Jeah.. uhh.. it's what I do for a livin nigga Eat for a livin nigga (watcher) That's how I live for a livin nigga.. (watcher) Okay, let's do this (the watcher)
[Verse One: Jay-Z] Things just ain't the same for gangsters But I'm a little too famous to shoot these pranksters All of these rap singers claimin they bangers Doin all sorts of twisted shit with they fingers Disrespectin the game, no home trainin or manners I was doin this shit when you was shittin Pampers I was movin them grams 'fore you, knew what a hand that hand was Duckin the vans, radars, the scanners 'Fore you knew what hard white to tame was I was hittin the turnpike, aight with the bammers I was nice with my hands, cuss aight with them hammers I was prickin my finger 'fore you knew what a Fam was I had it laid out 'fore you knew what a plan was Three hundred mill' later, now you understand us Y'all ain't see us comin through Vegas You ever seen so much cham' bust in one night Grand fucked up one fight I was on the Peter Pan bus You was Peter Pan up in your room, y'all fuckin with whom? Allowed me to be taught You cowards is just now learnin the shit that we talk You niggaz ain't know about a Robb Report Bout a high speed Porsche, i.e. You niggaz ain't know how to floss 'til I came through the door like "Eric B. for Pres," respect me in this BITCH! You can't disrespect us cause you got a little check cut You was suckin for so long, fuckin your little neck up Now you too big for your britches, you got a few little bitches You think you Hugh Hefner, you just ridiculous I blew breath for you midgets, I gave life to the game It's only right I got the right to be king Niggaz that got life really like what I sing Cause they know is he really like, niggaz feel my pain Know the shit I DON'T write be the illest shit that's ever been recited in the game word to the hyphen in my NAME! J, A, Y, DASH, Hoffa The past present nigga the future, proper The holy trinity of hip-hop is us We give, Dre his props BUT that's where it stops It's the Roc
[Chorus: Truth Hurts] I know, you got your eyes on me I feel you watchin me But it ain't hard to see that you can't see me You try, but what you think you saw Ain't what you thought you saw You bed-da off not lookin at all (Everywhere that I go, ain't the same as befo') (People I used to know, just don't know me no mo') (But everywhere that I go, I got people I know) (Who got people they know, so I suggest you lay low)
[Verse Two: Dr. Dre] I'm still on top of the game Still droppin flames, still cock and aim Still at the top had the Roc for the fame over setbacks, there's been a lot since I came You seen it all, how I got, how I gained The momentum when it dropped, how I got through the pain When I roll and shock, they watched me reclaim the streets, they made a special spot for my name Dre, haters wanna stop to my reign But the music lives in me, every drop in my veins The pride and the pain All the way back from the rise of my name See the world clear through the eyes of the mane See the world chear for the rhymes that I gave When the beat bangs it'll drive them insane The eyes that I played The best to emerge in the game is The Watcher
[Chorus]
[Verse Three: Rakim] I'm "Rated R," my brain contains graphics thangs It turn traumatic teens into addicts, and fiends It's like, watchin a movie through a panoramic screen Which means, I can see the whole planet in the scene Cash is the topic, the object, a fatter pocket Some take the crack and chop it, but those that haven't got it take away the added profit, it's catastrophic I take the gat and cock it, and I'll sit back and watch it These New York streets is ugly, I keep it gully The world is mine and can't nobody keep it from me Yo, my neighborhood is never sunny In the place where the number one cause of death is money You can try copin I've seen enough shit to leave your frame of mind broken I'm still alive and scopin Be another hundred years 'til my skies close in And I'ma die with my eyes open, the watcher [echoes]
What, uhh, yo Just when things seemed the same, and the whole scene is lame I come and reign with the unexplained for the brains 'til things change They strain to sling slang, I'm trained to bring game History that I arranged been regained by King James Go to practice, with tactics, when the track hits, theatrics Women that look like actress the status of Cleopatra's Stacks of mathematics took the ?ego-a-geatics? As I find out, what the facts is, for geographic No time to sip Mo's with hostess, never mind what the total gross is I rip shows, stay focused, and split cheese, with soldiers While you hit trees and coast I spit flows that be ferocious And with these explosives, I split seas for Moses Shine permanently only my mind's concernin me Fire burns in me eternally time's eternity Followers turn on me they'll be in a mental infirmary Determinely advance technology better than Germany Since the first days you know of, till the last days is over I was always the flow-er, I made waves for Noah From a compound, to the anatomy, to the breakdown of a atom Some of my rap patterns, still surround Saturn From the ancient hieroglyphics, to graffiti painted pictures I study I know the scriptures but nowaday ain't it vicious Date back I go beyond, check