hardcore-hip-hop

"[Asked who inspired him to be a vegetarian] I used to sell books, when I was about 18 …. We were selling books, and right next to us was an old man. I mean, he had to be about 80 years old, and he was a nutritionist, but he was a holistic nutritionist, and he was talking to us about how you shouldn’t really eat animals and things of that nature … and he pulled up his shirt and the man had the abs of a 15-year-old. He says to us, “Touch ’em. Punch me,”—whatever—and he’s like, “How old do you think I am?” And we thought he was about 50 years old, and he’s like, “I’m 86 years old.” … We looked at each other, me and my friends, and we were, like, when we’re 86, we want to be like that …. So that’s what started it."

"You got no rap - but you want to battle. It's like havin' a boat - but you got no paddle. 'Cause I never pause - I say it because I don't break in stores - but I break all laws. Written while sittin' - all fittin' not bitten, Givin' me the juice that your not gettin'. I'm not a law obeyer - so you can tell your mayor I'm a non-stop, rhythm rock poetry sayer. I'm the rhyme player - the ozone layer. A battle, what? Here's a bible, start your prayer."

"Never badder than bad 'cuz the brother is madder than mad At the fact that's corrupt as a senator. Soul on a roll, but you treat it like soap on a rope 'Cuz the beats in the lines are so dope. Listen for lessons I'm saying Inside music that the critics are blasting me For they'll never care for the brother and sisters Now across the country has us up for the war. We got to demonstrate, come on They're gonna have to wait 'till we get it right. Radio stations I question their blackness. They call themselves black, but we'll see if they'll play this.Turn it up, bring the noise! I said turn it up!"

"Don't believe the hype - its a sequel. As an equal, can I get this through to you/ My 98's boomin' with a trunk of funk, All the jealous punks can't stop the dunk. Comin' from the school of hard knocks, Some perpetrate, they drink Clorox, Attack the black, cause I know they lack exact The cold facts, and still they try to Xerox. Leader of the new school, uncool, Never played the fool, just made the rules. Remember there's a need to get alarmed. Again I said I was a time-bomb. In the daytime the radio's scared of me 'Cause I'm mad, plus I'm the enemy. They can't c'mon and play with me in prime-time 'Cause I know the time, plus I'm gettin' mine."

"I put this together to... Rock the bells of those that Boost the dose Of lack a lack And those that sell to Black. Shame on a brother when he dealin' The same block where my 98 be wheelin'. And everybody know Another kilo From a corner from a brother to keep another - Below. Stop illin' and killin'. Stop grillin'. Yo, black, yo (we are willin'). 4, 5 o'clock in the mornin'. Wait a minute y'all, The fiends are fiendin'. Day to day they say no other way. This stuff... Is really bad I'm talkin' 'bout...BASS."

"Cold sweatin' as I dwell in my cell, How long has it been? They got me sittin' in the state pen. I gotta get out - but that thought was thought before I contemplated a plan on the cell floor. I'm not a fugitive on the run, But a brother like me begun - to be another one. Public enemy servin' time - they drew the line y'all To criticize me some crime - nevertheless They could not understand that I'm a Black man And I could never be a veteran. On the strength, the situation's unreal, I got a raw deal, so I'm goin' for the steel."

"No matter what the name - we're all the same, Pieces in one big chess game. Yeah - the voice of power Is in the house - go take a shower boy. P.E. a group, a crew - not singular. We were black Wranglers, We're rap stranglers. You can't angle us - I know you're listenin'. I caught you pissin' in your pants. You're scared of us dissin' us. The crowd is missin' us. We're on a mission boy."

"So many of us in limbo. How to get it on, it's quite simple. Three stones from the sun, We need a piece of this rock. Our goal indestructible soul. Answers to this quizzin' To the Brothers in the street, schools and the prisons History shouldn't be a mystery. Our story's real history, Not his story. We gonna work it one day Till we all get paid. The right way in full, no bull. Talkin', no walkin', drivin', arrivin' in style. Soon you'll see what I'm talkin' 'bout. 'Cause one day The brothers gonna work it out. Brothers, brothers gonna work it out."

"Hit me. Going, going, gone. Now I dialed 911 a long time ago. Don't you see how late they're reactin'? They only come and they come when they wanna. So get the morgue, embalm the goner. They don't care 'cause they stay paid anyway. They teach ya like an ace, they can't be betrayed. I know you stumble with no use people. If your life is on the line then you're dead today."

