Released: May 22, 1990
Songwriter: Rakim
Producer: Eric B. Rakim Paul C Large Professor
[Verse 1]
This is poetry in motion
Try to catch on, stay close to the host and
Emcees try to make the road rough but I'm coasting
Ladies hear the rhymes, rub 'em on like lotion
Hit the spot soothing, can't stop moving
Go ahead bust a sweat and you can bet I'm still cooling
When I detain it's a brainstorm
Never the same form, every brain I rained on is warm
Taking a trip through memory lane to melody
See if you could tell if these thoughts the fella sees
Could do you justice, but you can't touch this
Some kid just tried to bust this but he just missed
I'm universal and much more merciful
So versatile with the style it's reversible
I get away even if I say a curse or two
First, let me bust another verse for you
Your arms too short to box with Ra so quit
You don't want no kind of conflict
Or you'll get stripped as the rhyme is ripped
Pick up the pieces, now ain't that peace, yeah I'm hip
Everything I said flows since my intro
I plant a thought, extend and then grow
Holding my pen tightly it might be
Controversy at first when I write the
Chords of research, don't just take it for granted
When I'm gone my mind remains a planet
If I keep building, and teach the children
So when they read in between the lines it's filled in
I break to meditate, not a peep, concentrate
Till I'm deep awake, but not asleep
At the same time rising and advertising
What is true, keep advising you to stay wise
And I'm untouchable
[Verse 2]
Coming over the bridge, take a peak at the skyline
'Cause that's how I shine, not only when I rhyme
My culture's making me stronger, mentally
Physically I'm powerful, poetry I invent'll be
Labelled as art, placed in a museum
Style'll make scenery, now you see 'em
Exhibit a knowledge that's packed and filled with
Nothing illiterate, it's facts I build with
My mind's untouchable which means intangible
Contents never dense, it's understandable
I study life so I can live it the right way
No time to hear what another brother might say
Why sell a capsule of crack? I don't have to
I rhyme and sign million dollar contracts to
Put message on records that's braced with hard bass
Smuggling microphones, this ain't Scarface
Whoever talked that talk, I wanna hawk
And don't try to escape from New York
Across a 110th Street looking for a problem
It's hell up in Harlem, watch Ra solve 'em
I hear the music clear as I get near
The 125th Street Apollo Theater
Take a step back when I rap and step up to you
I'm untouchable
[Verse 3]
Put on my thinking cap, pump the track
Test your reflex, relax but in contact
You fold and lose control so hold your partner closer
You're supposed to keep your composure
But you hear the drumset go then it gets so hype
It's like nitro, opponents get petro
Remember the trademark left by the R
That's never soft or smooth, it's coming off the hardest
In effect, you could detect the imposter
Taking my props, Rakim is still proper
I'm a prophet, you can't stop it when I drop it
Everything I say coincide with the topic
Thoughts bounce around till my skull is fractured
Inside my brain it's all manufactured
As we go deeper it's hard to find
Don't even think about it, 'cause you can't read my mind
It's clear so therefore you need a ear or inclined
In the mind with some kind of idea for
The style I'm advertising what is true
Keep advising you to stay wise and the mind
Is untouchable
This is poetry in motion
Try to catch on, stay close to the host and
Emcees try to make the road rough but I'm coasting
Ladies hear the rhymes, rub 'em on like lotion
Hit the spot soothing, can't stop moving
Go ahead bust a sweat and you can bet I'm still cooling
When I detain it's a brainstorm
Never the same form, every brain I rained on is warm
Taking a trip through memory lane to melody
See if you could tell if these thoughts the fella sees
Could do you justice, but you can't touch this
Some kid just tried to bust this but he just missed
I'm universal and much more merciful
So versatile with the style it's reversible
I get away even if I say a curse or two
First, let me bust another verse for you
Your arms too short to box with Ra so quit
You don't want no kind of conflict
Or you'll get stripped as the rhyme is ripped
Pick up the pieces, now ain't that peace, yeah I'm hip
Everything I said flows since my intro
I plant a thought, extend and then grow
Holding my pen tightly it might be
Controversy at first when I write the
Chords of research, don't just take it for granted
When I'm gone my mind remains a planet
If I keep building, and teach the children
So when they read in between the lines it's filled in
I break to meditate, not a peep, concentrate
Till I'm deep awake, but not asleep
At the same time rising and advertising
What is true, keep advising you to stay wise
And I'm untouchable
[Verse 2]
Coming over the bridge, take a peak at the skyline
'Cause that's how I shine, not only when I rhyme
My culture's making me stronger, mentally
Physically I'm powerful, poetry I invent'll be
Labelled as art, placed in a museum
Style'll make scenery, now you see 'em
Exhibit a knowledge that's packed and filled with
Nothing illiterate, it's facts I build with
My mind's untouchable which means intangible
Contents never dense, it's understandable
I study life so I can live it the right way
No time to hear what another brother might say
Why sell a capsule of crack? I don't have to
I rhyme and sign million dollar contracts to
Put message on records that's braced with hard bass
Smuggling microphones, this ain't Scarface
Whoever talked that talk, I wanna hawk
And don't try to escape from New York
Across a 110th Street looking for a problem
It's hell up in Harlem, watch Ra solve 'em
I hear the music clear as I get near
The 125th Street Apollo Theater
Take a step back when I rap and step up to you
I'm untouchable
[Verse 3]
Put on my thinking cap, pump the track
Test your reflex, relax but in contact
You fold and lose control so hold your partner closer
You're supposed to keep your composure
But you hear the drumset go then it gets so hype
It's like nitro, opponents get petro
Remember the trademark left by the R
That's never soft or smooth, it's coming off the hardest
In effect, you could detect the imposter
Taking my props, Rakim is still proper
I'm a prophet, you can't stop it when I drop it
Everything I say coincide with the topic
Thoughts bounce around till my skull is fractured
Inside my brain it's all manufactured
As we go deeper it's hard to find
Don't even think about it, 'cause you can't read my mind
It's clear so therefore you need a ear or inclined
In the mind with some kind of idea for
The style I'm advertising what is true
Keep advising you to stay wise and the mind
Is untouchable
- Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em (1990)
- Paid in Full
- I Ain’t No Joke
- My Melody
- Follow the Leader
- I Know You Got Soul
- Microphone Fiend
- Eric B. Is President
- Juice (Know the Ledge)
- Don’t Sweat the Technique
- As the Rhyme Goes On
- Lyrics of Fury
- In The Ghetto
- Mahogany
- Let the Rhythm Hit ’Em
- Move the Crowd
- What’s On Your Mind
- No Competition
- Paid in Full (Seven Minutes of Madness – The Coldcut Remix)
- Casualties of War
- The Punisher
- No Omega
- Eric B. Is on the Cut
- Musical Massacre
- Kick Along