Tag Archives: south bronx

Mark you for death, won’t even talk that East or West crap.
From Watts to Lefrak, it ain’t where ya from, it’s where’s your gat.

Big Pun, “You Ain’t a Killer,” Capital Punishment, 1998

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a funny bastard…
But when it come to money, son, I’m not the one to laugh with.

Big Pun, “Firewater,” Endangered Species, 2001

What’s when you rap and don’t appreciate the art?
What’s when you sell out just to get a start?
What’s when you make bullshit just for the charts?
What’s when you rap, but it’s not from the heart?
What’s when you’re hardcore, then you turn pop?
When you steal ideas to get props?
When you sell out to be on top?
What’s when you front like you’re hard, but you’re not?
That’s a gimmick.

Lord Finesse, “No Gimmicks,’ The Awakening, 1996

Rappers spit rhymes that are mostly illegal,
MC’s spit rhymes to uplift their people.

KRS-One, “Classic (Better Than I’ve Ever Been),” 2007

So you think that hip-hop had its start out in Queensbridge?
If you popped that junk up in the Bronx, you might not live!

KRS-One, “South Bronx,” from Boogie Down Productions’ Criminal Minded, 1987

Rebel, renegade, must stay paid.

KRS-One, “I’m Still #1,” from Boogie Down Productions’ By Any Means Necessary, 1990

I am the manifestation of study,
NOT the manifestation of money.
Therefore, I advance through thought,
NOT what’s manufactured and bought.

KRS-One, “Original Lyrics,” from Boogie Down Productions’ Edutainment, 1990

…Cops just surrounding me with pistols everywhere.
They put me in the backseat of their car handcuffed,
Pushed out them chests like they’re big rough and tough.
A cop come and said ‘You’ll never sell your guns now.’
I said ‘It doesn’t matter, you’ll sell them anyhow.
You take the guns from me, you sell them for a fee;
Anyway you put it, they’ll get in the city!’

KRS-One, “100 Guns,” from Boogie Down Productions’ Edutainment, 1990

Too many MC’s take that word ‘emcee’ lightly;
They can’t Move a Crowd, not even slightly.

KRS-One, “MC’s Act Like They Don’t Know,” KRS-One, 1995

Look past the garbage, over the trains,
Under the ruins, through the remains,
Around the crime and pollution,
And tell me…where I fit in?

Grandmaster Caz, “South Bronx Subway Rap,” from Wild Style Soundtrack, 1983

Big Pun • “Drop It Heavy” • 1998

Now what’s the problem?
You ain’t nothin’ like you said on your album.
I thought you was wildin’,
Bustin’ your guns and runnin’ the Island.
You wasn’t violent, you was silent tryin’ to get college credits.
How pathetic…did it to get out of calisthenics.

Big Pun, “Drop It Heavy,” from Show & A.G.’s Full Scale EP, 1998

Grandmaster Melle Mel • “The Message” • 1982

A child is born with no state of mind,
Blind to the ways of mankind.
God is smilin’ on you but He’s frownin’ too,
Because only God knows what you’ll go through.

Grandmaster Melle Mel, “The Message,” from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s The Message, 1982

MC’s are just hopeless:
They think record sales make them the dopest!

KRS-One, “Step Into a World (Rapture’s Delight),” I Got Next, 1997. More from KRS…

I never want a jheri curl up under my hat,
The woman in my bed has got to be strictly black,
I never want money if my lyrics are wack,
So I must…rock…the mic.

KRS-One, “Mortal Thought,” Return of the Boom Bap, 1993. More from The Blastmaster…

I’m sick and tired of these fake-ass niggas,
Saying that they’re catching bodies when they never pulled a trigger.
I know your style, I’ve seen it before,
You wearing army suit, now you think you’re hardcore.
Drinking on your 40’s, smoking on your blunts,
Can’t afford a chain so you wear gold fronts…
You fakin’ the funk, kid.
And you’d be getting it up the ass if you ever did a fucking bid.

Fat Joe, “The Shit Is Real (Remix),” Jealous One’s Envy, 1993

Having that gang war?
We want to know what you’re fighting for.
Fighting over colors?
All that gang shit’s for dumb motherfuckers.
But you go on thinking you’re hard…
Come to New York and we’ll see who gets robbed.
Take your jheri curls, take your black hats,
Take your wack lyrics and your bullshit tracks.
Now you’re mad and you’re thinking about stomping?
Well I’m from the South Bronx…Fuck Compton.

