'Cuz the rhyme gets rougher as the rhyme goes on
 You sweat as you step about to get hype
 Or should you just listen to the man on the mic
 You're physically in this with me but how could you tell
 If it's meant to be hip-hop if you're not mentally as well
 Ready to absorb the rhyme that I just poured
 Into the mic and so unite and this won't be so bored
 If you just keep kickin' listen - to the mix
 And think you'll sink into the rhyme like quicksand
 Holds and controls you 'til I leave
 You fall deeper in the style - it's hard to breathe
 The only time I stop is when somebody drop and then
 Bring 'em to the front 'cuz my rhymes' the oxygen
 Then wave your hands - when you're ready I'll send you
 Into your favorite dance so let the rhyme continue
 And so on and I'ma go on simultaneously
 And even if I stop - the rhyme remains to be
 Rising to the top - and I came to drop it
 Catch it and quiz it - is my topic
 Universual 'cuz I move everybody to come
 By exercising your mind you'll coincide as one
 You look around and see how packed the party starts to get
 I draw a crowd - like an architect
 The five borroughs react and all the islands attract
 And every state can't wait - so they attack
 off a spot on the floor - squeeze in cuz it's packed
 It'll be more room if MC's play the back
 I'm the R the A to the K-I-M
 If I wasn't, then why would I say I am
 The microphone fiend if I was a fake
 Whoever said it's just buggin' off the rhymes I make
 I had you biting your tongue for what I brung and recite
 Sung it on stage some said it don't sound like
 The voice on the record - I see what you mean
 Because the system was wack, so I had to scream
 So just - give me a mic if it's loud I'll blow it
 If not - into the crowd I'll throw it
 Pull out my cordless mic and entertain you well
 Before I let go I'ma spark your brain cells
 I took time to write - tonight I will recite
 So poetically inclined when the mic is held tight
 Rhymes start flowin' kisses are blowin
 MC's are knowin' that's why they're goin
 Home to tell a friend when the party ends
 "Yo, man you know Rakim? That brother struck again"
 Cuz mic by mic and stage by stage,
 Tape by tape and page by page,
 When the crowd is moving I compete with the mix
 The rougher the cuts - the rougher the rhyme gets
 Deeper and Deeper - I hope you understand it
 I made it up myself and I planned it
 For other MC's who waste time
 Writing jokes, riddles, and maybe a rhyme
 I cross my arms and I was waiting - but I was hating
 The rappers on the microphone was fronting - just faking
 They wasn't breakin', which means I was achin'
 To get up on the microphone and then start takin'
 Control of the mic - uptight when I grabbed it
 So hug the speaker- your ear's a magnet
 Attracted to a freestyle put in effect
 You listen to my man while you're sippin' Moet
 So Eric, pick up the needle (yeah) put it in the middle (ahhight)
 Give me a scratch, turn my Mic up a little,
 I want you to hear this perfectly clear
 Catch what I'm sayin'? You get the idea?
 I hope you knowledge the beginning cuz I'm finished this song
 The rhyme gets rougher as the rhyme flows on