| [Sample: «Have you heard it? |
| Sing along
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| If you didn’t hear it you’re gonna hear it right now."]
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| Bam, the doorway opened for me
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| I saw ways and told the story
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| Raw daydreams of holding glory
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| Junior high hallway kings
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| Locking, Bagging MCs
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| Beat boxing, breaking Zulu Nation wannabees
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| It didn’t take long to see who would stay strong
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| High school came upon, some B-Boys put their gang bangs on
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| But some kept on doing, stepped on to ruin
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| Others that were pursuing the same shit we thought we ruled in
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| But what a surprise: the passion for being the best
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| Puts a quest for allies to rest
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| Dead
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| In the Midwest where heads
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| Is just a handful
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| In a land of gangstas
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| Players, replacements, priests, banjos
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| We scramble to break MCs that may appreciate it
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| Guided by their envy, insecurity, and their hatred
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| Separated by the «gimmie props» technique
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| And the desire to be the tops this week
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| I gotta floss the speak
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| Cause talk is cheap, even the broke kids can afford it
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| That’s why I stand close and if you’re dope then I’m supportive
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| But if not: we’ll keep the mic warm
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| For the next one, respect the artform
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| And make your wishes on the stars born
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| Within the movement
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| Fact checking, trying to completely avoid all channels of backstepping
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| From the lines of painted concrete
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| That reside on Lake Street
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| To the way we close our eyes to sleep
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| And drift through Deep Space 9 type shit
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| To find this
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| I’ve been around for as long as sound
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| I’ve been to that not-so-fresh phase
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| And to that not-quite-that-serious state
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| But I’ve evolved, metamorphed manifestate
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| I used to be young, dumb and full of vision
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| Like it was religious rituals
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| I made initial decisions
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| I wanted to be a rapper world renowned
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| From Minneap to the Bronx
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| Capture girls and crowns
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| Snap, tackle and stomp
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| That’s when I found
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| The abyss that sits in-between the one that holds the mic and those that
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| Don’t even listen
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| Formed some crews
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| Rocked talent shows at schools
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| Saturdays on the 18 making my way down to the record pool
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| I met a grip of people that was bullshit
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| Was down with a lot of people that was bullshit
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| But I’ll pull shit from the asshole of an angel before I let him hassle and
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| strangle
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| The love triangle between me the mic and the turntable
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| Went to studios
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| We want to make demos
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| We want to do shows and rock our own instrumentals
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| Do our own production
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| Fucking around with this kid Kazir
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| Nitwit engineer
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| Barely knew his own equipment, Atmosphere
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| The prefix was urban
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| Wrecked shows
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| Made friends, made foes
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| Overall, we made flows
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| And right now as I sit here, right now, writing this
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| I’m bugging off the people in my life that made me like this
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| Within the movement
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| Fact checkin'
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| Tryin' to completely avoid all channels of backsteppin'
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| From the lines of painted concrete
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| That reside on Franklin Ave
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| To the dead bird on the elevator
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| To that short in your crossfader
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| I never got lost later
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| For efforts to pester
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| Just throw your hands up in the air like a leper
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| I’ve been to that not-so-fresh phase
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| And to that not-quite-that-serious state
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| Metamorph and manifestate
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| Well sometimes it rings and I don’t answer it
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| That’s it, no asterisk
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| No thirst to find the circumstances
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| It was planted in me deep
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| It was nurtured and it grew
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| Gave it sleep and nutrition
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| It was efficient, let it through
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| There’s a few that have developed to where I let them in my spectrum
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| For the rest of 'em, I give them just enough to cause infection
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| Not tripping on attention
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| But if you have it, it’s welcome
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| Open arms, potent charm
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| I know the words and I can spell them
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| Seldom is it, when one inquisits
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| Do they leave with disinterest
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| In fact most begin crave the visits
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| Bringin' me to the table
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| That’s it, no more no less
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| The love, the life, the stress
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| Slug, the mic, the mess
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| Testing. |
| Yes, I’ve been tested and I’ve tested some
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| Not saying I’m the best
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| Believe I’m not like the rest of 'em
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| Just saying I’m better than you
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| That’s my mind state my rhymes take me into
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| When I check one two, I guess some do get pissed
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| But intentions were to inspire
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| Build the empire before I get tired
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| The ones that tear me down don’t know it
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| But they’re the same ones that built me
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| Now quietly in your head say, «Yes you can feel me.»
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| «Asking himself, even before the curtain goes up: What am I? |
| I am now 80 years
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| old, and more, and I am determined to find precisely what I am, what I amount
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| to. |
| They tell me I am everything, they flatter me every day of my life.
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| I am now going to subject myself to a rigorous test in order to find out
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| really what I am. |
| I don’t care about kingdom. |
| I don’t care about rule anymore.
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| It is of no importance to me, as such, but I must find out what I am before I
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| die.» |