the holy Qu'ran To speeches at the autobahn, now we get our party on So being benificent, I bless em with dialogue They expectin the next testament, by the God I roam through battlezones with chrome for chaperone Blast beat with saxophones one of the baddest rappers known Every country city and borough, sidestreet and ghetto Isle and alley and meadow, theories thorough enough to echo When it was one mass of land, with one nash' of man And the whole mass was ran under one master plan Since the world's metamorphis, and the plan is kept in orbit Turntables we spin awkward but needles never skip off it Rhythms we expressin similar to our ancestors It'll answer your questions if you understand the message From the days of the slave choppers, to the new age of prophets As heavy as hip-hop is I'm always ready to drop it From the mind which is one of Allah's best designs And mines'll stand the test of time, when I rhyme
*The 18th Letter, the prophecy professor I stay clever, long as the planet stay together Bring up praise from Mecca, make a phrase for the better In new days to remember, always and forever
It feel good, ya knahmean? To uhh, come back and and get embraced That's that's like the best part y'know? Bein bein gone for a while y'know Walk through the streets 'Yo Ra yo when you comin out, you gotta come out' this and that Y'know, so y'know I always want to come back Had little setbacks, but umm To comeback and get embraced man, that's the best part
It's been a long time.. It's been a long time.. It's been a long time.. It's been a long time.. .. Rakim, the microphone soloist
Follow procedures, the crowd couldn't wait to see this Nobody been this long awaited since Jesus Who wouldn't believe this - I heard the word on the street is I'm still one of the deepest on the mic since Adidas They said I changed the times from the rhymes that I thought of So I made some more to put the New World in Order with Mathematics, put your status above the average And help you rappers, make paragraphs with graphics Cause new days is dawnin, new ways of peformin Brainstormin, I write and watch the night turn to mornin On and on and, I got the whole world respondin Rock, I keep it hot and blow the spot without warnin The Emperor, well known for, inventin a sentence full of adventure, turnin up the temperature Rush with adrenaline, how long has it been again to be in the state of mind that Rakim is in?
It's been a long time.. .. Rakim, the microphone soloist It's been a long time.. It's been a long time.. .. Rakim
When I'm out proppin - either, hangin or shoppin People see me stop and ask me when the album droppin The wait is over, in-formation like a soldier like I told ya, greater stronger, now that I'm older I broke the, code of silence with overloads of talents My only challenge, is not to explode in violence I'm Asiatic, and blazin microphones a habit At least once durin the course of a day, it's automatic In ghetto apparel, mind of a Egyptian Pharoah Far from shallow, thoughts travel like an arrow Allah's monotony, so far they can't stop me You know, Ra want property like Mumar Khadafi More thoughts than Bibles, recital - taught disciples A sawed off mic, so words scatter like a rifle Thoughts that's trifle, I'm bustin these for you Aiyyo, technical difficulties is through
It's been a long time.. .. Rakim, the microphone soloist It's been a long time.. .. Rakim, the microphone soloist It's been a long time.. .. Rakim, the microphone soloist It's been a long time.. It's been a long time..
When I float at night, I show em new heights, I go to write They know I strike with new prototypes to blow the mic Critics and biters, don't know where my source of light is Still leave authors and writers with arthritis Cursed kids like the Pyramids when they found the style First to ever let a rhyme flow down the Nile The rebirth of hip-hop'll be dropped now cause the crowd didn't hear the original in a while So be alarmed, what you bout to see is the bomb Like, 3-D in 'Nam, vivid like CD-Rom Info kept like "internet.com" My note-book's my bond like the Holy Qu'ran Since I came in the door, said it before But no I ain't down with Eric B. no more At night the open mic be invitin me to rhyme So yo I'm online, it's been a long time
It's been a long time.. It's been a long time.. .. Rakim, the microphone soloist It's been a long time.. .. Rakim, the microphone soloist It's been a long time.. It's been a long time.. It's been a long time.. It's been a long time.. It's been a long time..
Turn the beat up, I get lost in the mind come across the rhyme kick my feet up, then I find myself in time I was on a train, destination Marley Marl's domain I entertained things'll never be the same DJ's are conveyed if the label OK it Teddy Ted and Special K was the first ones to play it On the radio, with the crazy flow I pay dues until it pays me dough to do a show When I'm at the helm I cover the whole realm In control and leave your soul overwhelmed Another influence of beats and instruments Lyrics make it intricate and elements are tense When you was playin Pac Man it was the jams I packed Peeps would swarm when I was perform in, black I'm all that Back before they turned hip-hop to rap It always a place to party at, remember that?
