Word Is Bond Page #10

---

now we out of that stage.

[Rhymefest] Nobody believe

that rappers should write

their own rap?

Well, somebody like Puff

don't care,

so if someone like Puff

asks you to write,

- he don't care.

- Stop right there

for a minute.

The heat of the game is now...

the people don't care.

If you're calling yourself

a rapper and an artist,

you should be able

to formulate your own lyrics.

And if there's somebody,

for example...

[Rhymefest] But what if

you found out

Quincy Jones wrote

for Michael Jackson?

[all talking at once]

If somebody's writing for you,

you should let that be known.

And then it's a...

it's a fair shake.

But when it's going on

under the table,

you're really, like,

cheating the people.

- You're cheating the...

- [P Styles ] That's wack.

That's wack, but...

- You're tricking the culture.

- But as a writer,

I take the gig.

I've ghostwritten

numerous times.

[sighs] This is the thing:

it's when the artist

puts themself

on a pedestal for being...

the artistic great

and...

it's not their composition.

I ain't got no problem

with ghostwriting

until we start talking about...

if you can't write

your own lyrics,

then you can't come

sit at the table.

That's how I feel about it.

[laughs]

Who wrote "Rapper's Delight"?

Not the motherfuckers

rapping it.

So who cares?

People are entitled

to handle their business

and their art craft

how they want to.

You know, Michael Jackson

didn't write his songs.

You know, the actors

don't write the movies.

I feel like it's...

everyone plays a part

in whatever they want to do.

I personally write

my own things, but...

I don't, you know,

judge the next man.

Flatbush Zombies'

"This Is It" playing

All you fools

just sound the same

Ain't no credit

to your name

Ain't no credit line open

That's discrediting

the fame

Form your business

in the name

Something unique,

like a slang

Make a difference,

make a change

But ain't no puppets

on a string

I won't feel cool or good

going onstage

and performing a song that

aren't lyrics that I wrote.

I would feel

like a f***ing idiot.

I would feel like a faker,

a f***in' actor.

Not a fan of pointing

fingers at men

It's dependent on who

can pay for academics

Homey, your chemists

are missing appendages

You're back into handling

business, no kidding

My head's at the clinic,

I need a prescription

My vision is clear

but there's smoke

In the mirrors,

I can't be compared

To them niggas you hearing,

so don't be offended

When niggas don't feel you

If you're in the studio,

everybody that's there

helped write it.

Their energy is contributing.

But then if your pen

is coming off the paper

and you're handing me

the paper

and I'm reciting it

after you wrote it for me

like I wrote it?

Like, if it's not one

of these guys, you know,

then it's kind of weird to me.

Like, it just...

it's just part of something

to me that's like,

hip-hop is the only genre

that really is all about you.

I get my joy

out of the creation,

so I gotta be creating it.

You know what I mean?

That's just me personally,

but anybody is entitled

to do it how they want to.

Everybody morals

ain't my morals.

Everybody goals

ain't my goals.

Everybody has

different intentions.

My intentions

with this music sh*t

is to just be...

to get chills from my sh*t.

That's what I want.

I'll put it to you like this.

Hanging out with Will Smith...

we were labelmates

on Columbia Records

at the time...

and he was working

on, um, his big record,

Big Willie Style.

The song "Gettin' Jiggy

wit It," I got...

people credit me

as the writer sometimes,

but really, I just hung out

in the studio with him.

He was writing

the song himself,

and I'm just there

having fun with him,

just rapping to the beat

with him.

No love for the haters,

the haters mad

'Cause I got floor seats

at the Lakers

See me on the 50-yard line

with the Raiders

Met Ali, he told me

I'm the greatest

I didn't necessarily write it.

I'm just sitting there

having fun with him,

finishing a line for him.

Will Smith is an MC.

There's ghostwriting,

and then there's...

there's creating, um,

with-with your people

in the studio.

[ bluesy hip-hop music ]

[]

[Siddiq] Rhymesayers

pretty much started up

from a group of local cats

here in Minnesota.

You know, just started out

of my basement

for the most part.

We recorded

our first three albums

out of my basement

in my house.

You know, we put together

a core unit of people

that really believed

in a common goal,

and it lasted.

It's like, we've got

a rich musical history here,

whether it's Prince

or Flyte Tyme or Bob Dylan.

I think a lot of the artists

that we work with

had a lot of different

influences,

and I think those influences

also then shaped them

as songwriters,

more so than just

as MCs or rappers.

Fifty percent is the beat,

and 50 percent

is the lyrics.

Either you better have

hella style,

or you better

be saying something.

Shining right up

in my face

Everyone's a critic

of the minutes I waste

Got me waiting in a line,

got me running in place

I don't really know

what to tell you

Say I spent

too much time in the cellar

I've experienced a life

full of accidents

Trying to write it all down

before it vanishes

[Slug] I like

to think of things

to write about

while I'm driving.

This is my theory.

But having

my peripheral vision

stimulated,

it allows me

to start thinking in a way

that I can't do

when I'm just sitting

at a desk.

It allows me to start

thinking around the story

or thinking out

certain parts of it.

And I like to write that down.

Driving is problem solving.

It's my favorite thing to do

in the whole world.

And I'm really good at it.

I don't hit things.

I don't get in trouble.

I study my surroundings

and I analyze them,

and I'm thinking moves ahead.

Writing is very similar,

because if I want to reach...

the end of the song,

the end of the story,

I've got two,

maybe three verses

and a hook to figure out

how to get

from the beginning

of that story

to the end of that story.

And I can't just freewrite it

and start here,

and then hope that my character

gets to the end.

I have to consider the whole

trajectory... while I'm going.

Like, it's not just about

getting from point A to point B,

but you have to actually

visualize the route

that you're gonna take

to get there.

You gonna take

the scenic route?

You gonna get there

in a hurry?

You got time?

What are you doing?

[]

Anthony would have

different artists

to his... to his house to...

to record,

so we would end up

writing together

and working together,

and it was, uh...

it was organic in the sense of,

we wouldn't come together

and be like,

"Oh, here's what we're gonna

do tonight.

We have this plan."

We would just get together

and let things happen

as they happen.

I would sit and I would write

100,000 bars

and be ready to spit that

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes