gone wild Kick rhymes off my heartbeat as a unborn child Then developed a strong style on Long Isle Won't be long now, I started rhyming young I designed for fun, knowing my time would come I started, paying dues DJ'in with crews Learning the inner city rules, conveying the news Soon as the jam start the man's art'll jam parks Slam so hard it remains a landmark The rhyme that I'm styling, smooth as a violin But "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island" ("Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"( Like any G.O.D., loose on a spree for new degrees Things to do and see until nothing is new to me A true MC usually be into a breeze And I can still see New York City through the trees My advance slams put you outside looking in Or the other way around, that depends, look again Took a pen so you could zero in on my book of gems It extends from the Hamptons to Brook-lyn Through every hoodie in town, to learn the Boogie Down Til every DJ around, wanted to put me down Rhymes got rougher til I was ready to blast off And harass all from Suffolk County to Nassau Where we keep the money piling, keep the honies smiling Keep the heater just in case kids start whyling The rhyme that I'm styling, smooth as a violin "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island" ("Rough enough to break New York from Long Island) Grew up in Wyndanch, formerly known as Crime-Danch Me and my mans we travel lands to find jams Where violence usually ends in sirens By all means, we all fiend for finance We make cash on the street called straight path We take class, build with the Gods with great math Everyday true to the street, and never fronted Along the way, learned from the best that ever done it Being exposed to life's highs and lows Got my flows ready for shows, I'm ready for the pros I put it on a tape and then the city I tested Then on the radio the are's requested Now the whole world's whyling, all the girls smiling You know, it's on, soon as they let the crowd in The rhyme that I'm styling, smooth as a violin "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island" Word up.. I want to give a big up to Long Island, stomping grounds, for real ("Rough enough to break New York from Long Island") Crime-Danch, one love baby, word up ("Rough enough to break New York from Long Island") I want to give a crazy shout out to all the DJ's back in the day Who used to let me smoke they microphones, ya know what I mean? Big up to DJ Maniac, DJ Teddy Tuff, and DJ Cool Breeze ("Rough enough to break New York from Long Island") Word up ("Rough enough to break New York from Long Island") |
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| 16. |
| 4:05 |
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[Rakim]
Yeah, it's the god Rakim Word up, I'm blazin this out to all my comrades Ya know what I mean? From the gslums of New York, to the gutters all over the world This is for y'all, Through my travels I try to take righteous steps Because right or left could mean life or death No matter how trife it get, my sights is set But it's twice the threat when the ?nights is death? My mental windows refuse to close, they get exposed To the neighborhood info where the poison wind blows A deadly plague spreading negativity, viciously Unto every city be in ghetto misery Don't let it get to me, the writer be left to die But it get mesmerize if it catch your eye Shines enormous, from pure revered cool's and garments But it's torment, jealousy drug wars or warring Tallying, slowly turning into barbarians More scary when the whole boulevard's carrying Living in the world of sin, my ghetto girls and men Waiting for the world to end [Chorus: x2] "Trying to paint a perfect picture and excel" "In case you didn't know" "Never moving backwards" "Complicated" "Know what I mean?" I see destruction, even little kids trust none They bust guns, that's what they get a rush from When I see em, we build and have a real discussion "Yo Ra, what's the jewel of the day?" "What up, son" "You got ambition?" Shorty said, "Man listen I got demands for living, can't stand division Make grands on my mission, till everything glisten Women in the Expedition, no plans for prison In a vision the city get, 2 milleni G Sitting in my MSC sipping Hennesy Getting high, and watch life pass me by" So I asked him why, wit a fast reply He said "I'm living just to die without any feelings So I wait here for my Maker till it's time to go Wit this dime I know Wit all of her girls and all of my men's Waiting for the world to end" [Chorus: x2] Shorty was taught to keep his head to the sky, and never cry But the streets left him to die, now it's death in his eye Living a sin of hitmen, a sinister grin From be-ginning to end, in it to win Evil rebels, doing what we doing in the ghetto Thinking if we was thorough we can deceive the devil You can't win, your life be end, try again Shorty said, "Why we born again to die again?" That's what I said when I realized I had a gift To uplift and be one of Allah's advocates Teach the youth and speak the truth Show em what peace can do when ?ill? reach for you And my reward won't be jewels or cheese, it's even better I can be one of the greatest MC's ever If I tell em they intelligent women and great men And live, stop waiting for the world to end [Chorus: x2] "I'm raging, ripping up the stage an' Don't it sound amazing, know what I mean?" "Don't it sound amazing, know what I mean?" "Rakim" |
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