|
Yo, the first time I heard Digital Underground I was in the first grade |
|
My homie Lace brought it over and he dubbed it on a mixtape |
|
I would do the Humpty Hump and perform to his verses |
|
Twelve years later I learned that Shock-G and him were the same person |
|
I loved Hammer, I can't front he taught me how to dance |
|
Along with Bel Biv Devoe I had Jay Ohs and a pair of zebra pants |
|
But this was the foundation of what would come to be |
|
A life long passion journey and drive; an emcee |
|
Some people ask me what it means, I don't know where to start |
|
It's the deepest connection between my soul and my heart |
|
When I first stepped into a cipher and a jam in the park |
|
I got served, no for real I got served |
|
But see I learned something |
|
Observed others and watched |
|
An urged hunger burst, earned a turn at that park. |
|
I don't care who you are, where you're from or what you believe in |
|
But if you love hip hop I bet it's more or less for the same reason |
|
This is it when you spit you exist in that moment |
|
And if you're sick with that gift then you rip it when you perform it |
|
Then all the shit that you live begins to lift up your shoulders |
|
And the audience well they get to experience where your soul is |
|
The most amazing feeling, rocking the crowd to your anthem |
|
From the front to the back with their motha ****in' hands up |
|
'Cause I'm an emcee, won't be the first won't be the last |
|
Just another b-boy and I'm a die in my stance |
|
If you got a pen and a pad put your heart down |
|
If you got a record and can crab lay a scratch down |
|
If you got a marker and a can bomb your art now |
|
If you got a floor and you're fast kick that I'll style |
|
If you got a pen and a pad put your heart down |
|
If you got a record and can crab lay a scratch down |
|
If you got a marker and a can bomb the whole damn town |
|
But if you live for hip hop don't ever put your hands down |
|
Don't put your hands down, keep that shit up |
|
We're goin' to rock it like this, do this with me |
|
It goes front, back |
|
Front, back |
|
Front, back |
|
Front, come on |
|
It goes front, back |
|
Front, back |
|
I said front, back |
|
To my people you know it |
|
Now I don't know if it's the clothes, the hoes, or the cars |
|
That makes people rap like they're trapped inside of these bars |
|
This shit ain't complicated man just be who you are |
|
To busy searching for the light and missing the fact that you're a star |
|
Now who's got passion now stand the hell up |
|
'Cause I want to hear somebody rapping who's got it inside their cuts |
|
Or you can get intricate displaying your fancy cadences |
|
But if you're not speaking the truth you might as well not be saying shit |
|
I said who's going to teach the kids? |
|
You'd rather blow up and get famous so you can get some new rims |
|
All the money in the world can help you look like a star |
|
But money can't buy you the heart to go and put inside your bars |
|
And I like nice shit too |
|
Believe me, I got a closet full of Nikes and a whole bunch of Lenore suits |
|
They'll give you the white tees and the icy earring like the whole youth, |
|
Population of hip hop but look beyond it when I record through, |
|
These beats 'cause if I don't speak me |
|
What's the difference between my lyrics and what you hearin' on MTV |
|
People fear that if they're steering away from the mainstream |
|
Then their album won't sell |
|
Well I could give a **** |
|
I'm just goin' to freestyle and spit what's in my gut |
|
And if you want to you can go and label me conscious |
|
But remember there's a kid at a bus stop beat boxin' |
|
Who's life will be effected by what's inside of his Walkman |
|
If you got a pen and a pad put your heart down |
|
If you got a record and can crab lay a scratch down |
|
If you got a marker and a can bomb your art now |
|
If you got a floor and you're fast kick that I'll style |
|
If you got a pen and a pad put your heart down |
|
If you got a record and can crab lay a scratch down |
|
If you got a marker and a can bomb the whole damn town |
|
But if you live for hip hop don't ever put your hands down |
