It’s all love, but love’s got a thin line
And Pun’s got a big nine,
Respect crime…but not when it reflect mine.
Tag Archives: 1997
To all the seeds that follow me,
Protect your essence.
Born with less, but you still precious,
Just smile for me now.
I don’t mind you talkin shit, just keep it in the first person.
I’m down for you, so ride with me.
My enemies your enemies,
Cause you ain’t ever had a friend like me.
Couldn’t you see me and you stretched out in a bikini on the beach in Tahiti?
See, me, I’m very selective even though I could be greedy;
My main objective is to write our names together in graffiti.
Even when I say nothing, it’s a beautiful use of negative space.
Your reign on the top was short like leprechauns,
As I crush so-called Willies, thugs, and rapper-dons.
You’ve got to realize that the world’s a test,
You can only do your best and let Him do the rest.
You’ve got your life, and got your health,
So quit procrastinating and push it yourself.
Keep my planets in orbit,
Never forfeit or quit,
Move forward…
I talk with the awkward slang,
I walk with the Wu-Tang.
Look: if I shoot you, I’m brainless,
But if you shoot me, then you’re famous.
What’s a nigga to do?
Every little boy wanna pick up the mic,
And try to run with the big boys and live up to the real hype.
But that’s like pickin up a ball, playin with Mike,
Swingin at Ken Griffey or challengin’ Roy to a fight.
Do some good to the ghetto, Mr. Kris Kringle.
Come and stay awhile, kick it with God’s Angels.
Take and acknowledge my wisdom and understand
That Santa Claus is a black man.
Too many songs, weak rhymes that’s mad long.
Make it brief son: half short, twice strong!
Cause on the mic, I got more presence than attendance in a class of schizophrenics
What good is a beautiful dame with a Rolls-Royce frame, and a Volkswagen brain?
I’ll ignore you sellin crack, killin people, and keepin it real,
But disrespect me and my adopted fam and die young like veal.
…But until then, I’ma shine to the last sin,
Resurrect through the birth of my son, and live again.
I don’t mind you talkin shit, just keep it in the first person.
Some wish that I was gone, cause they know I’ma win…
Took two drags off the blunts, and started breaking down the flag:
The blue is for the Crips, the red is for the Bloods,
The whites for the cops, and the stars come from the clubs
Or the slugs that ignite, through the night,
By the dawn early light, why is sons fighting for the stripe?
I would trade my existence to give you breath,
Guess the only guarantees in this life is death.
As I look around seein’ I’m the last one left,
And the things I can’t change I just gotta accept.
Now if I worry too much about all my have nots,
I might not recognize just what I’ve got…
Now my helmet’s on, you can’t tell me I’m not in space.
Dyin’ ain’t the shit, but it’s pleasant.
Inspectah Deck (Wu-Tang Clan) • “Triumph” • 1997
I bomb atomically, Socrates’ philosophies and hypotheses
Can’t define how I be dropping these mockeries.
Lyrically perform armed robbery,
Flee with the lottery, possibly they spotted me…
– Inspectah Deck, “Triumph,” from Wu-Tang Clan’s Wu-Tang Forever, 1997
MC’s are just hopeless:
They think record sales make them the dopest!
Stay far from timid.
Only make moves when your heart is in it.
And live the phrase ‘Sky’s the Limit.’
Got the new Hummer in the summer when,
I was a newcomer then,
Drugs and Mac-10s, hugs from fake friends.
Make ends: they hate you,
Be broke: girls won’t date you.
My style is strong like hard lumber;
Cute chicks get the dick,
Ugly bitches get the wrong number.
My peoples: if you with me where the fuck you at?
I’ll ignore you sellin crack, killin people, and keepin it real,
But disrespect me and my adopted fam and die young like veal.
Now if I worry too much about all my have nots,
I might not recognize just what I’ve got…