Rakim

Released: November 30, 1999

Featuring: Connie McKendrick

Producer: Nick Wiz

[Hook]
We love to flirt
To chase the skirts
Get to know who we are
Girls in the park
Cuz when we in the club
We keep it extra hot
They love the whips the chicks
The neighborhood superstars
Boys on the block
Thugs in the hood we don't never stop
Never stop

[Verse 1]
I go where the masses go
We all act natural
Think rational
Those with a passion blow
Cats have to know
Master your craft
Stash your dough
Stay on the low
But never be the last to know
The next level or plateau be international
The grass'll grow
You know
Cash'll flow
Ask a pro
Do the math
Get it fast or slow
Your girl's passin gold like a fashion show
The sun'll shine
Make it feel like the summertime
Shorty's runnin' blind
Lookin like they just done a crime
Click's want they pockets thick
Cop a whip
Proper chick
Street scholarships
Politic your dollars quick
Since birth we __
Cuz we was the first in the pack
They say "herb's a trap"
Now it's worse than that
So I observe the haps'
Let my words attack
Until it hurts to rap
Until the earth collapsed

[Hook]

[Verse 2]
You know it seem like life's just begun
My lust is young
I wanna find me a lovely hon
Crush me one
Bust a lung
Give her mouth to mouth resuscitation
Let her hug
And when I'm done
Tongue touch me 'til I'm numb
But first the outcome is income and then some
Get enough to run and spend some for fun
Then me and my thugs
We come in the club
We swung lovely
Watch how big the buzz be
Trust me son
Every ghetto got game in it
Fame in it
We remain in it
Waitin for the main event
Like the days on the corner
We watch the world go by
On the nights that wasn't right
Like when a good friend died
Yo the street's got a deadly hum
Like a drug
We gotta find a way to fill the neighborhood with love
From the park to the block
To your favorite spot
It don't stop

[Hook]

[Verse 3]
I spend the prowl(?)
I been on since a child
It don't make sense to browse
It's intensive now
Women in crowds
I search for the gem in the Nile
Who stay original
Even when the friends around
Since her style
Always commands a smile
And her femme fatale
Cause men to growl
I take percent of the principals
Then arouse
Still the treasure is Rakim
The smooth criminal
Damn, it's on
Keep my hands on
This amazon
Legs for marathons
Voice like Sarah Vaughan
Precise, alright
I like when her sights entice
With a spice of life
Flow times twice as nice
And when she go shop
The show stop
Shock the whole block
She so hot
I clothes shop
Put it on lock
Body that won't drop
Bounce like hip-hop
It don't stop

[Hook]

The God MC, William Michael Griffin Jr. (b. January 28, 1968), known professionally as Rakim, is an American rapper representing the East Coast, hailing from Long Island, New York. Widely regarded as one of hip-hop’s most influential lyricists of all time, Rakim’s pioneering multisyllabic rhyming techniques demonstrated his lyrical superiority and helped cement his legacy.

Prior to his celebrated solo efforts, Rakim served as one half of the hip-hop duo, Eric B. & Rakim. The duo would go on to release a total of four studio albums before separating in 1992. Their 1987 debut album, Paid in Full, became a benchmark within hip-hop and inspired many future rappers, partly due to Rakim’s lyrical proficiency.

Coming off of a five-year hiatus, Rakim released his acclaimed debut solo album, The 18th Letter, in 1997. It is considered by many to be his best album, debuting at #4 on the Billboard 200 charts. Rakim’s 1999 sophomore album, The Master, received mixed reviews—it would be his last studio album for a decade until re-emerging with 2009’s, The Seventh Seal.

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