A paper a pen a mic and a beat, an l and some trees now the cyphers complete,
The lights in the streets the cracks at my feet, all speaking to me so I write what I see, The pressure the pain the glamour the glitz, hiphops in our veins understand what it is, It started with the roots and it grew through the bricks, traveled overseas now its commanding the kids, And its our time a far cry from what its been, but look close and still see the same pen, A new page in the same book you’re reading now, lets take it back to the start that’s what I’m speaking about.

When it all started the cause was in the hearts, smart city folk wanting better life thru the arts, They start dance instead of seeing fights, old brick walls now painted so bright, Street lights ignite, turntables come to life, funk jazz and soul blasting in the night, Cardboard and concrete, shell toes and breakbeats, a couple hours of fun off these unsafe streets, Little kids running wild, a whole system in denial that these troubled times would redefine a generation n create a style of life that resembled a community, no guns no glitter, no drugs, just unity, It wasn’t hiphop, not for quite a while, til emcees started screaming about it in their freestyle, meanwhile, the tastemakers start to scheme now, see how to turn a profit, from unique sounds, Changed the game in many ways, many start to the play the game as just a way to make change, they say it ain't the same, I wouldn't know I wasn't there but right now people got complaints

I used to love her when she was on that conscious tip, now all she care about is cash and want designer ishh, Her motivation was liberation and black love, now when she come on in the club she want to act up, She used to tell me stop the violence on my own block, now she tell me that I ain’t the man unless my gun pop, She used to love me for me not for whats in pockets, nowadays all she seem to car about is the profits, we used to chill together in the back of the school bus, and anything we ain’t know about, she schooled us, She wasn’t all serious, we partied with her too, but she kept a balance between that and real issues, I still see the girl often but it ain’t the same, she used to make me think, now she make it rain, We’ll probably never have a bond that we once did, but deep inside my hear she’ll always live