I remember the spots that used to be hot Just like the roof top, a place that only few can rock on a wild ass block, yeah you find me there a lot Until you hear gunshots, that's when the fun stops Here come the cops, time to go home, get in order Cause I'll be back in Manhattan if somethings happenin at the Latin Quarter House of havoc when it came to fourteen carat And if you had it yeah kids'd try to grab it It's cool at the Red Parrot we was doin it there I was the first one to rip it at the Union Square Me and DJ Red Alert did work A crazy concert, a lot of kids got hurt I did encores at the Encore, they wanted more I kicked a freestyle til I heard the crowd roar Like the Funhouse, Bronx Center never endin black Place to be was the Brooklyn Armory, remember that?
Remember that? (3X)
Open the door, let the crowds in, over twenty thousand Wildin music's loud and microphone's growlin Tickets are sold out, parties is packed and on tour rippin basketball arenas back then Even afterparties, posses of players and hotties Everybody was Gotti, spreadin bucks like shotties Spendin cash, to make a good time last Thoughts that I had give me a blast of the past Memories of unforgettable times on my mind Dollar signs and melodies and incredible rhymes The people I met, and the sets that got wrecked All the mics I checked, most of all life's effects And peace to all the people I grew up around in the streets back when beats had a rougher sound I used to be wild me and my crew sit back and we smile Keep piles of pictures filed in case I go senile Cause some things are just too good to be forgot Like your neighborhood block or your favorite spot Certain records always seem to make me reminisce And when it hits, and then it clicks, remember this My life flashed before me I'm there from the sounds I hear pinpoint the year, it's perfectly clear I like the way it went down and alla that, in fact It mean a lot, cause you can't bring it back, remember that
"Yo" --> Mobb Deep "And my name is Rakim..." --> The R (repeat 5X)
Yo, the saga begins, my eyes is the photography lens Properly push pens, and show quality gems The horrors be grim, but yo maybe tomorrow we win If we follow the trends and keep count of the dollars we spend I want a mahogany Benz, I want lottery ends I want property, friends, plus my hobby is skins If I decide we in sin, then my prophesy ends But the God'll begin, watchin my odyssey spin in the place where war be, based on a true story Territory was made for me to pursue glory Blast alone masses in zones have to be sewn Every capacity blown, I'm internationally known, yo
*So all hail the honorable, microphone phenomenal Persona is unbombable?, trust me son I continue like a saga do, bringin you the drama to allow you that the chronicle has just begun
**"The saga begins" --> Mobb Deep "The soul controller, Rakim" --> Rakim "Set it off... yo, the saga begins" --> Mobb Deep "Still say a rhyme after the next one" --> Rakim (repeat 2X except 8th line is "You know that I'm the soloist" --> Rakim)
Yo, my never-ending epic, got the world spinning hectic I quickly spread it, till the whole city's infected Suspense that I supply intensify Then commence as my daily events go by You get involved in this, paragraphologist Narratin novelist, market this, sound marvelous I'm the star in this, which means the author's authentic Most definite, every episode's a epidemic So when you research, check it, here go the evidence They represent with lyrical negligence for presidents My science existed, without the fiction Every inscription is a special edition
* Repeat
** Repeat
Yo, the legacy lives, let em see what the pedigree is Mega-thesis, blessin these kids with extra features The depth's deep as, the deepest sea is Telepathy increases melody gets speakers, telekinesis Ideas appear as clear as, pictures in movie theaters Lyrics you hear it, devestating the way you ear it So stay tuned for sequels, part two's and more So soon you and your peoples can bumrush the store The names have changed the game remain the same How one came to reign on his claim to fame No stoppin this I'm droppin this with hip-hop in this And when the topic is topicless, then I'm writing the apocalypse
Kind of glad I ain't come out in this y'know the last few years, y'know But umm right now I think everybody want a change Back to hip-hop and, knowhatI'msayin rhymes skills and things of that nature, so timing man, timing is perfect Plus this is ninety-seven, which is Born God, knahmean? And I'm back, straight up
Yeah, yeah It's the return of the Wild Style fashionist Smashin hits, make it hard to adapt to this Put pizazz and jazz in this, and cash in this Mastered this, flash this and make em clap to this DJ's throw on cuts and obey the crowd Just pump the volume up, and play it loud Hip-Hop's embedded, before I said I wouldn't let it But me and the microphone is still magnetic Straight off the top, I knew I'd be forced to rock Dancefloors just stop, the spot's scorchin hot Hoping I open Rakim Allah seminars Massage at the bar smokin ten dollar cigars while I admire midas, with more vision than TV's I find it easy catchin diabetes from fly sweeties Sit back and wait to hear a slammin track Rockin jams by popular demand, I'm back
