| I’m falling up flights of stairs, |
| Scraping myself from the sidewalk, |
| Jumping from rivers to bridges, |
| Drowning in pure air. |
| Hip hop is lying on the side of the road, |
| Half dead to itself. |
| Blood scrawled over its mangled flesh, like jazz, |
| Stuffed into an oversized record bag. |
| Tuba lips swollen beyond recognition. |
| Diamond-studded teeth strewn like rice at Karma’s wedding. |
| The ring bearer bore bad news. |
| Minister of information wrote the wrong proclamation. |
| And now everyone’s singing the wrong song. |
| Dissonant chords find necks like nooses. |
| That nigga kicked the chair from under my feet. |
| Harlem shakin' from a rope, but still on beat. |
| «Damn, that loop is tight.» |
| That nigga, found a way to sample the way the truth the light. |
| Can’t wait to play myself at the party tonight. |
| Niggas are gonna die. |
| Cop car swerves to the side of the road. |
| Hip hop takes its last breath. |
| The cop scrawls vernacular manslaughter on a yellow |
| Pad, then balls the paper into his hand, |
| Deciding he’d rather free-style. |
| «You have the right to remain silent.» |
| «You have the right to remain silent.» |
| And maybe you should have |
| Maybe you should have |
| Before your bullshit manifested. |
| These thugs can’t fuck with me, |
| They’re too thugged out. |
| Niggas think I’m bugged out, 'cause I ain’t Sean John or Lugged out. |
| This ain’t hip hop no more, son, it’s bigger than that. |
| This ain’t ghetto no more, black, it’s bigger than black. |
| So where my aliens at? |
| Girl, we all illegal. |
| This system ain’t for us. |
| It’s for rich people. |
| And you ain’t rich, dawg, you just got money. |
| But you can’t buy shit to not get hungry. |
| Telegram to Hip Hop: |
| Dear Hip Hop. (stop) |
| This shit has gone too far. (stop) |
| Please see that turntables and mixer are returned to Kool Herc. (stop) |
| The ghettos are dancing off beat. (stop) |
| The master of ceremonies have forgotten |
| That they were once slaves and have neglected |
| The occasion of this ceremony. (stop) |
| Perhaps we should not have encouraged them |
| To use cordless microphones, for they have |
| Walked too far from the source and |
| Are emitting a lesser frequency. (stop) |
| Please inform all interested parties that |
| Cash nor murder have been included to list of elements. (stop) |
| We are discontinuing our current line |
| Of braggadocio, in light of the current trend in «realness». (stop) |
| As an alternative, we will be Confiscating weed supplies and |
| Replacing them with magic mushrooms, in hopes |
| Of helping niggas see beyond their reality. (stop) |
| Give my regards to Brooklyn. |
| These thugs can’t fuck with me, they’re too thugged out. |
| Niggas think I’m bugged out, 'cause I ain’t Sean John or Lugged out. |
| This ain’t hip hop no more, son, it’s bigger than that. |
| This ain’t ghetto no more, black, it’s bigger than black. |
| So where my aliens at? |
| Girl, we all illegal. |
| This system ain’t for us. |
| It’s for rich people. |
| And you ain’t rich, dawg, you just got money. |
| But you can’t buy shit to not get hungry. |
| These cats can’t fuck with me, I purr purple |
| Sold, increased, toe shell like a turtle |
| I walk the streets like the lie that I’m telling |
| One listener grips me and starts yellin |
| I see through speakers, I speak what’s seen |
| I eat and shed, I sleep and dream |
| I walk the streets of London like «know what I mean?» |
| And chillin' at waggamama |
| Eatin' crib soy beans |
| It’s like that. |