Rakim Album

[No lyrics]

[Rakim]
Aiyyo.. what's goin on?
The Mic Lebanon Teflon Don..
I'm back baby
The year of the 9's
and I'ma have to make these motherfuckers a offer they can't refuse
Y'know?

Ha, what's goin on? Yo c'mon, you know it's on
I wrote a song, test my flow on the Autobahn
Make sure the force is right, I floss all night
Get off the mic it'll smoke like an exhaust pipe
Keep em in the lie-bury, studyin my theory
Ra theory get translated in Swahili
From the lands as far as Zanzibar
they understand the R, the man Allah
It's obvious why the copiers, they copy this
soon as my data processes Y2K they floppy disk
Now who the hottest is? How can it not be this?
Baby who the cockiest? Papi is? Gracias
Aiyyo, this be so, magnifico
Even my, typical, style difficult
Make a crowd go wild when I rip a show
Better stand back, this'll blow, you didn't know?

[Chorus: Rakim]
They show me love when I'm come through
Yo any club that I come to
I hit a microphone check one two
and they know what I wanna do - flow forever

[Rakim]
You ever witness rapport like this before?
It's cause y'all kiss the floor, say Bismillah
It's the chosen one, with the golden tongue
Flow for the old and young when I'm holdin one
In the front row sitty, we show no pity
where kids get jiggy and girls are so pretty
The Wanderer, back from Casablanca
to stomp all, what next for Ra the Conqueror
So let's go, the best show will explode
No dress codes, they just pose in they best clothes
Girls get exposed when I show my rap expo
Will there be a next episode? I guess so
Those that halved out, wanted to have clout
What they mad about? Must be a cash route
MC's switch they style from they last bout
and I bet soon as they hear this they spaz out

[Chorus x2]

[Rakim]
Wherever Rakim go, it's the God temple
It's simple, my M.O., no problemo
Been all over the map, even know where Hell is at
I did the welcome mat, and then welcome back
My flow is raw, they treat me like Mr. Know-it-All
They want me to show em all my brand new protocol
Excuse-a-moi, I make a move for Ra
You ain't soupin Ra, save the hoop-a-la
Let me find out you rhymed out designed out
Pullin dimes out then climb out, for time out
I'm at the free throw, playin ball, or cee-lo, I keep dough
Reloaded like Carlito, incognito
I be so, low key, women get nosy
I do a show they wanna go see to get to know me
in the front row seat they cosy
thinkin I'm givin them the bo-bo-bee until they O.D.

[Chorus x4]

[DJ Premier scratches hook]

(Hardcore...real ill niggas)
(I'm internationally known)
(When I be on the mic)

(Hardcore...real ill niggas)
(I'm internationally known, yo)

(Hardcore...real ill niggas)
(I'm internationally known)
(When I be on the mic)

(Hardcore...real ill niggas)
(So all hail the honorable)

It's to my real ill niggas, heavyweight hitters
Dough getters, fifty ways to make figures
My niggas, that come on the spot to feel sisters
Like they hear real spitters and kids on the zigga-ziggas
When it's ugly, then the club is lovely
Thugs be sipping Henessey and bubbly
To my comrades that keep it flaming hot
On dangerous blocks, claiming spots
Where the goal is to be one of the top-ranked soldiers
Forty-five holders, one of the high rollers
Get respect in the hood, credit is good
Knock it down lumberjack style, baby, extra wood
Rock it all night long, the bang-a-thon baby
Keep hanging on, we like it with the lights on
Don't have to blow twenty thou' to get to know honey's style
Show her the town, steal her heart, no money down

[Hook]

How about some hardcore, yeah we like it raw for sure
Broads on the floor, wall to wall
There's more at the door, players ball to score
'Cause this right here is for all of y'all
Rakim and Primo, yo I got what you need bro
You go see a show, smoke an L, mean yo
And deejays play hits with hard bass kicks
And then they display tricks like The Matrix
Make the record fly undetected by the naked eye
So just feel the vibe 'cause your ears never lie
Nowadays deejays bags of tricks, graphic
On some behind the back shit, catch it and scratch it
Classic, this kid got his craft mastered
Hands is mad quick like he mix with magic
Spin it back and forth and grab it, and know just where it is...
There it is

[Hook]

To my elite peeps with the murderous mystiques
I hit the streets with beats and they critique for weeks
They be like "How that kid Ra reach the peak?"
Pull out the heat and use my technique to speak
It's dangerous, sit calm and explain to kids
What part of the game this is and foreign languages
They hold Ra's events in different continents
Put my lyrical contents in monuments
In ghetto garments, I rock a towel like a pharaoh
Mind travel, design style like apparel
My fashions last long as a lifetime
Cause I can see the future when the god write rhymes
They're mad cause I managed to reign so long
Like their chance to make money done came and gone
This is strictly for my listeners on the corners at night
And the sisters that be keeping this right, when I be on the mic

[Hook]

