You lose money chasing women;
Never lose women chasing money.

Nas, “Ghetto Rich (Remix),” Rich Boy’s self-titled album, 2007

Bitch is in the back looking righteous
In a tight dress…I think I might just
Hit her with a little Biggie 101:
How to tote a gun,
And have fun with Jamaican rum.

The Notorious B.I.G., “Party and Bullshit,” from Who’s The Man? soundtrack, 1993

Be a king? Think not.
Why be a king when you can be a God?

Eminem, “Rap God,” The Marshall Mathers LP 2, 2013

This game is lame, the music comes second
So you can save that stupidness for all them artists you checkin.
Popularity don’t last long, I’m in it for classics,
Cause the other side of the biz is fake and it’s plastic.

Craig G., “Classic Personified,” Ramblings of an Angry Old Man, 2012

When you feeding on hate, you empty, my nigga. It shows.

Rick Ross, “Hold On,” from Pusha T’s My Name is My Name, 2013

Make a radio hit: heads criticize it.
Underground classic? Nobody buys it.
So, rap is fucked…
And everything blowing up sounds redundant,
But money talks and bullshit does 9 flat in the 100.

Ras Kass, “Reelishymn,” Soul On Ice, 1996

Pain is joy when it cries, it’s my smile in disguise.

Pusha T, “Pain,” My Name is My Name, 2013

Dial the seven digits, call up Bridgette,
Her man’s a midget.
Plus she got friends, yo, I can dig it.

Opio, “‘93 Til Infinity,” from Souls of Mischief’s ‘93 Til Infinity, 1993

We missed a lot of church, so the music is our confessional.

Big Boi, “Aquemini,” from Outkast’s Aquemini, 1998

I’ve been layin’, waiting for your next mistake,
I put in work, and watch my status escalate.

Guru, “Work,” from Gang Starr’s Moment of Truth, 1998

How you know where I’m at when you haven’t been where I’ve been?
Understand where I’m coming from?

B-Real, “How I Could Just Kill A Man,” from Cypress Hill’s Cypress Hill, 1991

Nothing’s been the same since they dropped ‘Control’
And tucked a sensitive rapper back in his pajama clothes.
Ha-ha! Joke’s on you, high-five, I’m bulletproof,
Your shit’ll never penetrate.
Pin the tail on the donkey, boy you been a fake.

Kendrick Lamar, BET Cypher, 2013.

A lot of rappers be like one time wonders,
Couldn’t say a fly rhyme if there was one right under their noses…
I hate those motherfuckin posers.

Guru, “Mass Appeal,” from Gang Starr’s Hard to Earn, 1994 (via ninetynow)

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

I know the feelin, when you feelin like a villain,
You be havin good thoughts but the evils be revealin’.
And the stresses of life can take you off the right path,
Jealousy and envy tends to infiltrate your staff…
We gotta hold it down so we can move on past
All adversities, so we can get through fast.

Q-Tip, “Stressed Out,” from A Tribe Called Quest’s Beats, Rhymes & Life, 1996