"Raw Hip Hop" lyrics
Let's go back (Let's go back, let's go back)
Back into time (Back into time, back into time)
Back in seventy-three in the borough of Bronx
Man, you couldn't be weak, man, you had to be smart
See, we talkin' 'bout streets, now we talkin' 'bout art
When we talkin' 'bout beats, man, we talkin' 'bout heart
We was rockin' a hard beat live in the park
Guns spark in the dark, it was all just a part
Of the eighties Bronx scene that created all
"How you know, KRS?" 'Cause I was there from the start
Sixteen-hundred Centric Avenue, that was the spot
Fifteen-twenty, hip-hop started right on my block
This original hip-hop whether you like it or not
I'm remindin' through this rhymin' 'cause you might have forgot
Drop on the spot, b-boys start pop
Live on the block, this is raw hip-hop
Drop on the spot, graf writers don't stop
Bottom to the top, this is raw hip-hop
Drop on the spot, MCs make it hot
Microphone pop, this is raw hip-hop
Drop on the spot, DJs on the chop
Cut, mix, scratch, this is raw—
See, when we would begin, think where the heroin in
They was really determined that we was never gon' win
But by lookin' within, we began to believe
That we was breakers and writers, DJs and MCs
We was so damn poor, we was eatin' free cheese
But that made us raw, we started eatin' MCs
This before the fees and the MTVs
When you walked in New York and your ears would freeze
Wildin' beats and [?], my necks and Ts
Night-long BVDs, we was fuckin' with these
We was fuckin' with this, we was fuckin' with that
But when the eighties came in, we started fuckin' with crack
And along with the crack came a big ol' gat
And along with the gat came a big ol' stack
'Cause if you ain't had that, you was the next to get jacked
This the way that it was, I'm just takin' it back
Drop on the spot, b-boys start pop
Live on the block, this is raw hip-hop
Drop on the spot, graf writers don't stop
Bottom to the top, this is raw hip-hop
Drop on the spot, MCs make it hot
Microphone pop, this is raw hip-hop
Drop on the spot, DJs on the chop
Cut, mix, scratch, this is raw—
This the way that it was, this the way that it went
Man, you had to survive, caught up with the rent
When the nineties arrived, eighties' money was spent
All them dudes that was live? To the prison they went
And the dudes that survived? They began to repent
Then they realized in rap, there was money to get
So gangstas became rappers, rappers became gangstas
Fake became the real for the payment
Back into time (Back into time, back into time)
Back in seventy-three in the borough of Bronx
Man, you couldn't be weak, man, you had to be smart
See, we talkin' 'bout streets, now we talkin' 'bout art
When we talkin' 'bout beats, man, we talkin' 'bout heart
We was rockin' a hard beat live in the park
Guns spark in the dark, it was all just a part
Of the eighties Bronx scene that created all
"How you know, KRS?" 'Cause I was there from the start
Sixteen-hundred Centric Avenue, that was the spot
Fifteen-twenty, hip-hop started right on my block
This original hip-hop whether you like it or not
I'm remindin' through this rhymin' 'cause you might have forgot
Drop on the spot, b-boys start pop
Live on the block, this is raw hip-hop
Drop on the spot, graf writers don't stop
Bottom to the top, this is raw hip-hop
Drop on the spot, MCs make it hot
Microphone pop, this is raw hip-hop
Drop on the spot, DJs on the chop
Cut, mix, scratch, this is raw—
See, when we would begin, think where the heroin in
They was really determined that we was never gon' win
But by lookin' within, we began to believe
That we was breakers and writers, DJs and MCs
We was so damn poor, we was eatin' free cheese
But that made us raw, we started eatin' MCs
This before the fees and the MTVs
When you walked in New York and your ears would freeze
Wildin' beats and [?], my necks and Ts
Night-long BVDs, we was fuckin' with these
We was fuckin' with this, we was fuckin' with that
But when the eighties came in, we started fuckin' with crack
And along with the crack came a big ol' gat
And along with the gat came a big ol' stack
'Cause if you ain't had that, you was the next to get jacked
This the way that it was, I'm just takin' it back
Drop on the spot, b-boys start pop
Live on the block, this is raw hip-hop
Drop on the spot, graf writers don't stop
Bottom to the top, this is raw hip-hop
Drop on the spot, MCs make it hot
Microphone pop, this is raw hip-hop
Drop on the spot, DJs on the chop
Cut, mix, scratch, this is raw—
This the way that it was, this the way that it went
Man, you had to survive, caught up with the rent
When the nineties arrived, eighties' money was spent
All them dudes that was live? To the prison they went
And the dudes that survived? They began to repent
Then they realized in rap, there was money to get
So gangstas became rappers, rappers became gangstas
Fake became the real for the payment