Where the ladies at?
Clarkworld baby
Uh, uh

[x4]
It's the R baby
It's the god baby

[Verse One]
I got rhymes I love to bust looking for a club to rush
It's like thugs will rush the illustrious
We all love to touch the voluptuous
It's a must that we lust, plus we love to crush
Women pose, from timberland's to feminine clothes
Check there portfolios and put'em in centerfolds
Pen explode, draw crowds respond re-el
I stay calm as hell surrounded by bombshells
Careful as I get near'em, stand near and compare'em
Or all girl heirem, I'm the man with the serum
Assets, probably dressed but still bear'em
It seem like they wear'em, just for me to tear'em
In quakes I see more things shake then spring break
It's like a dream state, perfect shape same date
You got a lot to give and look how hot it is, you so provocative
and it's your prerogative. Baby bounce.

[Chorus]
Ladies, nothing but the finest ones
The lavishist ones, the ain't hard to findest ones
From the boldest to the shyest ones
Which city got the livest ones
New York, L.A., Atlanta, V.A., Miami, D.C., tell me!

[Verse Two]
Bonjour, baby here go my brochure
Give me a phone call, I'll show you the whole store
It's so raw, I'll have your world in all
You wanna know how much the whole package go for?
My spectactale, like a festival, it's majestical, special guest for you
Ready to party hard the party's in yards to the mardygraud
Rap say on's, please give you a body massage
Rock jams, have you hot in your pants and nasty
Forbidden dance with me? Or tickle your there see
Let Ra take you on a rendez-vous
Couple of days will do if it's o.k. with you
Deserted isle style middle of winter with no bed
I'll comfort you like you were Jennifer Lopez
You get what you deserve if I said we swerve
I'll hit more than nerve and that's my every word. Baby bounce.

[Chorus]
Ladies, nothing but the finest ones
The lavishist ones, the ain't hard to findest ones
From the boldest to the shyest ones
Which city got the livest ones
Houston, Philly

Ladies, nothing but the finest ones
The lavishist ones, the ain't hard to findest ones
From the boldest to the shyest ones
Which city got the livest ones

[Verse Three]
Baby you wake up the next day lingerie negligee
Give you a sex ex-ray before we catch the rays
Let's blaze a lot more games left to play
While you still amazed from yesterday's escapades
Steadily show my pedigree so thoroughly
to the b-o-n-e like chemotherapy
Sex and triple x you ready to wed next
relax baby you need plenty of bed rest
You've been a passenger of a high speed crash with a wild style fashioner
Dark skinned ambassador, chiropractor with a passion
for smashin' your ass like a cardiovascular massacre
You've be through shock heading at your cu-wop
Body'so hot, you need a shot from your new doc
With better cures where's it sore I'll wetter more.
And let it pour from her to head to her peticular's, baby bounce

[Chorus]
Ladies, nothing but the finest ones
The lavishist ones, the ain't hard to findest ones
From the boldest to the shyest ones
Which city got the livest ones
Detroit, San Fran

Ladies, nothing but the finest ones
The lavishist ones, the ain't hard to findest ones
From the boldest to the shyest ones
Which city got the livest ones
Chi-Town, Boston

[Chorus]
Ladies, nothing but the finest ones
The lavishist ones, the ain't hard to findest ones
From the boldest to the shyest ones
Which city got the livest ones
Cleveland, B-More

Ladies, nothing but the finest ones
The lavishist ones, the ain't hard to findest ones
From the boldest to the shyest ones
Which city got the livest ones
Orlando, N.O.

What! Brooklyn, uptown, Queens, Bronx, L.I., Staten Island,
N.J., What! Connecticut, can't forget y'all,
Girls everywhere, ha ha
Girls, girls, girls, girls
Uh,Uh hu
Dedicated to the ladies from Rakim the god
and Clark the world, you heard! What!

All Night Long

[1st verse]
I'm back! The god remains, still at the end
They sabotage the game, still I'm a win
Rakim Allah's the name, and with a pen
No one can dodge the rain, kill'em again
In a club or the streets I swerve, cool in the cut
Looking to see what occurs, crusin' the truck
Shorty got deadly curves, soothin' her up
If I must explain with words, I smooth as a fuck!
The world's most greatest hip-hop's elite
You obsolete, you cannot compete, drop the beat
Keep ya ear to the ground when I rock the street
Cock the heat, we deep papi got to eat
So cut on the mic and spit, I much rougher
Plenty of ice and a whip, plus a crusher
Because I don't like to stick, or bust a brother
Long as they never forget I'm a ill muther fucker

[Chorus]
So if you love to get your party on
And you feel that your game is strong
And you get mad when the broads is gone
You like it all-night-long
And when they love it when the place is warm
And they go out for their favorite song
They hate when the player game is wrong
They like it all-night-long

