Released: February 26, 1998

Featuring: Black Thought Absolute (of House of Repz) Pharoahe Monch Common

Songwriter: Black Thought Common Pharoahe Monch Absolute (of House of Repz) Shawn J. Period The Mighty V.I.C.

Producer: The Mighty V.I.C. Shawn J. Period

[Bobbito]
Yo, so let's get the mic burned, open it up

[Black Thought]
Yes I, check it out
It's like, you listen to the musician
Umbilical mic, my syllable strikes ya vision
I take you through a tunnel of thought, wit no support
Now you got caught off guard by the number one scar
From the Illa-Fifth, lyrically fulfillin' this
Black Thought, yo, the skill assisted
By the Mal-ik B, the symbol you remember me to be type valid
Disastrous, the master just bust this for the listener
Black Thought, yo, while I exhibit the
Styles from the artist, boast strokes of lyrical darkness
Enter the style, severin' rooms just like apartments, ill flavor
I'm a skyscraper by nature
Down wit my number one neighbor, Common
From the city of Illinois, you destroy when we bombin, what?
Off the top-a, the dome lyric-al don-datta Mr. Trotter
Aiyyo we gotta lotta MC's, on the line of this ready to rhyme
So, I'm just gon' settle down wit mine, rewind, check it out

[Common]
I pursue sound fairs, relaxed like Dru Down's hair
Other niggas rhymes are like gang signs, I throw down theirs
On Knotts I Landed, players get played like Hamlet
Supposedly nice, taken for granted like life
I write twice and drop singles in record pools
Niggas I'm dunkin' like when cops mingle, fuck hip hop jingles
Rhymin' big words and not sayin' shit
The click that you came in wit, the accent you flavor whipped
I got my nigga Tariq, I freak it in the middle of the week
Niggas is weak an' and I start to speakin'
Niggas start to leakin', my nigga Derek D an'
I'm foreseein' the future, funky for human beings
Like I was the Biz Mark, I bring the noise iller
Com Sense'll be the rhyme killer, I spill a
Little bit of juice to an MC who need a new producer
Got my nigga Y-Not in the spot and I rock like crack
I'm ready to attack, Thoughts is Black
Niggas understand the intelligence and relevance to this rhyme
I Stretch a nigga all across the line like I was Bobbito or Armstrong
Com's song'll keep goin', I start the holdin'
My flowin' is turnin' to the earth
The birth is comin' through, listenin' to cut, old school *laughin'*
?Tremblin when it came down the shoot?

[Pharoahe Monch]
(Pharoahe) Yeah, yeah (Pharoahe) yeah, yeah
(Pharoahe) Yeah, yeah yo
Always beginnin' 'em, forever blendin' 'em
Bendin' 'em again and again
Sendin' 'em back, lettin' 'em know that minimum wages
Subliminally befriendin' 'em for criminal ac-tivity
Mics I chop like Florida State Seminoles wit criminal facts
And milly ac-tually I piss on your promotional wax
It'll be tight but only this
What nigga swears he's the nicest?
Just because he got rhyme of the month twice
Four mic devices, the gem star blade the shit slices
Rip-trip-chop-chop-chop and dices, Absolute
Absolute, uh, Absolute, uh, Absolute, uh (kill it)

[Absolute]
Yes, rippin' the microphone
My words will enlight your dome
When I'm quick to strike your home just like Capone
N-Noreaga, wit The War Report, my orator will slaughter yours
Still waitin' for the beat to come in, I'm dangerous like Satan
Eatin' bacon in front of a Muslim, I'll battle you and your cousin
It's the beef for black attack
When I, yes, quick to subtract the wack
When I go from track to track, bouncin' in the mounds and countin'
Flowin' like water from a fountain when I deliver
Like water from a river makin' you shiver
That's for sore, the connoisseur rippin' ill-literature
Yes, but I'm about to get deeper
You'll catch a ill reflection from listenin' too close to the speaker
When I reach ya, it's gettin' more clearer, outta the era

