Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap Page #11

"hey, man, if you

don't do something about that voice,

man, we just gonna

have you write rhymes for sen dog."

I'm like, "oh, sh*t."

So, you know,

I somehow figured out

how to pitch

my voice a little bit,

you know, going

a little bit higher.

When I was listening

to early cypress hill,

I'm like,

"these motherfuckers sound high.

"Like, they sound

like the gangbangers

that you would not want

to run into, 'cause they would be dusted..."

Right.

"And they would shoot you

"on some bullshit like

you're the wrong person,

they just felt

like shooting somebody."

Right.

Right, right.

And... and

for a time, man,

we were crazy

like that, you know,

and, uh,

that's where a lot of the... the music

when we were

creating it,

it reflected

that lifestyle and stuff like that.

But, you know, we also

were very competitive,

you know,

especially muggs with the production game,

because a... a lot

of his... his influences

were the bomb squad

and stuff like that,

you know,

and we were all big public enemy fans,

and we all said

to ourselves, well, if we're...

If we're gonna get

in this game, if we're gonna represent,

we gotta be as good

as those guys, you know.

And... and they

were like one of my big influences,

and... and, uh,

when I was developing the voice,

there was...

There was two things

that stood out to me

in hip-hop

that I loved in...

In all the groups that were going on.

There was

the beastie boys, 'cause they had a different,

you know, vocal pitch

than everybody else.

The other big influence

was public enemy and flava flav,

how his voice

always cut through,

and I said, well,

nobody's, you know...

Aside from

the beastie boys,

nobody's really

cutting through like that,

so we... we became,

as... as far as our vocal tones,

public enemy in reverse.

Stop scheming and

trying to look hard

I get my bodyguard

You get that booty scarred

I'm a veteran, which means

That I've been

in the game too long

Since the days of paper thin

Way back when I've

been putting it down

Ask your homie

who's the baddest b*tch on this side of town

I float like a butterfly,

sting like a bee

Spectacular over m.I.C.,

I go for broke

Never giving it

less than the best

Face off, 'cause your sh*t is twisted

Screw up your mouth,

'cause this chick is gifted

I stay whippin' in something

you never seen

Ain't into flossing,

but I could put it on some

Call 'em at the crib

Tell 'em you just

lost 1, 2 and 3

I'm about

to run a boston

On, son,

how come I'm on one?

I'm born free,

you born dumb

I pack a fortune

My time is too much

for what it's costing

Hear any chick on the mic,

you know I taught them

What you just might get

Is a chick that spit

that wiz priceless

I made a decision

to play my position

And this is

the place in my life

Where I start delivering,

you know why?

This game ain't

got nothing on me

None after,

none before me

I put the work in,

I want the glory

Here's my chance

to tell my story

Now, the first rhymes

that you actually did out on a stage

or you tried to perform,

by then you were writing your own stuff?

By the time I performed

on a stage for people,

I was performing

I cram to understand u.

Mm.

But prior to that,

george lucien,

full force's father,

used to come to my house

every saturday...

Mm-Hmm.

And I would practice,

because my voice

was like this,

and that wasn't

a rapper's voice.

Like there was... who was I

gonna get to listen to me?

You mean

it was low and...

It was... it was teeny, tiny,

no weight to it.

Mm-Hmm, right.

And I would practice,

and he would say,

"get strong, and come from here,"

and... and for months,

I would sing

salt-n-pepa's songs

or rap them

in my living room

until my vocal

was strong enough that, you know,

so we owe this to who?

'Cause

you're known to have

one of

the strongest female mc voices. That's...

George lucien.

He... he developed

this voice?

Absolutely.

The joy and the beauty of

being a... a hip-hop artist,

you can

truly express who you are and truly be who you are.

When you're a rapper,

you... you get to say what you think, what you feel.

People hear

your perspective.

People hear

your spirit and your soul if you're using that,

and they hear

your imagination

to be able to write

a rhyme and say,

"look, this is what

my life has been about.

This is some of my purpose.

This is my perspective."

People... people will

know what you think.

They know where you stand.

They know... they know

where you fly. Mm-Hmm.

To the hiddip

The hop, you don't stop,

don't stop

Das efx

with the real hip-hop

Hip-hop, to the hiddip

The hop, you don't quit,

don't quit...

I bust gat heat

Right here

at fat beats

My man ice-t,

that is that heat

We here in I.A.

Chilling

Krs always willing

Rhymes keep spilling

I'm off the top

Like what, the sun

My name is krs-one

These stars,

you don't see none

When I come out,

you see all the day

These other

whack rappers, we blow 'em away

Why? 'Cause they don't

understand my cycle

I go from tape,

cd, back to vinyl

Shh, you cats

ain't ready

I'll take it

back to rock steady

And give you

a classic medley

Me? I'm not

bet or mtv

I'm h-I-p-h-o-p

Whoo!

Freestyle.

There was a time when

you had never rapped,

you was

a graffiti artist.

What made you say,

"I think I'm gonna do that."

My first battle

was in a park in melrose projects.

What made... what made you

want to battle?

What made you even want...

A dude was talking

about my clothes.

Um, there was...

It was an mc cypher,

and I was not there...

I was watching

the cypher.

And dude was like,

"and like this dude with his tore-up jeans."

I was like, "Ohh!"

Crowd's screaming.

I'm like, "Ohh,"

my jeans was whack,

everything is whack,

I'm whack,

everything was whack,

and dude was pointing it out.

Nigga just

picked you out the crowd.

He just picked...

I'm there watching with everybody else.

He like, "yo,

and him, like him,"

and that's when I said,

"yo, no, hold up,

I have to say

something."

And, uh...

And I actually did.

I jumped out

right there,

and I did like

a little freestyle

based on what

I heard right there.

I did a quick piece

off the top,

defended myself,

and it was dope.

And then you said...

And I said... and

everybody patting you on the back

like, "yeah,

you gave it to him."

And then I was like,

"whoa, this is not bad.

"Yo, you know what?

I'm gonna do this."

So we really owe

the birth of krs-one

to some nigga

who just out of nowhere...

Out of nowhere.

Picked you out the crowd

and dissed you?

Yeah, started dissing,

out the crowd.

Some mcs get

their notoriety through battling,

meaning that...

Back in the days,

we used to call it

the dozens.

Slaves were sold

one by one unless there was a defect,

their leg was hurt,

an arm was severed,

mental issues,

maybe sick.

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