[2nd verse]
My caliber's out rated
Yeah player, so why hate it
My rhyme through out of control, when I say it
Spit back with a rap or gat, can I spray it
How can I say it? I leave it de-hydrated
I take aim, and he keep the place flamin'
Till the place cave in, aye yo this ain't a safe haven

The best is yet to come, so they stay in
They keep the music loud, the lights is low
The kid with a different style, I like to flow
It's time to move the crowd, tonight's the show
See what it's all about, they like to go
Get henny and mo and cris, the clothes, the platinum, gold, the wrist
Plenty of doe, and chicks who pose for flicks
Women who love roll their hips, when I'm holding this

[Instrumental chorus]

My mic's a equipped with a microchip, with a million Megs
Bite this I might flip, spread a billion plagues
Put medicine in it before I kill ya dead
You can get away, if you can fill your legs
Could you walk? No, at least you thought though
Auto fours blow a hole in your torso
Damage his brain with more flow until he talk slow
Try to say something now? I thought so!
I leave emcee's bleeding, while I'm fleeing across sea-in
Start breeding, double my Swiss cheese in Sweden
Free on the weekend, come back see if he breathing
They breathing, somebody left his brains beat in
A deadly attack is rare, style will be raw
Be ready to rap you'll hear, as wild as before
If I bust a gat in the air, watch the galaxy fall
And the world will be splat on the floor, that'll be all

[No lyrics]

[1st verse]
Levantore!
Yeah, it's just ghetto, kid test the devil to hit the next level
Wish they was a rebel with cerebral metal
Inflex the bezzle with the peddle to the metal
In a thug's paradise where love have a price
So we love for life like thugs love the night
They sell drugs for ice for the Benz with bug lights
Some hug mics to the world, hung like parasites
The likes lethal, the mics lead you
A sneak preview, watch what we do and what the hood teach you
I still see through the eye of a needle
So I can watch people cause slug backwards is evil

[2nd verse]
Levantore!
Yo, what's this? Yo bust this. Yo it's time to up lift
They think all we do is bust clips and puff splifs
And plush whips and clutch chips and touch chicks
Flont rocks like Fort Knox and hog blocks
Taunt cops with more props and we want not
Panhandling with your mans and them
Scrambling, gambling, plans to win
While the cops clock em, thieves flock em
Women watch em, traders wanna top em
Ay yo what's the problem
Before the narcs knock em opposite playas plot to rob em
The ghetto got em, my man said it's rough at the bottom

[3rd verse]
Levantore!
Ghetto alert, let's do whatever work to get rid of the curse
We went from 1st to America's worst
On this competitive turf, now let's inherit the earth
There's more prize for one another, and call shots
12:00 til the next ball drop
All year around plus they shuffle non stop
You think it's rough at the bottom, it's even rougher on top
My peeps gonna have to reach and turn for me
And everybody's side of the street'll be celly
Ain't nothing funny, burn plenty and burn money
And earn money and watch the century turn 20

[4th verse]
Levantore!
We all should, from the woods to the big city and the small hood
Everybody should be welcome to the ball if we all could,
But we fall cause we brawl, yo it ain't all good
We need to play right, stay tight with ya air alight
Keep your game tight, no need to play trife
Get cheese from the daylight to the late night
And it's shouldn't take death to appreciate life
Before a lot parish, we got to cherish if Allah let us
Let's give prop and merits till the block flourish
In this metropolis, stay on top of this
You know what the prophet is, be prosperous

[5th verse]
Levantore!
Now we networking
Respect the next person, it'll be less hurting
Or left lurkin, while we kept our dreads working
Connect set for certain, total networking
Last chance to advance and stash grands
If you have plans to have fam and mad land
Own shine, condone crime or hold 9s
I know what the problem is, killing our own kind
To my flame throwers, train sober, remain soldiers
Stay sane so these pretty dames can hold us
Terror terrain rollers and Range Rovers so the train goers
Claim your fame, maintain, till your game's over

[6th verse]
Levantore!
Ghetto alert, let's do whatever work to get rid of the curse
We went from 1st to America's worst
On this competitive turf, now let's inherit the earth
There's more prize for one another, and call shots
12:00 til the next ball drop
All year around plus they shuffle non stop
You think it's rough at the bottom, it's even rougher on top
My peeps gonna have to reach and turn for me
And everybody's side of the street'll be celly
Ain't nothing funny, burn plenty and burn money
And earn money and watch the century turn 20
Levantore!

