We were beginners in the hood as 5 Percenters,
But somethin’ must’ve got in us, cause all of us turned to sinners.
AZ, “Life’s a Bitch,” from Nas’ Illmatic, 1994
Tag: queens
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Fuck a stray bullet, I take aim when the gun draws,
For everlasting fame, I will maim those who change the gun laws.
Cause post-traumatic stress disorder, ask any vet I’ve worked with.
My purpose? Catching bodies like safety nets at the circus.Pharoahe Monch, “Damage,” from PTSD, 2012 -
How far must you go to gain respect? Um…
Well, it’s kind of simple: just remain your own.
Or you’ll be crazy sad and alone.Q-Tip, “Check the Rhime,” from A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory, 1991 -
I want a girl with extensions in her hair,
Bamboo earrings, at least two pair,
A Fendi bag and a bad attitude,
That’s all I need to get me in a good mood.
She can walk with a switch and talk with street slang,
I love it when a woman ain’t scared to do her thing.LL Cool J, “Around the Way Girl,” Mama Said Knock You Out, 1990 -
Some seek fame cause they need validation,
Some say hating is confused admiration.Nas, “Stay,” Life is Good, 2012 -
Why’s my name the Large Professor?
Cause I milked your cow, in other words I hit your heifer.Large Professor, “Live at the Barbecue,” from Main Source’s Breaking Atoms, 1991 -
I’m no slave to a rhythm, I whip it,
Then I take its name and change its religion,
Then I chop the foot off the fuckin’ beat
For trying to escape the track, now it’s obsolete.Pharoahe Monch, “Thirteen,” from Organized Konfusion’s Stress: The Extinction Agenda, 1994 -
If rhyme is a crime, my mic is my co-defendant.
Cormega, “Focused Up,” from Large Professor’s Professor @ Large, 2012 -
It’s a thin line between paper and hate,
Friends and snakes, nine millis and thirty-eights,
Hell or the pearly gates…I was destined to come,
Predicted, blame God, He blew breath in my lungs.Nas, “Hate Me Now,” I Am…, 1999 -
The D’s for doin it all of the time.
M is for the rhymes, that are all mine,
C’s for cool, cool as can be,
And why you wear those glasses? So I can see!D.M.C., “Here We Go,” Run-D.M.C., 1983 -
So concisely, musically we are the herb
So sit back and light me.
Inhale…
My style’s kinda fat, reminiscent of a whale.Q-Tip, “Sucka Nigga,” from A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders, 1993 (via egotripland) -
A rap villain: chillin’ and I don’t give a fuck about a killin’ cause I’m still in effect when you’re illin’.
Kool G. Rap, “Jive Talk,” from Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo’s Wanted: Dead or Alive, 1990 -
Me and Frosted went to get a drink.
But she ordered somethin’ bugged, and I ain’t know what to think.
She ordered potassium, calcium,
Carbohydrate, scotch with sodium.
She took me to her crib, threw me on the couch…
I woke up the next morning with a spoon in my mouth.LL Cool J, “Milky Cereal,” Mama Said Knock You Out, 1990 -
Back in the days when I was a teenager,
Before I had status, and before I had a pager,
You could find The Abstract, listening to hip-hop,
My pops used to say it reminded him of be-bop.
I said, ‘Well daddy don’t you know that things go in cycles.
The way that Bobby Brown is just ampin’ like Michael.
It’s all expected, things are for the lookin’,
If you got the money, Quest is for the bookin’.Q-Tip, “Excursions,” from A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory, 1991 -
Shorty, let me tell you about my only vice:
It has to do with lots of lovin’, and it ain’t nuttin’ nice.Q-Tip, “Electric Relaxation,” from A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders, 1993 -
A prejudiced man is of a devil mentality.
These are words of a wise man, wisdom;
Take a taste and erase the racism.Kool G Rap, “Erase Racism,” from Kool G Rap and DJ Polo’s Wanted: Dead or Alive, 1990 -
For what it’s worth, I’ve been a hip-hopper from birth.
Try to disrespect, and get your ass played up like a Smurf.Large Professor, “Actual Facts,” from Lord Finesse’s The Awakening, 1996 -
I like ‘em brown, yellow, Puerto Rican or Haitian.
Phife, “Electric Relaxation,” from A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders, 1993