*I control the crowd, you know I hold it down When it drop you know it's jiggy when you hear the sound From town to town, until it's world reknowned And I rock New York City all year around
Check it out It's on so you can swerve when it's heard in clubs Thought patterns displayed on Persian rugs Equations are drawn up in paisley form Mic it stay warm, my flow is Evian Deep as a Nautilus, you stay dipped in Ra style from the shores of Long Island to Panama Canal Intellect pitches new trends like a clothes designer I'm in effect, quicker than medicines in China Split the mic open fill it with somethin potent to go in and take a toke then, mental planes start floatin Hot science is smokin altitudes cause chokin Product is hypnotic you're soakin and still smokin Showin better scenes than grams of amphetamines Plans to scheme, means I'll forever fiend Long as the mic is loud and the volume is pumpin I'ma move crowds to 2000
* Repeat
Yo, my rhymes and lyrics, find spirits like a seance Since fat Cray-ons, I write and display chaos My plan is damage, the diagram to where the jam I take advantage, until the crowd go bananas What a rush I hear cuts then I lust to touch Microphones get clutched by the illustrious Word spread I inherited, many ways to say the unsaid Born with three 7's in my head In time no one can seem to blow your mind as far as this To find you'll need philosophers and anthropologists Astrologists, professors from your smartest colleges with knowledge of scholarships, when Ra be droppin this Some of the things I know, will be in your next Bible When I die go bury me and my notebook in Cairo with the great God from Egypt manifest was write rhymes align with the stars, I come back to bless the mic
* Repeat (x2)
"Once again, back is the incredible" --> Chuck D Word up, Rakim Allah the Microphone Fiend is back, yaknahmean? "Rakim Allah" --> Rakim Till death do us part "Once again, back is the incredible" --> Chuck D It's on "Rakim Allah" --> Rakim *CD sample, *Ra sample in sequence to 3:50 "Once again back is the incredible The incredible, the incredible The incredible... Once again back is the incredible Rhyme animal, the incredible..." --> Chuck D
What you wanna say to make me stay awhile What you wanna say to make me wanna stay (repeat 2X)
Just me and my peeps we gettin buzzed, lookin for clubs Misses with kisses and hugs, lookin for love She gotta be nice with hers, even with cookin some grub Once I'm in I meet her friends, then I'm hookin my thugs We'll be blowin hundreds, always knowin where the fun is Roadrunners findin more spots than Columbus Pocket full of phone numbers from some of the world wonders I take my time, and find where the right one is Smooth as jazz but more than a half, ready for math And on a steady path, like Betty Shabazz And when I see the wiz I'ma step to my biz And there she is, let's see if she pass the quiz It's appropriate we go get soakin wet Toast, we met, become close associates The place is ours by now I can embrace your style So much flavor I can taste your smile, stay awhile
*Why don't you, stay a little while Stayyayyayyy, stay a little while, child Baby, why don't you, stay a little while Stayyayyyayy, ayyyayyy, stay a little while, child Baby, why don't you
We on the low matin, infiltratin, negotiatin We both be makin moves and dough, M.O.'s relatin She ain't takin I want it but yo I know she waitin I throw the bait in, and before you know we datin I want the format, to the doormat Contacts fast, callbacks and all that Your deepest ecstasy see you wear accesory Your secret recipes to your bear necessities She real exotic body feel like Lucile Roberts Name brand closets, culturized products Claws like a scorpion caught me in deeper But juice sweeter, enough to buy a two seater Every mile I plan to have your mind beguiled Til it informs me more than you would normally allow Raised more than an eyebrow with a flagrant style By now I can taste your smile, stay awhile
* Repeat
Sometimes it's hard to fight it and not let her see me get excited But she know I like it, she know the deal like a psychic Mind is haunted, because I always find her on it She know what I want, where I want, when I want it Blowin up my Motorola, daddy you comin over? She on the sofa, holdin a remote controller Candles burnin lower, favorite dish gettin colder She hot as solar, cause I told her I wanna hold her But her mission she sittin in one position like Yoda A TV show is on to top it off she dead sober Then I open the door up, and kiss her on the shoulder She say I'm rollin, like Mr. Lover Lover We had a hard day, ready to parlay My thirsts they obey everything that God say Okay let's play awhile and I'll embrace your style So much flavor I can taste your smile, stay awhile