[1st verse]
Aye yo, who's the most explosive one yet?
The a roundest one left
Who flows express to them rhythm drum set ain't done yet?
Flow like a trumpet to your eardrum are deaf
Who pose a threat?
Yo- who's more ferocious- none yet
To the night damn set mic trends and life ends
In sight, I see the whole world through a tight lens
Rhymes I write wins and kept a white Benz
Spend G's like hundreds and hundreds like tens
I get paid, Black, but laid back with mild manners
When I flip it's the opposite of dark Bruce Banner
Out the lab with soul and melodies in your ear
And just when it all seem clear I disappear
All you gotta do is holler
Reappear like vol-la the street scholar
I'm 40 deep like Ali Baba
Give the mamas something to talk about in the beauty parlor
Keep it hot like lava, yeah
It's Rakim Allah

[Chorus]
I know you find it hard to believe that
I am the genie of the mic an
I can do anything you wish but
Right now I'm commanding you to dance

[2nd verse]
Ready to dance y'all, my magic carpet's the dance floor
Last chance y'all even if you can't ball
What part don't you understand? Your wish is my command
And I'm a rock a jam by popular demand
You gone love this, it's marvelous, baby
It gotta thug's twist-it start to get crazy
It's off the meat rack- can't keep my peeps back
Speak raps and I freak tracks for these cats
I got a fetish for puttin' together words and letters
It ain't all about the cheddars and y'all know where my head is
Ghetto scriptures for my little brothers and sisters
And still get vicious for the thugs and the Misses
What I don't do is talk about the same old thing
When I come through, I drop it, and they gone swing
I bring the ladies joy until they make crazy noise
Cuz the beat's bangin'- I'm born to blaze, baby boy

[Chorus]
I know I you find it hard to believe that
I am the genie of the mic an
I can do anything you wish but
Right now I'm commanding you to dance

[3rd verse]
The editor-forever more the predator, I said it all
I spread a war, like never before
Spit lead at yours like a ghetto braud raw at a ?
She'll never pause
With raw metaphors, I set it off
But I just begun the best is yet to come
Blessed with a majestic tongue since I was young
But I was stressed for funds and obsessed with guns
Test the one, let Allah protect your son
Cause something musical magician, the ageiathic author
The microphone magician when I have a magic marker, a mentor
You can explore, every sentence is a tour
The inventor is more than adventure
You'll be blown away, and a zone ?
It's so ill, I still grab the microphone and say
One of my own displays like I'm known to blaze
And I bet rhyme pays until I'm old and gray

[Chorus x4]
I know you find it hard to believe that
I am the genie of the mic and
I can do anything wish but
Right now I'm commanding you to dance

[1st verse]
Aye yo it's Mr. Low-key you need to go see
the host by far a mostly o.t., with a brand new show but
you know how the flow be.
Cause when I swerve, you observe it closely
if you smoke trees, smoke more than an o-z.
Mix any kind of dope with me, you o-d.
You get the c-d, l-p c.o.d.
Poetry cause you to fully load the V.
Drop place to place be crazy over me.
Even different nationalities, over seas.
However do a don't emcee, you know me. G-o-d.
She know she d-o-e, so show me.
Even with no jewelry she call me goldie,
like a Jacuzzi she overheat an o-g.
Like sushi swimin' in a open sea. I'm comin'.

[Instrumental Chorus]

[2nd verse]
She said it's the same since I came and rained it's still hard.
You can stimulate the brain, feel the god.
It's hard to go against the grain, it's real large.
Drive'em insane leave dames in silk bras.
Plus real cups spill, spill that bars.
What's the deal kids with Hennessey grills they feel charged.
And you know what time it is? It's still Ra's.
When I do a show real far they steal cars.
Stages of battle field reveal your scars.
Train hard, cause this is a game with ill squads.
Play with pain and gain a couple of yards.
And if you know the dreal, you can deal the cards.
And appeal to broads with jobs and ov-e-ods.
Body parts like buns of steel and spa's.
Then we can kick tha blahzay blah, smoke a cigar.
While I get ma-na-massage.
I'm comin'.

[Instrumental Chorus]

[3rd verse]
From the inner city to the suburbs, the street poet.
The most jiggiest kid with words, and peeps know it.
They've read about it and heard, plus t.v. show it.
So how do I reserve my swerve? I low pro it.
Now there eager to know just how deep the flow get.
I don't know yet, sometime the flow be so wet.
Spit a tech that will effect quicker than moet.
Or high as anything you smoke yet, go ahead roll it.
Any microphone I hold, my heat blow it.
My emo is make more doe till I can't fold it.
Anything I see or touch, I wanna own it.
Drop a jewel in baby girl ear, now she my co-ed.
I re-load and she keep the candy coated,
and when she know she can't control it.
She tell me she about to blow at any moment.
Well go ahead baby I can't hold it. I'm comin'

[Chorus]
I will always be there
I always be there for you
I will always be there
I'll be there

[1st verse]
I'm bout to meet my comrade on the busy Ave where we clash
Trying to see how much gritty cash this city has
Meantime harass every bitty that pass
And then here you come with your pretty ass
All petite like you make ends meet on Wall Street
Your for keeps couldn't find a woman more complete
You got your head on tight and when you talk I like
For me and you two different walks of life
I'm in the streets too much I pack the heat too much
Put too much trees in the Dutch and don't keep in touch
You try to get in contact I don't respond back
Where the god at come back smellin' like cognac
Baby beware I'm tryin' my best to be fair
Aye yo-the key here is repair this love we share
Cause if we care we would prepare to see clear
Eye to eye we here as long as you be there

