Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap Page #4

Vodka, gin tonic

Drunken fantasies

are cool, son

But here's

the grim logic

You rappers want

to play industry

And start to be rich

Until they f*** you

for millions

Like paul mccartney's

b*tch

My lions live inside

a box like jumanji

Sick niggas

that'll stab you up like indira gandhi

So never desecrate

the space on which I meditate

My thoughts rip through

tank armored metal plate

And start to resonate

to the spot

Where moses caused

the sea to separate

The place that

the prophet mohammed started to levitate

The exact moment that

jesus rose dead awake

And siddhartha

became the buddha that regenerates

Half a bar over,

but I bring it home

colder than dead soldiers

Soul controller,

holder of knowledge

Nigga, f*** dianetics

I'm like the whole

library in kemet

With annunaki genetics

Electric boogie

The beatbox is more like

I'm moving with your rhyme,

like I'm moving

with your rhyme

rather than I'm just

doing the beatbox like a drum machine.

I'm in sync with you...

Right.

Spiritually.

Accompanying.

Right.

It's like this.

It's to the point

that you cannot separate one from the other

if you do it right.

Similar to a way

a good dj can accompany us.

Right.

What makes me

the originator

is I took it,

created it

and made it

into a style,

made it into

an element in hip-hop

that supported the mc.

You were the first one.

You invented it?

I'm the inventor.

I am the originator.

The buck stops here.

Here.

Can you, off the head,

break out, uh, one

of your favorite rhymes from any rapper,

from any generation,

from any time

that you walked with

that's just stuck in your head?

I mean, for me, man,

the three best mcs of all time

is melle mel, kool mo dee,

and grandmaster caz.

Right.

Hands down...

You got any rhymes?

As far as foundation.

I know all they rhymes,

so don't ask me that.

Say one.

Just say one. Say one.

Kool moe dee said,

"I rhyme a hundred

miles an hour

"with lightning

speed and power,

"sweetest of the sweet,

make an mc sour.

"Timber as a tower,

because I devour any mc,

"and I can prove it

now or

a little bit later."

I mean, come on.

I could keep going with this.

That's right.

That's all I need.

Yo, yo, and caz said,

"I could play away

to the break of day,

"put you on hold

just like an oj.

"Steal the feel and

make sure it's real,

and if you go and get

your brother, I won't peel."

You know what I mean?

And he...

"I crash and mash

and get cold cash,

smoke hash in a flash,

and I won't stash."

But see the funny thing is

each one of their styles are very different,

like moe dee

was technically extreme,

I mean, like...

Like sharp.

And then slickness

and flavor was caz.

Melle mel was spiritual.

Yeah.

Homeboy said, "a picture

can express a thousand words"

"to describe all the beauty

of life you give,

"and if the world

was yours to do over,

"I know you'll paint

a better place to live,

"where the colors would swirl

for the boys and girls

"to join in peace

and harmony,

"where murals stand

on wall so grand

as far as the eyes

are able to see."

That's crazy.

That's crazy.

Hip-hop.

Rap has introduced poetry

to a whole new generation.

We've crossed color lines

and changed lives.

It just seems wrong to me

that we still

don't get the respect

like jazz, blues

or other musical art forms.

Why do you

think rap music

or the music you...

You were a architect of

doesn't get

the full respect of jazz and blues?

I think it's because we're

not banded together like jazz and blues artists.

You know, you'll see

reunions with jazz and blues artists.

I mean, it's starting

to happen now.

You know, we starting

to realize it now,

but, you know,

you see blues artists,

they have love

for each other.

I don't hear

about bb king battling...

Battling somebody

in the blues world.

I don't hear about

in... in jazz...

I don't hear about,

you know, chick corea

talking about,

"yo, that nigga sucks, you know."

Right, right, right.

"Yo, suck my dick."

You don't hear that in jazz.

Right.

So, you know,

it's a respected thing.

So, you know,

basically when we start respecting ourselves

and showing homage and,

you know, getting up there

and win an award,

say, "hey, I'd like to just thank",

"you know,

grandmaster flash.

"I'd like to thank,

you know, kool herc,

for even starting this

so I could be here getting this."

Once that happens

and we start showing compassion

for the people before us,

that's when we're gonna

have respect like that. That's what I...

That's what I feel.

Sure.

May laughter

from backstabbers

Turn to tears faster

For you, I wish no snake

shall slither past you

You have to keep

your vision clear

Only a coward

lives in fear

My surrounding got only

real powerful niggas here

Real friends,

we have a code of ethics

No question,

no feminine tendencies

We not expecting

no gossip

No phony logic,

no counting your homie pocket

Spare no expense

for legal defense

If your homie locked up

Who cares who was

the last who looked out?

Selfishness,

that's a character flaw

No holding out

Yo, what happened

to the honor?

You dealing with

sensitive prima-donna drama

Teflon love

to my dudes who's solid

Why you think

rap isn't respected?

Threatening.

We're not supposed to

be thinking like this.

We're

not supposed to be talking like this.

What are we doing proud

of how we talking with this broken english?

How the f*** are we

making poetry out of this broken english?

"Why are

you guys bringing

"street conversation

to the mainstream world?

"Stay in your place.

Stay out of there.

"I don't like

looking at you.

"Fix your pants.

Fix your hat.

"Y'all are supposed

to stay in the gutter. Get out of here.

"What are you doing

invading my home?

"Why are my kids

liking your music?

"What's going on?

"I don't like you.

I don't like you."

That's all

they're saying.

Mm-Hmm.

And we know it.

So that's... that's

why I'm proud to wear my sh*t a little sa...

I mean,

I'm a grown man now.

I don't have no business

wearing saggy jeans.

No business at all,

you know

what I'm saying?

But I might let it

sag a little bit

just to annoy a few

stiff motherfuckers...

Just because I'm...

That's what got me here.

Mm-Hmm.

And I'm always

gonna stay true to that.

Big I rest in peace,

rest in peace

Do you want to mess

with this?

'Cause I'm one

of the best yet

We've got it.

You could feel

the realness

In this business

of rap...

So why you think

they don't respect it

like jazz and blues?

Because it... it's just

like a language.

You have to know

how to listen to it.

If you don't listen

to it the right way,

all it sounds like

is just a whole bunch of noise

with a lot

of loud-ass beats bang, bang, banging,

and... "What's all that..."

I've seen people go,

"what's all that

Messing up the records?"

It's like, "no,

you're not messing up the record."

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