[Black Thought]
It's like this, we keep you open like a parachute
Took a shot of hip hop, it's Absolute
For my man from the House of Representatives
And turn it out, aiyyo, I always do, that's what I'mma bout ta
Do I show you a style and throw you?
For all competitors, Black Thought comin' through, so seckle, cuz
I'm the superior style and you inferior
Let me adjust my voice so you can hear me ta--
Bust through the, microphone
Pure skills, nuttin' but it, all of a sudden
MC's just start to stuttered from the rap style
Hey, yo, let me rewind, check it out, check it out
Well, it's the deranged style that change formats and forms
I swarm like killa bees, fulfillin' these fantasies
MC's throw a tantrum, I sing the Fifth Anthem
Aiyyo, it's like this, my song thump your preference
You can never attempt to reach that where my level is
Black Thought severin' competitives, off the dome top
Yo, my microphone stop, my man Com just drop

[Common]
And don't halt, I guess it was my fault
I came through thick like a malt, niggas tried to pour salt
But never knew the flavor, my shit is accented from Chicago
Niggas follow, hold the water bottle
My shit'll keep flowin'
Now I'm showin' this poetry in motion like a picture
Read the scripture, understood the first New Testament
Start to blessin' it
The shit is like this, where the beat went?
I give MC's the silent treatment
They tried to come against me, I told em they wasn't fresh
Rappers I Crush, Kill and Destroy like Stress
Extinction Agenda, Com Sense'll just send a-nother
Mothafucker to the bathroom
He didn't have room to shit on the mic
That I had, it's like the nigga Com Sense, I don't need a pad
Off the dome, my shit'll roam/Rome like a Greek
I start to speak, and niggas sound extra weak/week
Like seven days, I take ya seven whole days like Tony
Never been a phony, Express styles like a Pony
Hold ya horses, Com Sense read The Sources
Toss this type of shit that go straight through, I lost this
One time, it came back, the rap sunshine
Niggas follow me like one time
Check it out nig-- my man Absolute is unsigned, ready to get it on
It's like this upon the mic, yo, I sit upon

[Pharoahe Monch]
Yo, yo, check it out now, one time now, Pharoahe Monch, yo
It's not breaks at the bar, even if you a star
Wit me and my crew, baby doll, you won't go far
I seek the love of Allah, the laws I lay
Peepin' the upper echelon of light display
Funk distributed rap pro, attributed to facts so
Cleverly put, more revolutions than an axle
The sax flow, nigga, much smoother than Coltrane
Who can cop beats that I chop like cocaine?
The effortless action wit moves like subtraction
Lip, stick and admit wit mo' satisfaction
And all the while my beats can pile up
More data than X-File shows all added up
The educated nigga from Queens, by any means
Serve any fiends, similar to Supreme Team
But like steam I will rise to the top to redeem the cream
For niggas who fiend for hip hop
I pop Glock and bla-block shot and chop spots
From top notch cops to bust from a crotch
Positionin', what, Absolute, what, c'mon, c'mon, kick the dome

[Absolute]
The last word was precision, so I get a vision
And makin' sentences on top of your cranium
Underground, subterranean
Crossin' the Mediterranean, water to slaughter MC's
Who I can't catch across the border
Lookin' across the window, not a nympho
Lookin' at my man, the Jedi duck when the lead fly
My man just took a picture, so I just snapped it
Lookin' at the man who got the joint in his back, shit, the back shit
I pack shit but it's never like an automatic
I'm causin' static just like the opposite of Bounce
I get, throwin' mad amounts
Look at my man Bobbito and Stretch
I gotta catch the beat
I'm never come off weak cuz weak is the opposite of strong
I used to smoke the bong but now I got the Heineken
It's my turn to rhyme again
Don't need to be greedy, I give my old gear to the needy
Used to write graffiti cuz I got the burner
You might not get that
But, yo, I pass it back to my man wit the head wrap, yo

*talkin' and shoutouts to end*

Rawkus Records

Rawkus Records was an American hip-hop record label known for jump-starting the careers of many rappers. Rawkus started in 1995 with initial releases ranging from hip-hop, drum and bass and fun-dustrial (Dystopia One).

Label heads Brian Brater and Jarret Myer then signed some of the top underground talent from the New York area, notably Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Hi-Tek and Company Flow, who went on to define the label’s sound. The string of 12" releases and full-length albums that followed helped initiate a resurgence in the New York/East Coast sound. Many of these are considered classics among hip-hop aficionados. During the mid to late 1990s, Rawkus became a dominant label in the underground hip-hop scene, producing a string of gold albums and a platinum album.