[Chorus]
I will always be there
I will always be there for you
I will always be there
I'll be there

[2nd verse]
Yo, I'm startin' to understand it you like your evenings enchanted
Love is bond, organic- restaurants romantic
Want me to take your hand and take you around the planet
But I take advantage and take you for granted
Call collect explainin' why I ain't came yet
I ain't winnin' the game yet can I get a rain check
Blow me a kiss in the wind, I'm missin' again
Don't let your sisters and your friends tell you this is the end
Talk a hole in your head puttin' bugs in your ear
Make you role in your bed when your thug ain't there
Somewhere around ladies know I get lonely and proud
Open my file baby you should know me by now
Tryin' to get paid and stay away from old sites
Find my place in life plus I like to hold mics
It might be seven whole days and seven whole nights
But yo it's gonna be alright just hold tight

[Chorus]
I will always be there
I will always be there for you
I will always be there
I'll always be there baby

[3rd verse]
Who said something good won't last forever
I know too much of any thing is bad ìwhateverî
Long as we have good and bad times together
Bad times make the good times that much better
Peaches and cream, diamonds and ice
You like pieces of dreams you shinin' in the night
Features of a Queen and your mind frame is tight
Timin' is right get ready for the time of your life
You speak about stackin' gees and havin' seeds
Apparently we know it's no guarantee
But losin' you boo who smooth as you
You unusual this is for the cool in you
And for the chill I will forever come real
Your appeal makes it hard to keep my love concealed
All it took was one look, one kiss, one meal
Now come feel, let's make this a done deal

[Chorus x4]
I will always be there
I will always be there for you
I will always be there
I'll be there

[1st verse]
If I lay low and let the day go it'll slow my payroll
Aye-yo I'm a terrorize charge and slay shows
Ra slay flows go as far as the Barbados
On the turntable sound like tornadoes
My style is performed like tropical storms
Your not to get on the whole spot will get torn
I keep the metropolitan hollering and bring the dollars in
Keep the models following wise as King Solomon
Come slow through the jungle like an animal
Invade any land I go like General Hannibal
From Long Island to Queens light up the New York scenes
All the way to New Orleans and everything in between
Left to go bless a show in Mexico
Next Thing I know it's extra cold I see Eskimo's
Time to rock get it hot soon as I get in there
Spit in they ear so flow they froze and I disappear

[Chorus x2]
It's a must that I bust any mic that you hand to me
It's inherited it runs in the family

[2nd verse]
They said I was a head of my time or either here before
To see the idea clear it takes a year or more
Now times that by the years I reign straight-seven
No hear for four years still multiplied by eleven
The silence's a set back make em regret that
One way to get back is violence and wet cats
But hold your head black or I'll never rap again
Just when I thought I was out they pulled me back in
Now that was two years ago and if cats start interfering
Then I'm a go back to the gat and racketeering
My sabotage is camaflouge and espionage
You ain't havin Ra so don't test the god
I'm takin' all orders I can't afford extorters
I hit em in the head with a hundred dollars in quarters
So warn a friend tell em it's on again
If it's a freestyle bust in a park I want in

[Chorus x2]
It's a must that I bust any mic that you hand to me
It's inherited it runs in the family

[3rd verse]
I managed to get paid for a decade now add three years on to that
Perform with a knack yes I was born to rap
The mic Lebanon Teflon don is back
I strike with better bombs and armed to attack
So reload the van go ahead let em in
Every tours a war and I'm on the road again
Suprise a town the place it's live and loud
We vibin' now I go wild and dive in the crowd
Never hit the ground they catch me and carry me around
Then put me right back on stage to shut it down
From New York to Cali, Japan and I-tali
I'm known as the microphone Muhammad Ali
I'm worldwide my brothers be biggin' me up
Keep the girls occupied lovin' diggin' me what
Ain't around when I come to town they mad glad
Like Saddaam they even say I'm the bomb in Baghdad

[Chorus x4]
It's a must that I bust any mic that you hand to me
It's inherited it runs in the family

(feat. Canibus)

Yeah
It's the paragraph ambassador
The wild style fashioner
It's the god Rakim, the master
Feel this

[1st verse]
This is that lost ass track off-the-rack kind of a track
You forced to rap, remember that? It's that
You know where I'm at, there go the gat
Pass me a bat, the kill-or-be-killed kind of attack
Steamin' _, speedin' navigatin' the map
Negotiating with a chick, she got her head on your lap, ya hand on your gat
Premeditated plan of attack, with two of your most deadliest mens in the back
Comb the block, stop in the zone that's hot
Get out like you own the spot, home or not
It's that no mood to play, move out the my way
Yo, I been whistlin' this tune from throughout the day
Hey, yo, this is that ol' y'all niggas don't wanna battle
Turn it up loud make the whole block rattle
Boom boom- this one is gettin' blazin' hot
Boom boom- make you bust another shot from the Glock