{*from the movie "Wildstyle"*} If you was born in New york City let me hear say "You know that"! YOU KNOW THAT
[Rakim] Aiyyo, once upon a rhyme where the scenery sets, you see stress Streets a matter of life and death, no regrets Life's a test, strife, wit special effects Neighbourhood's full of reps, cities are projects Where the young cadets get stripes from the vets And comrades quest to be the next, to finess Collect debts and select bets with death threats Object - Chedder, better your total net Where trends are set from ways to express the outfits Friends get wet tryin' to make ends connect Avenues to check, boulevards to sweat The smell of gunsmoke more common than cigarettes WE GOT clicks for wreck WE LIKE Pits for pets WE GOT Giants and Jets, the Knicks, Yanks and Mets WE LIKE much respect and sex extra wet And High-Tech dialect you ain't catch yet
(The Bronx Ya out there? No doubt Brooklyn ya out there)
[Rakim] Aiyyo, we got blocks and glocks with Big shots with big knots and big props Yo this is where the bullshit stops Where herbs get got, if you snitch you get shot We get down and leave the town in a state of shock WE GOT dangerous hang out spots and slick cops Place called Riker's Island where kids get locked A lotta gear to rock with blocks of clothes shops Styles are top notch, this is the place to watch So bust the box the radio station is hot Ease your mind staring at skylines from rooftops Flip scripts for chips, and new whips off the lot Quick to call a shot, pollitic with thick plots And the Garden of Eden against the sea that we got to make sure the core of the Big Apple don't rot Where seeings believing we be achieving a lot Since disc jocks created hip hop, check it out!
(Queens - ya out there? no doubt Manhattan - no doubt New York city, Staten Island New York, New York, Long Island New York - ya out there?)
[Rakim] Aiyyo, we got five bouroughs of ghettos with many places to meet, you get lost in city streets the city that never sleeps Mecca ? Medina the population increase The desert and the oasis, New York, the far east With Gods and sheiks, pretty Amazons for weeks Player dons that fleece the family's black sheep Icons that teach that we all act unique We got stats to reach so we all have to eat A mass of peeps, with they own masterpiece The crafts elite, we going past the beat The latest technique no other place get as deep Who parks release some of the worlds greatest athletes DJ's and MC's and graffiti artistes Who use walls and subway trains for marquees We go back to b-boys, breakdancing, breakbeats And it'll never cease and on that note, we say peace
Promise you won't do me wrong (for sure) If I turn you on (yeah) Promise you'll stay all night long (on on) Makin love til dawn
Yo, it's time to bring the day in, fresh out the crib sauteein Around the way-in, swerve on, surveyin That's when I saw her, the kind you wanna see more of The sexy aura, it made it hard to ignore her Expression her posession of property skyrocket I'm investin in her presence and in time it profits I take a acre for you, fertilize the soil and make it boil, til it produce black oil The Shorty sweet as, the flavor of forty divas Photos and features, worth more than Mona Lisa's It's lady lucious, tender touches my blood rushes Smiles and blushes, on billboards and buses And me, I'm just a bronze skinned calm gentleman Slim fit and open arms mellow wit a Don's grin Ghetto disciplined, could be your confidant beyond friend It's one of Allah's men, Rakim, show me love
Promise you won't do me wrong (uh) If I turn you on (go ahead, uh) Promise you'll stay all night long (uh, yeah) Makin love til dawn (turn me on love) Promise you won't do me wrong (mmm) If I turn you on (mmm, mmm, yeah) Promise you'll stay all night long So we can get it on (check it out)
I'm in effect mode, I keep the ep sewed When you express your finesse to your dress code Every step's a pose, you've been blessed and it shows My interest grows, the effervesce explodes Because this chick's, characteristics, mystic Hips are thick, just a little bit of lipstick Can't resist it, description Egyptian smile Queen of the Nile, that means she dipped in style She re-mind of Nefretiti, yes indeed-y But it's hard to get it like hieroglyphic graffiti Studied her exhibits and checked her colorful curves Intellect with swerves I coulda wrecked my nerves That's my word, diggin her enigma that exist in a sister, carefully wrapped in her figure We connect like a collision and hug, just to knowledge her wisdom, speed up my metabolism, show me love
Promise you won't do me wrong If I turn you on (uh, yeah) Promise you'll stay all night long (YEAH) Makin love til dawn (check it out) Promise you won't do me wrong (go ahead, go ahead) If I turn you on (yeah, yeah) Promise you'll stay all night long So we can get it on
