Now-a-days you’re lucky if you hear a profound song on the radio- one with a great beat great lyrics and a message.
Excuse me for reminiscing but these songs have always struck a chord in my mind, and caused some type of emotional response. Whether you agree or not, these songs were beautiful in their own ways! Here’s an ode to some great ol’ rap lyrics from the past…
**Warning: Biggie and 2 Pac were purposely not included! We all know Biggie was a lyrical genius and Pac’s words were heartfelt, philosophical and sometimes scary, therefore no comparison to these artists are needed. Biggie and 2Pac are the best, so here’s all the rest!
(10)Cassidy- “Im A Hustler”
“In 5th grade I was hustling my genesis games, I was dumb young, selling chewing gum to my classmates, on the cash chase, moving at a fast pace,never been a dummy, never did what the dummys do, so I had to mil to burn before I turned twenty two”
(9)Ja Rule- I Cry
“You and I then made a killin and stuck together. In this land of forbidden treasure, love is the only evil seed that could sever a tied this close not the love between us but your love for the dough”
(8)Thug Holiday- Trick Daddy
“Here go one for, all these killings and all these conflicts in religion see the Muslims, Jews and Christians but know they are all God’s children There’s only, one him, plus ain’t none of y’all confronting him so blind in our own minds we wouldn’t even know God if ‘we was in front him’ and, I read your books know all your remixes to the Bible What about a verse for the thugs, a cure for drugs and survival Let’s add some chapters named Martin, Malcolm and Farrakhan In all my history books, only one died was the Americans”
(7) GhostFace Killah- All That I Got Is You
“We survived winters, snotty nosed with no coats.We kept it real, but the older brother still had jokes Sadly, daddy left me at the age of six I didn’t know nuttin but mommy neatly packed his shit She cried, and grandma held the family down I guess mommy wasn’t strong enough, she just went down Check it, fifteen of us in a three bedroom apartment Roaches everywhere, cousins and aunts was there Four in the bed, two at the foot, two at the head I didn’t like to sleep with Jon-Jon he peed the bed Seven o’clock, pluckin roaches out the cereal box”
(6)Lil’ Kim- Hold On
“Oh how it hurts, like child birth The wounds heal slow, you just don’t know At times, I don’t know what to say And all I do is pray, day to day But still, I feel my strength might die Like right now, I’m tryin’ hard not to cry Even when I close my eyes, I still see it Damn, I just don’t believe it The bad times I buried, like the cemetery Unworthy people playin’ beneficiaries A lotta people eatin’ off of one man’s death Don’t you worry B.I., I’ma ride to my last breath!”
(5)Eve- Love Is Blind
“She was in love and I’d ask her how? I mean why? What kind of love from a nigga would black your eye? What kind of love from a nigga every night make you cry? What kind of love from a nigga make you wish he would die? I mean shit he bought you things and gave you diamond rings but them things wasn’t worth none of the pain that he brings”
“If I’m strong enough I’ll live long enough to see my kids doing something more constructive with they time than bids I know because I been there now I’m in there sit back & look at what it took for me to get there. First came the **** the drama with my mama she got on some fly sh*t “What!” til I split and said that I’ma be that seed that doesn’t need much to succeed strapped with mad greed and a heart that doesn’t bleed”
(3)Eminem-Renegade(verse)
“Since I’m in a position to talk to these kids and they listen
I ain’t no politician but I’ll kick it with ’em a minute
Cause see they call me a menace; and if the shoe fits I’ll wear it
But if it don’t, then y’all’ll swallow the truth grin and bear it
Now who’s these king of these rude ludicrous lucrative lyrics
Who could inherit the title, put the youth in hysterics
Usin his music to steer it, sharin his views and his merits
But there’s a huge interference – they’re sayin you shouldn’t hear it Maybe it’s hatred I spew, maybe it’s food for the spirit
Maybe it’s beautiful music I made for you to just cherish
But I’m debated disputed hated and viewed in America
as a motherfuckin drug addict – like you didn’t experiment?
Now now, that’s when you start to stare at who’s in the mirror
and see yourself as a kid again, and you get embarrased
And I got nothin to do but make you look stupid as parents
You f****n do-gooders – too bad you couldn’t do good at marriage!”
(2)Jay-Z-Song Cry
“A face of stone, was shocked on the other end of the phone word back home is that you had a special friend So what was oh so special then? You have given away without gettin at me that’s your fault, how many times you forgiven me? How was I to know that you was plain sick of me? I know the way a nigga livin was whack but you don’t get a nigga back like that! shit I’m a man with pride, you don’t do shit like that you don’t just pick up and leave and leave me sick like that you don’t throw away what we had, just like that I was just f*****g them girls, I was gon’ get right back”
(1)Nas- 1 Mic
“Writin’ names on my hollow tips, plottin’ s**t mad violence who I’m gonna body, this hood politics acknowledge it, leave bodies chopped in garbages/ seeds watch us, grow up and try to follow us police watch us, roll up and try knockin’ us one knee I ducked, could it be my time is up but my luck, I got up, the cop shot again bus stop glass bursts, a fiend drops his Heineken richochetin’ between the spots that I’m hidin’ in blackin’ out as I shoot back, f**k gettin’ hit This is my hood I’ma rep, to the death of it till everybody come home, little nigg*z is grown hood rats, don’t abortion your womb, we need more warriors soon . Sip from the star sun and the moon In this life of police chases street sweepers and coppers stick up kids with no conscience, leavin’ victims with doctors. If you really think you ready to die, with nines out”