[Chorus]
From the streets below to everything above
To the heart that pumps Ra-kim Allah's blood
I swear I kick a hole in your speaker and pull the plug
You emcee's is playing tug-a-war with your tongues
From the streets beneath my feet to the sun
I'm number one and competition is still none
And I'm gonna keep kicking holes in your speakers and pullin' plugs
You emcee's is playing tug-a-war with your tongues

[2nd verse]
Here we come now
Turntable spin like a merry-go-round
Never slow down, depending on how good your stereo sounds
Set it, up in the hood where we go surround
Tearin' through towns, turn 'em into burial grounds
This is the track that made Theodore wanna scratch
The track that caused the first kid to spin on his back
And then we saw, kids spray-painting the wall
While some of y'all was waitin' for war breakin' the law
It's no antidote it's what you can't provoke
So just relax with your girls or your mans and smoke
And take a real hit, soon as it bang you feel quick
It's real thick, this is that ol' real shit
This is the description of designs for you to listen to
Reminiscin' the times and nothin' in particular
Keep you goin' just like a whole pot of coffee
Have you and your shorty doin' 80 in a 40

[Chorus]
From the streets below to everything above
To the heart that pumps Ra-kim Allah's blood
I swear I kick a hole in your speaker and pull the plug
You emcee's is playing tug-a-war with your tongues
From the streets beneath my feet to the sun
I'm number one and competition is still none
And I'm gonna keep kicking holes in your speakers and pullin' plugs

[3rd verse]
You know what this is
Yeah kid, give up your riches
Vicious, visions is not for motion pictures
Unstoppable, rollin' witcha sickest clique of niggas
Or witcha missus, gettin tropical kisses
Makin' faces, anticipatin' places her tongue hits
Suck her neck or just peck, better to funk it
The EP is in effect from dusk to sunset
She want a rim shot all over her drum set
Jump the bed rubbin' your head- it's rough sex
50 ways to keep a love wet
Down and up the steps with crazy positions left till she upset
"Damn, baby, you ain't come yet?"
Hell, no- doomstick big as a elbow
Gel soft, well blow, give him a minute, he'll grow
And all you gotta do is play the track again
I'm ready and revived, baby, back again

[Chorus]
From the streets below to everything above
To the heart that pumps Ra-kim Allah's blood
I swear I kick a hole in your speaker and pull the plug
You emcee's is playing tug-a-war with your tongues
From the streets beneath my feet to the sun
I'm number one and competition is still none
And I'm gonna keep kicking holes in your speakers and pullin' plugs
You emcee's is playing tug-a-war with your tongues

[Canibus]
Yo!
Check it, Yo!

I'm faster than leopards running across the vast desert
in twenty-two yards per second to catch me to daily delicatessen
It takes me thirty minutes to eat'em, forty minutes to digest'em,
and fifty minutes for it to pass through my intestines
So ask yourself a question?(What question?)
Can the Canibus rhyme?
Is a fuckin porcupine half swine?
No time to make up your mind, you wanna run or die?
Clip you while you're running by, trip you up from behind
My rhymes, confuse niggas
Like somebody try to gang-bang
Wearin' a blue shirt and red pants, throwin' up signs with there left hand
Standin' out on the corner of wetlands with a confederate flag for a headband
God dam eggplants, niggas getting' me vexed man
Cause I'm surrounded by garbage like Fred Sav
And I can't seem to get away from it
I dreamed that I stabbed leviathan through the stomach, and ate from it
In my past life I slayed hundreds, and in the life before that
I played trumpets, to warn you that I was comin'
There's one billion ways to die, and I already tried
nine-hundred million nine hundred and ninety nine
When I aim and fire my rhymes, like a hundred cannon balls flying
Striking you one at a time, in a parallel line
While the art of emceeing is steady dieing
Canibus and Rakim Allah is still in there prime!

[Chorus]
From the streets below to everything above
To the heart that pumps Ra-kim Allah's blood
I swear I kick a hole in your speaker and pull the plug
You emcee's is playing tug-a-war with your tongues
From the streets beneath my feet to the sun
I'm number one and competition is still none
And I'm gonna keep kicking holes in your speakers and pullin' plugs
You emcee's is playing tug-a-war with your tongues

[Rakim]
Before the dough came, my whole aim, was blow like propane
Control the whole domain, and then show no shame
Make rappers go ? and they so lame, playin with no game
Put em on the lil plane til they can't claim no fame
I got, the range, better, stay in the slow lane
I make the flow change from hurricanes to a slow rain
Your thoughts are so plane, I rearrange your whole frame
until my whole name grow out your brain like Rogaine
Letter by letter, I put words together
Once merged, apart never, they be heard forever
and then I grab a pen and stab him in his abdomen
and smash him in, throw his mic like a javelin
Then I explain verses, that remain on the surface
At times it get deep, but I never defeat the purpose
Never go out, to go the dough route, forever hold out
I never sold out, for any amount, no doubt