Your M.O. is hard not to notice, so my motives is to stay focused, body moves like aerobics Attractions, vibes I caught came from your ways and actions but mindframe hard to explain No actin or mindgames, but thinkin of what can happen is migraines, the x-rated though remains We relaxin, and you naggin me for the agony to your anatomy, by the fractions Your measurements, the pleasure's in every inch of your temple I travel twenty-three million miles of your mental Chemistry, between you and me, in harmony Causin angles to meet, like trigonometry or pyramids, that's where your deepest, treasures are hid Then it gets, odiferous, cause I know where it is I mastered that, cause it's easy when you react The all-natural aphrodisiac, show me love
Promise you won't do me wrong If I turn you on (yeah) Promise you'll stay all night long (go ahead, go ahead) Making love til dawn (uh) Promise you won't do me wrong (straight up) If I turn you on (go ahead, uh) Promise you'll stay all night long (yeah) So we can get it on (show me love) Promise you won't do me wrong If I turn you on Promise you'll stay all night long Making love til dawn Promise you won't do me wrong (uh, yeah) If I turn you on (check it out, uh) Promise you'll stay all night long (and you don't stop) So we can get it on (uh) Promise you won't do me wrong If I turn you on Promise you'll stay all night long Making love til dawn...
*If you can see if you can solve the mystery The answer revolves around your history So carefully, I drop this degree Scientifically, and realistically (Who is God?)
* Repeat
In eternal blackness, in the midst of the darkest night Proteins and minerals, exist within specks of light Solids liquids and gases, and sparks of light within infinite lengths and widths and depths and heights No beginning or ending, the seven dimensions Enough space for more than a million words and inventions To travel through time within enough room to be the womb of the most high's great mind which he will soon make shine With intelligent elements in sight that he will gather In the realms of relativity electricity struck matter Energies explode he below to keep releasin Atoms by the millions, til the numbers increasin Til it was burnin he kept returnin itself to the source The hotter his thoughts it gave the center more force He gave birth to the sun which would follow his laws All caused by his mental intercourse, who is God?
* Repeat
He began to explain his craft, the master in the attic He dealt with measurements his language, was mathematics His theoretical wisdom of the numerical system The complete number nine which means born or existed He gave birth to all planets, inorganic, and organic So you wouldn't take it for granted They rotated they own distance around the sun And fully submit to the existance of one And each one was promised everlasting perfection If each one keeps spinnin in the same direction To the East, and each speak the motion of peace and harmony, and each show devotion to teach The universe is to come, the whole world must go according Know your galaxies and mirages stars start fallin So stay in your orbit maintain safe and sound Like the planets each cipher remains perfectly round
* Repeat
From unconciousness, to conciousness By knowledging his wisdom his response is this A understanding, which is the best part He picked the third planet where new forms of life would start He pursued show and prove every move in order Back to the source he let off his resources in the water Climb his climax, where the climate is at, high degrees See he start to breathe deep in the darkest seas And the plan is, to lay in the clays to form land And expand, usin the same clays to born man In his own image our origin begins in the East Culture rise to breed, with the powers of peace Deal in equality nature's policy is to be God Build or destroy positively born life like Allah And each one was given everlasting perfection If each one keep living in the same direction And life was life, and love was love We went according by the laws of the world above They showed us physically, we could reach infinity But mentally, through the century we lost our identity Life start and ending, we got trife and started sinning Lost touch with the beginning now ciphers stop spinnin And what was once easy became confused and hard Which brings us back, to the mystic question, who is God? Sixty-six trillion years since his face was shown When the seventh angel appears, the mystery will be known Check Revelations and Genesis, St. Luke and John It even tells us we are Gods in the Holy Qu'ran Wisdom Strength and Beauty, one of the meanings of God G.O.D. you and me ?Gomars O Dubar? Knowledge Wisdom Understanding Sun Moon and Star Man Woman and Child, and so is Allah
* Repeat
Bear witness to Allah, gave birth to all For Allah was all, and therefore, life itself And the universe gave birth to man The universe was man, and man was the universe And the universe was always existed And existance was life And life is Allah And Allah had no beginning because he is, what always was Rakim Allah, peace Now who is God?
*(Yo) I find a show, rhyme til it's time to go I'm designed to blow, my mind's inclined to flow Yo, my M.O., makin all kind of dough From the info that Rakim show, y'know?
