"You better stop foolin if you want to get along with me"

True

"We grew up on the block, and we know about poverty"

Do you?



Dear hip-hop, I apologize for how you've been treated

I should've fought for my culture, instead I retreated

The game is wounded, I stood and watched while they beat it

My culture starved, I refused to feed it

They sold you for a dollar like slaves in iron collars

A*R's chase you with bloodhounds and rottweilers

You went to the highest bidder, you was pissed on like kitty litter

But far from a quitter, but there's somethin to consider

Nah, after much deliberation

I decided I'm the hottest cat to ever receive rotation

I'm the foundation, one of the chief architects

of this dream we're all chasin, I had to speak up

Too much time was wastin WHOA! So here we go

I'm tired of the money talk and the, bitches and hoes

Everybody's always, soundin the same

I have to walk on water I can't, drown in the game



[Chorus 2X: scratched samples]

"Hip-Hop, was set out in the dark" [3X]

"They used to do it out in the park"



I remember your bar mitzvah, that burgundy label

Me and Jam Master had the battle of the big cables

Before the Serratos, real vinyls, real tables

Skills was the motto, no hype, no fables

You seemed so happy, you loved me so much

You popped off and went platinum, at my slightest touch

Oversized hoodies, Yukon trucks

20 years later, it's like lightning struck

They're worshipin the money, they're prayin to the bank

They danced on slaveship, slept as it sank

The devil made 'em do it, but only God do I thank

Because we aren't done yet, there's still gas in the tank

You look in a man's eyes, that's how you really tell his rank

Not the size of his account, check him, he might bounce

It's all on the line, this time it really counts

I'll bleed for this one, on down to the last ounce



[Chorus]



They rent a crib they're frontin, they rent a car they're stuntin

They rent a chain they're bluffin, that's why the culture's sufferin

And even if you're a millionaire that don't mean nothin

unless you build your community and encourage some unity

Too much ego... too much posin

If he's so hot then, why's the culture frozen?

It's time for a change, the order needs to be rearranged

And this song was pre-ordained

After 2 long decades, LL still remains

And you can blame it on my spirit, not on my brains

Time to put on my armor, go to war for the game

Cause it's on its last leg, and that's more than a shame

This is a lifestyle homey, it's more than champagne

But I will make a toast to Flash reachin the Hall of Fame

I end it with a line, from the book of King James

Let there be light when I write graffiti on the train



[Chorus]



[repeat 2X]

Let us proclaim the mystery and fame

I pray the Lord my culture be saved

If hip-hop dies before I awake

May Jam Master Jay cut a LL break