[Chorus x2: Rakim]

That's how I get down, so tell me how you like that
I hit the town, hold it down on a tight track
I start a party now - everybody like rap
Haters are mad cause they gave the R the mic back

[Rakim]
I like to hang where e'rythang seem to happen at (y'know?)
It's Ra's habitat, I'm like that czar Arafat
And yes I have a gat, snap like a Israeli
A terrorist I never miss blowin up kids daily
I step to writers, and let my virus hurt the closest
I'm sick as hepatitis and worse than tuberculosis
Pull out a pen, like a grenade, and drop it quick
I strike again and I'ma get paid, exotic shit
You know the God ra be, hot as the Mojave
Swing like King Usabi, my posse be kamikaze
On the corners like I'm homeless and I, don't know where home is
The bonus, is where the next open microphone is
Me and my team, vision like a radar screen
Intervene and yo, cut the mic off, cause Ra fiend
to show the whole world some of the things I seen
then blow it up, like Edi Amin, yaknahmean?

[Chorus]

[Rakim]
I do a thang thang, I write the songs they sing
Make sure that they swing, from New York to Beijing
Put your thoughts in the sling and your brain is gangrene
Pull in the ring, repeatin and sayin the same thing
Xerox, zero, no match, you ditto
copy machine, couldn't reprint my ??
My new style, that I produce now's beyond two-thou'
I knew how, since a juvenile, to make a ka-pow
When the night's fallin, I can hear the mic callin
I like ballin, I cut back like Mic Jordan
This is for y'all while I'm spittin literatures
'll ball like Allen Iverson dribble the ball
They hopeless - whoever approaches my high explosives
My vision sadicious, and freestyle's ferocious
I wrote this, words flew over my head like a locust
I turned the beat up, sat back, and stayed focused

[Chorus]

[No lyrics]

[Rakim]
One two..

Yeah.. uhh.. yeah..
[My Melody] "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"
Yeah it's the God baby..
Long Island's own..
barbarian of the microphone..
[My Melody] "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"
It's for y'all niggaz

And the streets just a couple of miles East of Mecca
Where peeps touch nuttin but style heat and cheddar
Compete witcha livelihood to eat better
And ain't nuttin sweet but the ladies who speak wetta
With a torn smile, tryin to get my song on file
It's on now, the whole town done gone wild
Kick rhymes off my heartbeat as a unborn child
Then developed a strong style on Long Isle
Won't be long now, I started rhymin young
I designed for fun, knowin my time would come
I started, payin dues DJin with crews
Learnin the inner city rules, conveyin the news
Soon as the jam start the man's art'll jam parks
Slam so hard it remains a landmark
The rhyme that I'm stylin, smooth as a violin
but [My Melody:] "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"

[DJ cuts and scratches "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"]

Like any G.O.D., loose on a spree for new degrees
Things to do and see until nuttin is new to me
A true MC usually be into a breeze
And I can still see New York City through the trees
My advance slams put you outside lookin in
or the other way around, that depends, look again
Took a pen so you could zero in on my book of gems
It extends from the Hamptons to Brook-lyn
Through every hoodie in town, to learn the Boogie Down
til every DJ around, wanted to put me down
Rhymes got rougher til I was ready to blast off
and harass all from Suffolk County to Nassau
where we keep the money pilin, keep the honies smilin
Keep the heater just in case kids start whylin
The rhyme that I'm stylin, smooth as a violin
[My Melody:] "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"

[DJ cuts and scratches "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"]
[DJ cuts and scratches "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"]

Grew up in Wyndanch, formerly known as Crime-Danch
Me and my mans we travel lands to find jams
where violence usually ends in sirens
By all means, we all fiend for finance
We make cash on the street called straight path
We take class, build with the Gods with great math
Everyday true to the street, and never fronted
Along the way, learned from the best that ever done it
Bein exposed to life's highs and lows
Got my flows ready for shows, I'm ready for the pros
I put it on a tape and then the city I tested
Then on the radio the R's requested
Now the whole world's whylin, all the girls smilin
You know, it's on, soon as they let the crowd in
The rhyme that I'm stylin, smooth as a violin
[My Melody:] "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"

Word up.. I wanna give a big up to Long Island.. stompin grounds.. f'real
[DJ cuts and scratches "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"]
Crime-Danch.. one love baby.. word up..
[DJ cuts and scratches "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"]
I wanna give a crazy shout out to all the DJ's back in the day
who used to let me smoke they microphones, yaknahmean?
Big up to DJ Maniac, DJ Teddy Tuff, and DJ Cool Breeze
[DJ cuts and scratches "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"]
Word up

[DJ cuts and scratches "Rough enough to break New York from Long Island"]

