[Rakim]
I ain`t no joke, I use to let the mic smoke
Now I slam it when I`m done and make sure it`s broke
When I`m gone, no on gets on, cause I won`t let
nobody press up, and mess up, the scene I set
I like to stand in the crowd, and watch the people wonder Damn!
But think about it, then you`ll understand
I`m just an addict, addicted to music
Maybe it`s a habit, I gotta use it
Even if it`s jazz or the quiet storm
I hook a beat up, convert it into hip-hop form
Write a rhyme in grafitti and, every show you see me in
Deep concentration, cause I`m no comedian
Jokers are wild, if you wanna be tamed
I treat you like a child, then you`re gonna be named
Another enemy, not even a friend of me
Cause you`ll get fried in the end, when you pretend to be
competing, cause I just put your mind on pause
And I complete when, you compare my rhyme with yours
I wake you up and as I stare in your face you seem stunned
Remember me? The one you got your idea from
But soon you start to suffer, the tune`ll get rougher
When you start to stutter, that`s when you had enough of
biting it`ll make you choke, you can`t provoke
You can`t cope, you shoulda broke, because I ain`t no joke {*echoes*}
[Eric B. scratches]
[Rakim]
I got a question -- it`s serious as cancer
Who can keep the average dancer
hyper as a heart attack, nobody smilin
Cause you`re expressin, the rhyme that I`m stylin
This is what we all sit down to write
You can`t make it so you take it home, break it and bite
Use pieces and bits of all my hip-hop hits
Get the style down pat, then it`s time to switch
Put my tape on pause, and add some more to yours
Then you figured, you`re ready for the neighborhood chores
A E-M-C-E-E don`t even try to be
When you come up to speak, don`t even lie to me
You like to exaggerate, dream and imaginate
Then change the rhyme around, that can aggravate me
So when you see me come up, freeze
Or you`ll be one of those seven MC`s
They think that I`m a new jack, but only if they knew that
they who think wrong are they who can`t do that
style that I`m doin, they might ruin
Patterns of paragraphs, based on you and
your offbeat DJ, if anything he play
sound familiar, I`ll wait `til E. say
Play `em, so I`ma have to diss and bro
you can get a smack for this, I ain`t no joke {*echoes*}
[Eric B. scratches]
[Rakim]
I hold the microphone like a grudge
B`ll hold the record so the needle don`t budge
I hold a conversation cause when I invent
I nominated, my DJ, The Presdient
When I see you I`ll, kick a freestyle, goin steadily
So pucker up, and whistle My Melody
But whatever you do, don`t miss one
There`ll be another rough rhyme after this one
Before you know it, you`re followin and fiendin
Waiting for the punchline, to get the meanin
Like before, the middle of my story I`m tellin
Nobody beats the R, so stop yellin
Save it, put it in your pocket for later
Cause I`m Moving the Crowd, and B`ll wreck the fader
No interruptions `til the mic is broke
When I`m gone... then you can joke!
Cause everything is real on a serious tip
Keep playin, and I get furious quick
And I`ll take you for a walk through hell
Feed your dome -- then watch your eyeballs swell
Guide you out of triple stage darkness
When it get dark again... then I`ma spark this
microphone, cause the heat is on, you see smoke
And I`m finished when the beat is gone, I`m no joke {*echoes*}
[Eric B. scratches to the end]