Yes yes y'all, I still fiend by any means to flow, and I go through extremes don't intervene My adventures show like a three dimensional screen Cause I mention many things and I'm presentin many scenes Guess I'm telegraphic, motions energentic Better tell em forget it, cause I'm telekinetic Crowds is screamin, I choke the mic and keep squeezin Styles seemin like I used a thousand words without breathin Bustin techs like Russian Roulette I doubt you win Freestyles like hand grenades without the pin Composin, then leave the mic full of corrosion Don't test this, or best to expects this explosion At shows I spit flows with seven deadly venoms Killin syllables with poisonous synonyms in em Ideas is blowin, mics is blowin from what I'm showin, see it, I keep it goin when I'm flowin
* Repeat
When I'm flowin, theoretically speakin like a drummer I take you through the streets to the parks in the summer or illustrate, a time and place you never been in and make you focus on the future after seein the beginning And my style wilds, like Miles on the trumpet Volume dial was kind of low, need to pump it Up another notch turn the dial til it stops More watts you got, more things to watch Third eye's wide open, you're focused on the theory Keep scopin til you hear me, words is spoken clearly It's no smokescreens on the scenes that I'm showin Man I keep it goin, damn I keep it flowin
* Repeat (x2)
Two pages cause panic, freestyles is frantic Thoughts is organic, flow is aerodynamic Mic is volcanic, rhymes spread across the planet I send out the scribe now the vibes gigantic Now, I'm internationally known, mental capacities blown I hope your microphone's accident prone Raw footage is shown, but only showin scenes of my own Leavin your periphereal vision in a zone But not the twilight, from the insight that I write and recite, in my mic'll be bright, cause I like the night glowin, it's out of sight when I'm showin Man I keep it goin, damn I keep it flowin
* Repeat (x2)
Yo, accurate tactics "Make Em Clap to This" When I "Move the Crowd", my "Rhythm" still don't miss Breeze through melodies cause "It's Been A Long Time" My "Lyrics" is "Fury" and rappers hate to hear me rhyme Every antidote that I quote, is "No Joke" Nobody's smilin "In The Ghetto" from the notes I wrote My high techniques wreck and disrepect beats Have you "Follow-in The Leader" up and down the streets So "Kick Along" as I rip a song with pull As the rhyme goes on I get "Paid In Full" It's Rakim, I'm indicatin rhymes for the showin Check it out y'all, I keep it goin when I'm flowin
* Repeat (x2)
Straight up, Rakim Allah the Fiend of the Microphone still flowin You know? One love to ? comin through your livin room soon, straight up ?, one love The whole tri-state, one love Rakim Allah baby, y'know? It's on, what, check it out y'all, check it out
"It's been a long time.." "It's been a long time.." "It's been a long time.." "It's been a long time.." ".. Rakim, the microphone soloist"
Follow procedures, the crowd couldn't wait to see this Nobody been this long awaited since Jesus Who wouldn't believe this - I heard the word on the street is I'm still one of the deepest on the mic since Adidas They said I changed the times from the rhymes that I thought of So I made some more to put the New World in Order with Mathematics, put your status above the average And help you rappers, make paragraphs with graphics Cause new days is dawnin, new ways of peformin Brainstormin, I write and watch the night turn to mornin On and on and, I got the whole world respondin Rock, I keep it hot and blow the spot without warnin The Emperor, well known for, inventin a sentence full of adventure, turnin up the temperature Rush with adrenaline, how long has it been again to be in the state of mind that Rakim is in?
"It's been a long time.." ".. Rakim, the microphone soloist" "It's been a long time.." "It's been a long time.." ".. Rakim"
When I'm out proppin - either, hangin or shoppin People see me stop and ask me when the album droppin The wait is over, in-formation like a soldier like I told ya, greater stronger, now that I'm older I broke the, code of silence with overloads of talents My only challenge, is not to explode in violence I'm Asiatic, and blazin microphones a habit At least once durin the course of a day, it's automatic In ghetto apparel, mind of a Egyptian Pharoah Far from shallow, thoughts travel like an arrow Allah's monotony, so far they can't stop me You know, Ra want property like Mumar Khadafi More thoughts than Bibles, recital - taught disciples A sawed off mic, so words scatter like a rifle Thoughts that's trifle, I'm bustin these for you Aiyyo, technical difficulties is through
"It's been a long time.." ".. Rakim, the microphone soloist" "It's been a long time.." ".. Rakim, the microphone soloist" "It's been a long time.." ".. Rakim, the microphone soloist" "It's been a long time.." "It's been a long time.."