"Goin' quicker in the speedin' lane, Jealous can't do it and it's causin' them pain. Caught in my smoke, all they did was choke. Look at my spokes, you know I'm no joke. Out that window, middle finger for all, Jealous at my ride, stereo and black walls. Suckers they got the nerve and gall To talk 'bout the car when they're walkin' tall."

"Crucifixion ain't no fiction So called chosen frozen Apology made to whoever pleases, Still they got me like Jesus. I rather sing, bring, think reminisce 'Bout a brother while I'm in sync. Every brother ain't a brother cause a color Just as well could be undercover. Backstabbed, grabbed a flag From the back of the lab, Told a Rab get off the rag. Sad to say I got sold down the river, Still some quiver when I deliver."

"1989 the number another summer (get down), Sound of the funky drummer. Music hittin' your heart cause I know you got soul (Brothers and sisters, hey) Listen if you're missin' y'all Swingin' while I'm singin' Givin' whatcha gettin' Knowin' what I know, While the Black bands sweatin' And the rhythm rhymes rollin'. Got to give us what we want, Gotta give us what we need. Our freedom of speech is freedom or death. We got to fight the powers that be. Lemme hear you say Fight the power."

"Elvis was a hero to most, But he never meant shit to me you see Straight up racist that sucker was Simple and plain. Mother fuck him and John Wayne. 'Cause I'm Black and I'm proud. I'm ready and hyped plus I'm amped. Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps. Sample a look back you look and find Nothing but rednecks for 400 years if you check Don't Worry, Be Happy Was a number one jam. Damn if I say it you can slap me right here."

"Bass in your face, Not an eight track. Gettin' it good to the wood So the people Give you some a dat, Reactin' to the facts That I kick and it stick And it stay around. Pointin' to the joint, put the Buddha down, Goin', goin', gettin' to the roots. Ain't givin' it up, So turn me loose. But then again I got a story That's harder than the hardcore Cost of the holocaust I'm talkin' 'bout the one still goin' on."

"Land of the free, But the skin I'm in identifies me. So the people around me Energize me. Callin' all aboard this train ride. Talkin' 'bout raw hardcore, Leavin' frauds on the outside. But the bad thing is anyone can ride the train. And the reason For that is 'cause we look the same. Lookin' all around at my so called friends Light skin to the brown, The black, Here we go again."

"What I use in the battle for the mind I hit it hard Like it supposed, Pullin' no blows to the nose Like uncle L said I'm rippin' up shows. Then what it is Only 5 percent of the biz I'm addin' woes That's how da way it goes Then you think I rank never drank, point blank, I own loans. Suckers got me runnin' from the bank. Civil liberty I can't see to pay a fee. I never saw a way to pay a sap, To read the law Then become a victim of a lawyer."

"What goes on? Rollin' Stones of the rap game not braggin' Lips bigger than Jagger, not saggin. Spell it backwards I'm a leave it at that...That ain't got nothin to do with rap. Check the facts, expose those cats Who pose as heros and take advantage of blacks. Your government's gangster so cut the crap. A war goin on so where you at?Fight the power comes great responsibility. F the police but who's stoppin' you from killin' me? Disasters, fiascos over a loop by PE If it's an I instead of We Believin' TV Spittin riches, bitches, and this new thing about snitches. Watch them asses move, the masses switches. System dissed them but barely missed her. My soul intention to save my brothers and sisters."

"The booming system blasted modern-day movement anthems, songs from N.W.A and Public Enemy. Listening to those anthems in my community gave me hope. The 1989 classic "Fight the Power" came on. We had listened to that song probably a million times on the front lines, but as I stood alongside people from all around the country again, who were there to fight the power with us, it felt special. Ferguson Frontline needed support. We were all spent and traumatized. But, in this moment, my heart filled. We rode the waves of Chuck D and Flavor Flav's voices, throwing our fists up in the air. I looked around me and thought to myself, "These are my people. Something is still happening here. This is real. This is our movement.""

"So get up get, get get down, 911 is a joke in yo town. Get up, get, get, get down. Late 911 wears the late crown."

"My metaphors are dirty like herpes, but harder to catch, like an escape tunnel in prison I started from scratch."

"The things I've seen in life will make you choke by surprise / like an aborted fetus in a jar that opened its eyes"

"That'll never be me, cause I'm leaving the past, like an abused wife with the kids, leaving yo' ass, like a drug addict, clean and sober, leaving the stash, unbreakable Technique, leaving the plane crash"

"You can make the future, but it starts with leaving the past"

"I hate it when they tell us how far we came to be, as if our people's history started with slavery."

"Hell is not a place you go, if you ain't a christian, it's the failure, of your life's greatest ambition."

