Epilogue

[** scratched **] "What does it take" "to be a great" "MC" If you ask me, it's much more than Mastering Ceremonies Because a lot of Masquerading Cornballs Don't realize it also means Mad Creativity In this day and age of mediocrity There's two types of rappers that you'll recognize and hear But I prefer the ones with the lyrics of the year Than the gimmick with the gear and the right puppeteer Now you can be the next Rakim Shakespeare You're still 10 steps away from having a career You step up the plate to earn respect from your peers And end up on deck for the remainder of your years I suppose this means greatness takes blood, sweat, and tears It also takes an industry that doesn't breed fear Or pumping all this mindless crap up in your ears And limiting in the contrast of what you get to hear You got to recognize it's a determined idea A righteous young mind is a devil's worst fear But when you wanna give the people peace and satisfaction Everybody's mama wants a piece of the action So now I fall victim to supply and demand Immaculate conceptions, born illegitimate Destined to be the greatest story ever missed Which means its meant to be for whoever's hearing this [Hook 2x] When it's all said and done it should be heard and seen 'Til this cold-hearted game forces us to change teams While the lust for the loot spreads out like gangrene So the haves chase their tails while the nots chase their dreams As the years chase the days, past the futures, meet fate Like your firstborn, waiting for pop's release date Postpone, meanwhile, I accumulate means To revise and renew what was just heard and seen It's been stated that I rhyme like God and I build like a poet One hand wash the other like Lady Macbeth Flip styles like Bela Karolyi Warm hearted, cold blooded I write like opposite left I left opposites right where they left off My rights left right-wingers left to right beside me Left my right hand man cause he left what's right And I reserve the right to write 'til I'm free Cause I free styles with my pen That ya'll couldn't if you freestyled all day long Literally, this literature designed for one orator Stays on the head Emcee's emcee, that I be the emcee's emcee Cause I am saying what I am thinking Except when my mind's blinking My eyes open even when my eyes' drinking I's a socializer, but more so with those wiser Ask yourself why's a music so misused it's self contained And not self sustained I myself contemplate this 'til I make myself complain Shall my raps stay maintained, wrapped in cellophane 'Til they're unwrapped by human consumers? Emphatically no, so I rap wherever I go And let it grow up in your brain like a tumor [Hook 2x] Aiiyo, ya think ya really know me well There's more to me than ya mind got room for And much much more than a clever verse or two That's all you know about me, you ain't even knowing that You think I give a fuck whether or not my record sells? (hell yeah) You're damn right but you see that ain't the way I'm keeping score If one million people said it does that make it true You judge my music by whether or not my pocket's fat? Well, fuck you And the cash cow you're milking (moo) It ain't yours but the job pays well, don't it? And if you're lucky you can even get to taste a drop We'll see who's happy when you're old but you're not grown You see me, now? Yeah you'll see me later too Fuckin you up when the vantage point change, don't it? I know what's hip, but you determine if it's hop or pop You're just a man without a voice, pass the microphone I know the diff between written rhymes and freestyles You see, for me, it's like having sex or making love And you should know by now I'm married to the pad and pen But I'm entitled to cheat on her every now and then Will your children know the hip hop history? Will the songs you hate be shrouded in mystery? Don't step to me with your stats and your date smarts You know your neighborhood by street signs or landmarks? I'm not talking 'bout the first record ever made I'm talking 'bout the first one that ever made you The first records that I played never played me And I can still play 'em today cause they stay true You know this time I'm only speaking on the timeless It makes sense now and then, yeah, now and then Cause now it's making picture perfect sense and then It's making picture perfect sense like it did now [Hook 4x]