Released: March 22, 2011

Producer: M-Phazes

[Intro]
Yeah, uh, okay
Yeah, uh

[Chorus]
Call me the hitman, it's kind of hard, ain't it?
What most feared we'd become in the game, we became it
So I painted a masterpiece of an industry tainted
It's not a lithograph, so it's graphic, frame it
The hitman (Say it again)
The hitman
The hitman (Uh, say it again, say, say)
The hitman

[Verse 1]
Some people say I'm extreme
Broadcast a beam live through a meme
Screaming as Jimmy Iovine, as corrupt as Don King
Boxed into the ghetto to be champions of bling
Industry's the arena, the internet is the ring
You train audible queens to sling music to fiends?
Then Def Jam, supreme team, the same thing
Except more critical now, it's digital cocaine
The goal to control every individual's brain, like
Cadillacs for contracts in the 60's
Now it's rap 'til you 60 for contract 360s
The trick, switch the degrees with the three sixes
Artists are left with zero, you know who receives the riches
Which is the reason why there's only a few moguls
Globally, the pioneers are left in a chokehold
Enough to make an individual go postal
Watching these old folks get fucked for their vocals

[Chorus]
Call me the hitman, it's kind of hard, ain't it?
What most feared we'd become in the game, we became it
So I painted a masterpiece of an industry tainted
It's not a lithograph, so it's graphic, frame it
The hitman
The hitman (Uh)
The hitman (Say it again, say, uh)
The hitman

[Verse 2: Pharoahe Monch]
If you are not performing fellatio for radio rotation
What's the ratio for radio play at your station?
If you're not paying to play, the record is dead
Puts a whole new spin on Radiohead
They got a thousand plays a week and we selling the same units
Put their best rep up, they couldn't stand next to it
People wanna relate, they wanna connect to it
Here's a lyrical check, is this enough for you to flex to it?
Huh? Or do you need more clues?
Should I be more black, would that change your view?
Should I dye my hair blond, should my eyes be blue?
Just a couple of questions I mustered up for you
But these eleven-and-a-half shoes, you can't fill those
I make headlines like corduroy pillows
And probably get banned from television and marketing
Targeting music industry politics, provocative

[Chorus]
The hitman, it's kind of hard, ain't it?
What most feared we'd become in the game, we became it
So I painted a masterpiece of an industry tainted
It's not a lithograph, so it's graphic, frame it
The hitman (Say it again)
The hitman
The hitman (Say it again, say it, uh)
The hitman

[Verse 3]
It's kind of hard
Let's release sex tapes so we can become stars
Nude photographs of titties and asses
Increase our buzz, impress the masses
I thought she was supposed to be so passive
Now you just another ass in the end with an asterisk
Cellphone songs, you will never be classic
You sold your soul, they call that remastering
See, why does it have to be so drastic?
Chemical skin peel makes the song more plastic
Follow the program, man, stick to the tactics
Twelve to eighteen, you know the demographics
These kids want popcorn, they want slapstick
Probably the chorus goes 'tisket, tasket'
But I'm not willing to risk it and mask it
This might take a couple of listens for you to grasp it
The Hit—

Pharoahe Monch

Troy “Pharoahe Monch” Jamerson is a near-universally loved and respected underground rapper. He released three extremely well-regarded albums with the duo Organized Konfusion in the 1990’s, including the classic The Extinction Agenda

Since the group’s demise, he’s released several fantastic albums' worth of boom-bap beats (occasionally with a gospel touch, as on 2007’s Desire), dense wordplay, political musings, military metaphors, and thoughts on the state of radio and today’s hip-hop ( he doesn’t like it very much)