"Let's face it, you're basic, you aren't half the man that I am I'll throw your gang sign up, and then I'll spit on my hand Give me a hundred grand, give me your watch, give me your chain That's your girl, bitch get over here, give me some brain I'll bust off on her face, and right after the segment She'll probably rub it in her pussy, trying to get herself pregnant"

"Revolution is the birth to equality and the antithesis to oppression."

"But you know what the fuck I think is just pathetic and gay? When niggaz speculate what the fuck 'Pac would say. You don't know shit about a dead man's perspective and talking shit will get your neckbone disconnected, disrespected. Niggaz don't show no love, why you trying to be hardcore? you fucking homo-thug. And don't be sensitive and angry at the shit that I wrote, cuz if you can take a fucking dick, you can take a joke."

"The voice of racism preaching the Gospel is devilish. A fake church called the prophet Muhammad a terrorist, for "getting God" is not religion, but a spiritual bond and Jesus is the most-quoted prophet in the Qur'an."

"They bombed innocent people trying to murder Saddam When they gave 'em those chemical weapons to go to war with Iran This is the information they hold back from Peter Jennings 'cause Condoleeza Rice is just a new-age Sally Hemmings."

"How could this be, the land of the free, home of the brave.. indigenous holocaust and the home of the slaves. Corporate America dancing offbeat to the rhythm. You really think this country never sponsored terrorism? Human rights violations we continue the saga, El Salvador and the Contras in Nicaragua. And on top of that you still want to take me to prison, just cause I won't trade humanity for patriotism."

"We don't get weapons contracts, nigga / We don't get cheap labor for our company, nigga / We ARE cheap labour, nigga / Turn off the news and read, nigga / read..."

"A bandana full of glittering generality, 'fighting for freedom' and 'fighting terror', but what's reality? Martial law is coming soon to the hood to kill you, while you hanging your flag out your project window."

"I see the world for what it is, beyond the white and the black / The way the government downplays historical facts / 'Cuz the United States sponsored the rise of the Third Reich / Just like the CIA trained terrorists to the fight / Build bombs and sneak box cutters onto a flight"

"The devil crept into heaven, God overslept on the seventh, the new world order was born on September 11th."

"And just so conservatives don't take it to heart, I don't think Bush did it, Cuz he isn't that smart."

"And as a matter of fact Rumsfeld, Now that I think back, Without 9/11 you couldn't have a war in Iraq."

"When I was a child, the Devil himself bought me a mic. But I refused the offer, 'cuz God sent me to strike, with skills unused like fallopian tubes on a dyke."

"And Dick Cheney, you fuckin leech, tell them your plans. About building your pipelines through Afghanistan. And how Israeli troops trained the Taliban in Pakistan."

"You better watch what the fuck flies outta your mouth / Or I'm a hijack a plane and fly it into your house."

"Mothafucka's made me out of self-righteous hatred. And now you got yourself a virus, stuck in the matrix. A suicide bomber, strapped up ready to blow, lethal injection, strapped down, ready to go. Don't you understand they'll never let me live out in peace? Concrete jungle, guerrilla war out in the streets. Nat Turner with the sickle, pitchfork and machete. The end of the world, mothafucka, you not ready. My people are so hungry they'll attack without reason, like a fucking dog ripping off the hand that feeds him. Immortal Technique is treason to the Patriot Act, so come and get me muthafucka, cause I'm not coming back."

"Universal truth is not measured in mass appeal, this is the last time I kneel and pray to the sky, cause almost everything I was ever told was a lie"

"The kingdoms of Africa, and Mesopotamia, machine gunning your body with depleted uranium, this is the age of microchips and titanium, the dark side of the moon, and contact with aliens"

"This is the point from which I can never return, and if I back down now then forever I burn. This is the point from which I can never retreat cause if I turn back now there can never be peace. This is the point from which I will die or succeed, living the struggle, I know I'm alive when I bleed. From now on it can never be the same as before, cause the place that I'm from doesn't exist any more"

"They call us terrorists after they ruined our countries."

"And that's not socialist mythology, This is urban warfare, to the streets of your psychology."

"What Good is a good education with no direction like the right to vote with no one to vote for in an election"

"And they might even have a black president but he’s useless, Cause he does not control the economy stupid"

"And it’s amazing how they trained them, To be racist against themselves in the place they was raised in, You kept us caged in, Destroyed our culture and said that you civilized us, Raped our women and when we were born, you despised us, Gentrified us, agent provocateur divide us, And crucified every revolutionary messiah"

"Cause jail culture didn't give you that fitted hat To memorize a ghostwritten shit verse and spit it back"