[Canibus]
Wake up, what is the date? 1988
Hip Hop is barely exposed to the emotion of hate
I hibernate, rhyming from space
My first album ten years late, I tried to take it to a positive place
But it was like a communist state, I tried to escape
My label shot me in the back as I was climbing the gate
I woke up, now I'm awake I found democracy to be fake
Hip Hop sucks, who made it this way?
I was a teenager when Hip Hop saved the day
Paychecks paved the way, not radio play
Some artists had knowledge of self, that little bit of honesty helped
Followed lyrics, promoted positive guilt
So even when you thought the message was negative it promoted positive health
It was about the rhymes not wealth
It was about our culture not what the culture could sell
It was a path to enlightenment, not Hell
We amused ourselves and this confused everybody else
I memorised 'Rock the Bells'
I memorised 'Tales for the Crack Side', I used to rock gazelles
EPMD 'You Gots To Chill'
Dougie Fresh, Slick Rick, Pete Rock, 'Mistadobalina' was Del
Cold Crush Crew, Melle Mel
Sugar Hill, Salt-n-Pepa, Sweet Tee pretty as Hell
Shanté dimple on her face, pretty as well
I used to wanna smell the pale Roxanne's tale
Technics 1200, beat it like an SB12
Lord Finesse the punchline king, Heavy D was doing his own thing
D.O and McGruff used to hold things
Biz Mark's big ass gold chain
One day I think I saw the Jungle Brothers dancing on Soul Train
Marley Marl, Craig G, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane
Kool G Rap put me under his wing
On the road to lyricism with Rakim and them, some real lyricists
Eric B was sick with the _____
I know I'm tripping, it's bin a minute
So many brothers and sisters, it's hard to remember who did it
Memories disappear like Houdini
My friends disappeared faster than my budget when my producer was greedy
*sample*, feed me
I've been eating emcees, you still don't believe me
_____ wolf, brown teeth, red blood leak from black sheep
Whenever the horns blowing gets deep
Digging In The Crates for my niggas in the streets
Diamond D had the 'Best Kept Secret' for weeks
D-Nice said, "Bis, you a beast", Redman said, "Peace"
Def Jam said I couldn't compete
Killah Priest spit 'Heavy Mental' before 'Heavy Mental' was released
Accapella, no instrumental beat
My _____ would hang low, no crease
Timbs on the feet, Cold Cheeks had a Lex
Tom Leek had the MPV, J Rav had the jeep
Clark Kent had the Tahoe, Charles bought a 4.6 because of Jay-Z
The programme director's name from Hot 97 was Tracy
Tragedy Khadafi, Queens' first intelligent Prodigy
Probably the first Arab Nazi
K-9 Posse chew you up like blue chuck chopped meat
MC N-I-N-E
This is the way we 'Walk in New York'
'Throw Ya Gunz' in the air if you ready for war
Throw your hands in the air if you ready for more
If I don't like the way you look, I'ma tear your face off
The Undergod, underground lord
When it comes to '100 Bars' you niggas know who to ask for
I woke up in the morning, on a regular day
I knew my nigga K-Solo would be around my way
I washed off my Thor hammer, the trigger mechanism lubricate
It was time to destroy the place
He kept saying if I spit my rhymes on the mic
In no time, I would be back in the limelight
I said, "Solo, nowadays I don't feel rap
Cos it ain't like it used to be, the shit is wack"
He said, "No Bis, trust Wolfgang cos I know my shit
You already know the flows I spit,
We love hiphop, we gotta pay homage to the shit
I love Hiphop, watch niggas....
The ghost of HipHop's past
Let's see how long Lyrical Law gon last
Yeah! the ghost of HipHop's past
Let's see how long Lyrical Law gon last
The Ghost Of Hip Hop's Past Lyrics performed by Canibus are property and copyright of the authors, artists and labels. You should note that The Ghost Of Hip Hop's Past Lyrics performed by Canibus is only provided for educational purposes only and if you like the song you should buy the CD