Tim Dog, “Fuck Compton,” Penicillin on Wax, 1991.

I rub your face off the Earth and curse your family children,
Like Amityville; I drill the nerves in your cavity filling.
Insanity’s building a pavilion in my civilian
The cannon be the anarchy that humanity’s dealin’.
A villain without remorse who’s willing to out your boss
Forever…and take all the cheddar like child support.

Big Pun, “Twinz (Deep Cover ‘98),” Capital Punishment, 1998. More from Pun…

Now it’s my turn, and I am concerned
About idiots posing as kings.
What are we here to rule?
I thought we were supposed to sing.
And if we oughta sing, then let us begin to teach.
Many of you are educated…open your mouth and speak!

KRS-One, “I’m Still #1,” from Boogie Down Productions’ By All Means Necessary, 1988

More rhymes are funny now, happy and silly now.
Happy-go-lucky on the mic, and meanwhile,
You standin’ still, lookin out for a good rhyme,
Makin the wack junk, wastin’ my good time.

Kool Keith, “I Ain’t Takin’ No Shorts,” from the Ultramagnetic MC’s New York What Is Funky, 1996. More from Kool Keith…

You were put here to protect us.
But who protects us from you?

KRS-One, “Who Protects Us From You?” from Boogie Down Productions’ Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop, 1989

Believers of Jesus be denouncing Satan on every level,
But every Halloween they’re dressin’ like devils.

KRS-One, “Higher Level,” Return of the Boom Bap, 1993. More from KRS…

Rap is like a set-up…a lot of games,
A lot of suckers with colorful names.
‘I’m so-and-so,’ ‘I’m this, I’m that.’
But they all just wick-wick-wack.

KRS-One, “My Philosophy,” from BDP’s By All Means Necessary, 1988. More from KRS…

Spottin’ fools frontin’ fly, girls act material.
…You live at home with your mom.

Dr. Dooom aka Kool Keith, “You Live at Home with Your Mom,” First Come, First Served, 1999. More Kool Keith lyrics…

Girls, don’t run that shit that beauty’s only skin deep,
Cause I don’t want no girl with a Brillo face,
Or the type that’ll leave Jheri Curl juice on my pillow case.

Lord Finesse, “I Like My Girls With a Boom,” Return of the Funky Man, 1992. More Lord Finesse quotes…

I’d rather make one righteous dollar on my level
Than make a million dollars spittin’ rhymes for the devil.

KRS-One, “True School,” from DJ Jean Maron’s True School, 2014

You better recognize, adjust your bifocals;
Your style is local…I sit on the beach in Acapulco.
I put words together like Peter Jennings,
And skate on motherfuckers like Peggy Fleming.

Diamond D., “The Next Level,” from Tha Alkaholiks’ Coast II Coast, 1995

Fuck movin’ mountains, I move planets and leave you Earthless.
Terror Squad: the worst that hurt shit, split your universes.

Fat Joe, “Find Out,” Don Cartagena, 1998

Lyrical lecture, word architecture,
Rap director, the best in my sector.
Microphone cool chief, releasin the smooth speech…
I get nasty with a pen and some loose leaf.

Lord Finesse, “Baby, You Nasty,” from Lord Finesse and DJ Mike Smooth’s Funky Technician, 1990

Never we sleep, a thug doesn’t rest,
Cause a wise man said: it was a cousin of death.

Big Pun, “Who Is a Thug,” from Whiteboys soundtrack, 1999

Believers of Jesus be denouncing Satan on every level,
But every Halloween they’re dressin’ like devils.

KRS-One, “Higher Level,” Return of the Boom Bap, 1993

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.

Big Pun, “Off the Books,” from The Beatnuts’ Stone Crazy, 1997

Commentating, illustrating, description-giving
Adjective expert. Analyzing, surmising,
Musical, myth-seeking people of the universe…
This is yours!

T La Rock & Jazzy Jay, “It’s Yours,” 1987

I never fronted, you can get it if you want it…
Won’t say I’m the best, but I’m not that far from it.

Lord Finesse, “Gameplan,” The Awakening, 1996