[Rakim]
Yeah, it's the god Rakim
Word up, I'm blazin this out to all my comrades
Yanamean? From the slums of New York, to the gutters all over the world
This is for y'all....
Through my travels I try to take righteous steps
Because right or left could mean life or death
No matter how trife it get, my sights is set
But it's twice the threat when the ?nights is death?
My mental windows refuse to close, they get exposed
To the neighborhood info where the poison wind blows
A deadly plague spreadin negativity, viciously
Unto every city be in ghetto misery
Don't let it get to me, the writer be left to die
But it get mesmerize if it catch your eye
Shines enormous, from pure revered Kool's and garments
But it's torment, jealousy drug wars or warring
Tallying, slowly turnin into barbarians
More scary when the whole boulevard's carryin
Livin in the world of sin, my ghetto girls and men
Waiting for the world to end

[Chorus x2]
"Tryin to paint a perfect picture and excel"
"In case you didn't know"
[Rakim] "Never movin backwards"
[Rakim] "Complicated"
[Rakim] "Know what I mean?"

I see destruc-tion, even little kids trust none
They bust guns, that's what they get a rush from
When I see em, we build and have a real discussion
"Yo Ra, what's the jewel of the day?" "What up, son"
"You got ambition?" Shorty said, "Man listen
I got demands for livin, can't stand division
Make grands on my mission, till everything glisten
Women in the Expedition, no plans for prison
In a vision the city get, 2 milleni G
Sittin in my MSC sippin Hennesy
Gettin high, and watch life pass me by"
So I asked him why, wit a fast reply
He said "I'm livin just to die without any feelings
So I wait here for my Maker till it's time to go
Wit this dime I know
Wit all of her girls and all of my mens
Waitin for the world to end"

[Chorus x2]

Shorty was taught to keep his head to the sky, and never cry
But the streets left him to die, now it's death in his eye
Livin a sin of hitmen, a sinister grin
From be-ginning to end, in it to win
Evil rebels, doin what we doin in the ghetto
Thinkin if we was thorough we can deceive the devil
You can't win, your life be end, try again
Shorty said, "Why we born again to die again?"
That's what I said when I realized I had a gift
To uplift and be one of Allah's advocates
Teach the youth and speak the truth
Show em what peace can do when ?ill? reach for you
And my reward won't be jewels or cheese, it's even better
I can be one of the greatest MC's ever
If I tell em they intelligent women and great men
And live, stop waitin for the world to end

[Chorus x2]

[Rakim] "I'm ragin, rippin up the stage an'
Don't it sound amazin, know what I mean?"
"Don't it sound amazin, know what I mean?"
"Rakim"

(feat. Connie McKendrick)

yeah
(it don't stop)
yeah
check it out
(it don't stop)
come on

[CHORUS]
we love to flirt
to chase the skirts
get to know who we are
girls in the park
cuz when we in the club
we keep it extra hot
they love the whips the chicks
the neighborhood superstars
boys on the block
thugs in the hood we don't never stop
never stop

i go where the masses go
we all act natural
think rational
those _ some blow[?]
cats have to know
master your craft
stash your dough
stay on the low
but never be the last to know
the next level or plateau be international
the grass'll grow
you know
cash'll flow
ask a pro
do the math
get it fast or slow
your girl's passin gold like a fashion show
the sun'll shine
make it feel like the summertime
shorty's runnin' blind
lookin like they just done a crime
click's want they pockets thick
cop a _
proper chick
street scholarships
politic your dollars quick(?)
_ we _
cuz we was the first in the pack
they say "herb's a trap"
now it's worse than that
so i observe the _
let my words attack
until it _ the rap
until the earth collapsed

[Chorus]

you know it seem like life's just begun
my lust is young
i wanna find me a lovely hon
crush me one
bust a _
mouth to mouth resuscitation
let her hug
and when i'm done
tongue touch me 'til i'm numb
but first the outcome is income and then some
get enough to run and spend some for fun
then me and my thugs
we come in the club
we swung lovely
watch how big the buzz be
trust me son
every ghetto got game in it
fame in it
we remain in it
waitin for the main event
like the days on the corner
we watch the world go by
on the nights that wasn't right
like when a good friend died
yo the street's got a deadly hum
like a drug
we gotta find a way to fill the neighborhood with love
from the park to the block
to your favorite spot
it don't stop

[Chorus]

i spend the prowl[?]
i been on since a child
it don't make sense to browse
it's intensive now
women in crowds
i search for the gem in the _
who stay original
even when the friends around
since her style
always commands a smile
and her femme fatale
cause men to growl
i take precedent of principle[?]
then arouse[?]
still the treasure is rakim
the smooth criminal
damn, it's on
keep my hands on
this amazon
legs for marathons
voice like sarah vaughan
precise, alright
i like when her _ entice
with a spice of life
flow times twice as nice
and when she go shop
the show stop
shock the whole block
she so hot
i clothes shop
put it on lock
body that won't drop
bounce like hip-hop
it don't stop

[Chorus x2]