When I float at night, I show em new heights, I go to write They know I strike with new prototypes to blow the mic Critics and biters, don't know where my source of light is Still leave authors and writers with arthritis Cursed kids like the Pyramids when they found the style First to ever let a rhyme flow down the Nile The rebirth of hip-hop'll be dropped now cause the crowd didn't hear the original in a while So be alarmed, what you bout to see is the bomb Like, 3-D in 'Nam, vivid like CD-Rom Info kept like "internet.com" My note-book's my bond like the Holy Qu'ran Since I came in the door, said it before But no I ain't down with Eric B. no more At night the open mic be invitin me to rhyme So yo I'm online, it's been a long time
"It's been a long time.." "It's been a long time.." ".. Rakim, the microphone soloist" "It's been a long time.." ".. Rakim, the microphone soloist" "It's been a long time.." "It's been a long time.." "It's been a long time.." {extended scratch} "It's been a long time.." {extended scratch} "It's been a long time.."
Yeah, yeah It's the return of the Wild Style fashionist Smashin hits, make it hard to adapt to this Put pizazz and jazz in this, and cash in this Mastered this, flash this and make em clap to this DJ's throw on cuts and obey the crowd Just pump the volume up, and play it loud Hip-Hop's embedded, before I said I wouldn't let it But me and the microphone is still magnetic Straight off the top, I knew I'd be forced to rock Dancefloors just stop, the spot's scorchin hot Hoping I open Rakim Allah seminars Massage at the bar smokin ten dollar cigars while I admire midas, with more vision than TV's I find it easy catchin diabetes from fly sweeties Sit back and wait to hear a slammin track Rockin jams by popular demand, I'm back
*I control the crowd, you know I hold it down When it drop you know it's jiggy when you hear the sound From town to town, until it's world reknowned And I rock New York City all year around
Check it out It's on so you can swerve when it's heard in clubs Thought patterns displayed on Persian rugs Equations are drawn up in paisley form Mic it stay warm, my flow is Evian Deep as a Nautilus, you stay dipped in Ra style from the shores of Long Island to Panama Canal Intellect pitches new trends like a clothes designer I'm in effect, quicker than medicines in China Split the mic open fill it with somethin potent to go in and take a toke then, mental planes start floatin Hot science is smokin altitudes cause chokin Product is hypnotic you're soakin and still smokin Showin better scenes than grams of amphetamines Plans to scheme, means I'll forever fiend Long as the mic is loud and the volume is pumpin I'ma move crowds to 2000
* Repeat
Yo, my rhymes and lyrics, find spirits like a seance Since fat Cray-ons, I write and display chaos My plan is damage, the diagram to where the jam I take advantage, until the crowd go bananas What a rush I hear cuts then I lust to touch Microphones get clutched by the illustrious Word spread I inherited, many ways to say the unsaid Born with three 7's in my head In time no one can seem to blow your mind as far as this To find you'll need philosophers and anthropologists Astrologists, professors from your smartest colleges with knowledge of scholarships, when Ra be droppin this Some of the things I know, will be in your next Bible When I die go bury me and my notebook in Cairo with the great God from Egypt manifest was write rhymes align with the stars, I come back to bless the mic
* Repeat (x2) "Once again, back is the incredible" --> Chuck D Word up, Rakim Allah the Microphone Fiend is back, yaknahmean? "Rakim Allah" --> Rakim Till death do us part "Once again, back is the incredible" --> Chuck D It's on "Rakim Allah" --> Rakim *CD sample, *Ra sample in sequence to 3:50 "Once again back is the incredible The incredible, the incredible The incredible... Once again back is the incredible Rhyme animal, the incredible..." --> Chuck D
What is, the one, main thing that you have that you would want people to remember you by? Or not one but the, those things that are dear to you that you would, want to be remembered as
I guess I guess it's my words man, yaknahmean? Just my words, and, if people remember my words they'll remember me forever Y'know? God by nature mind raised in Asia, y'know? But umm... it's like y'know to live forever you you you gotta set y'know, not not set trends but you gotta apply yourself a certain way and you gotta do certain things y'know? Maybe, maybe when I'm gone twenty years from now Somebody might be tellin, tellin they little son "Oh yo you think Shorty bad? Yo I 'member this cat way back in like nineteen-ninety. Kid named Rakim, bananas." YouknowhatI'msayin? If that can happen man, I'm aight man, y'know? I got I got I got kids y'know? They gonna umm, finish this for me anyway yknahmsayin so regardless, y'know the legacy lives But umm as far as the masses just remember my words Straight up
